Thalassa
Artist
Swoon
(American, b. 1977)
CultureAmerican
Date2012
MediumScreenprint, paint, and coffee on paper
Dimensions84 × 120 in. (213.4 × 304.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Joseph T. Waldo and Patrick Waldo
Object number2025.67
Not on view
Label TextSwoon
American, b. 1977
Thalassa, 2012
Screen print, paint, and coffee on paper
Thalassa, the mother of Aphrodite and the personification of the sea, grips her dress made of water and rises from the salty ocean adorned with crabs and other marine life. The graffiti artist Swoon uses wheatpaste to attach images like this one to city buildings as a temporary form of public art. Swoon conceived of this particular image for an installation at the New Orleans Museum of Art in 2011. The triumphant goddess represents the artist’s response to Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Lent by Joseph and Patrick Waldo
ProvenancePurchased from Kesting/Ray Gallery, New York, NY, on July 14, 2012.
Purchased at the Fountain Art Fair, New York, NY, March 9-11, 2012.Exhibition HistoryFountain Art Fair, New York, NY, March 9-11, 2012.Published Referenceshttp://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/06/08/arts/design/20120608-BUSHWICK-4.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/arts/design/bushwick-open-studios.html
http://kestingray.com/2012/06/swo_1074/
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/news/robinson/fountain-art-fair-2012-3-12-12_detail.asp?picnum=12
