Button Cane with Self-Portrait

Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Button Cane with Self-Portrait, mid 1990s, enamel paint on board, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.20

Artwork Details

Title
Button Cane with Self-Portrait
Artist
Date
mid 1990s
Location
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.
Mediums Description
enamel paint on board
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — Imagination, Mr. — self-portrait
  • Portrait male — Imagination, Mr. — head
Object Number
1998.84.20
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1998.84.20

Artwork Description

Mr. Imagination applied bottle caps and buttons to his sculptures to give them color and texture. In this piece, he surrounded a self-portrait with wire protrusions, then threaded different colored buttons onto the wire. The twisting shapes evoke colorful snakes or dreadlocks, reflecting Mr. Imagination’s lively personality.

Works by this artist (5 items)

View all artworks
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Button Cane with Self-Portrait, mid 1990s, enamel paint on board, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.20
Button Cane with Self-Portrait
Artist
Datemid 1990s
enamel paint on board
On view
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Bottlecap Figure with Mirror, 1991, bottlecaps and mirror on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.66
Bottlecap Figure with Mirror
Artist
Date1991
bottlecaps and mirror on wood
On view
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), King's Portrait, 1990, carved fused molding sand, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. Imagination and Carl Hammer Gallery, 1991.45
King’s Portrait
Artist
Date1990
carved fused molding sand
Not on view
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Sandstone Art (Indian Head), 1988, carved fused molding sand, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Carl Hammer Gallery and Mr. Imagination, 1991.154
Sandstone Art (Indian Head)
Artist
Date1988
carved fused molding sand
Not on view

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