Untitled
Artist
Willie Cole
(American, b. 1955)
Date1991
MediumScorch on canvas in metal frame
Dimensions16 x 9 1/2 x 3/4 in. (40.6 x 24.1 x 1.9 cm)
ClassificationsContemporary art
Credit LineGift of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; Hassam, Speicher, Betts, and Symons Funds, 2011
Object number2011.5.1
On View
Not on viewLabel TextWillie Cole American, b. 1955 Untitled, 1991 Scorch on canvas in metal frame Untitled, 1991 Scorch on canvas in metal frame Since 1988, Willie Cole has repeatedly returned to the iron to conjure multiple meanings and associations. His technique consists of scorching a raw canvas with a steam iron until the surface starts to burn. The iron imagery suggests domestic labor and traditional femininity, perhaps honoring his mother’s and grandmother’s work as housekeepers. The scorched marks also speak to painful aspects of African American history. The hull-like shape recalls images of slave ships packed tightly with human cargo, and the burnt surface suggests the way slave owners sometimes branded the enslaved. Charred bits of the canvas seem to fall away like the identities of those individuals. Gifts of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; Hassam, Speicher, Betts, and Symons Funds, 2011 2011.5.1–.2
Pair/Pair