Artist
Petah  Coyne (American, b. 1953)

Title
Untitled #785

date
1994

medium
wax on fabric, wire armature

size
57 x 42 x 45 in.

credit line
Museum Purchase, with funds provided by Deane and Paul Shatz

Accession Number
1994.25.2

Terms and conditions for image use

Untitled #785
Petah  Coyne (American, b. 1953)

Like the amorphous, hanging forms created by Eva Hesse, Coyne’s sculptures have an explicit human presence that challenges the austerity of minimalism. Coyne refers to the filigreed white sculptures as “the girls” and considers them to be extensions of herself. In Untitled #785, white wax dripped along a satin-covered chain explodes into a profusion of wax-covered flowers, bows, ribbons, and bells. Built up of delicate layers of wax, the sculpture’s pouffy, tutu-shaped base is overtly feminine. Despite its demure exterior, Untitled #785 has a grotesque, molten aspect. Both sensuous and virginal, the work features gothic distortions that derive from an emotional territory shared by Louise Bourgeois’ troublesome images of the female form. . . .

- Paige Turner, formerly Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art

Text excerpted from A Capital Collection: Masterworks from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, which is available for purchase in the Corcoran Shop. :: Click here to purchase this catalog online

:: View more Contemporary Art

 

Press | Site Map| Search| Need assistance? | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2008, Corcoran Gallery of Art