Needles
Artist
Larry Poons
(American, b.1937)
CultureAmerican
Date1972
MediumMixed media on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 115 x 254 in. (292.1 x 645.2 cm)
InscribedOn verso in pencil, right middle quadrant: L. Poons 1972 (arrow pointing upward)
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number77.418
Not on view
DescriptionLarge mixed media on canvas painting. It is an abstact painting, primarily mustard-colored, of dripped paint. The paint is applied thickly over the majority of the painting. At the top edge, areas of the canvas is visible.Label TextLarry Poons American, b. 1937 Needles, 1972 Mixed media on canvas In the mid-1960s, Larry Poons began to explore the material qualities of paint by pouring and even throwing it onto his canvases. The surface of Needles consists of thick streaks and built-up layers of paint, though the right edge of the canvas is highly thinned. In 1972, art critic Michael Fried referred to Poons’s heavily encrusted paintings as “elephant skin,” suggesting how looking at his work activates the sense of touch. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 77.418 Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "Remix Redux: A Fresh Mix For Our Modern And Contemporary Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, August 15 - December 30, 2012.