Cob I

Nancy Grossman, Cob I, 1980, carved wood, leather, nails, paint, lacquered paint, horn, and lead, 17 349 1410 12 in. (45.023.526.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.38, © 1980, Nancy Grossman

Artwork Details

Title
Cob I
Date
1980
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
17 349 1410 12 in. (45.023.526.8 cm.)
Copyright
© 1980, Nancy Grossman
Credit Line
Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
Mediums Description
carved wood, leather, nails, paint, lacquered paint, horn, and lead
Classifications
Subjects
  • Fantasy — monster
  • Figure male — head
  • Dress — costume — mask
Object Number
1986.6.38

Artwork Description

In the 1960s Grossman began carving fetishistic wooden heads that she painted then covered in leather. In Cob I, demonlike horns project from the cranium and metal studs serve as eyes, transforming the individual within into a creature that represents the bestial side of human nature. Grossman speaks here to choice: “Nature gives us one face,” she says; “we make ourselves another.”


Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014

Works by this artist (1 item)

Joel Shapiro, Untitled, 1988, color woodcut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1988.51, ©, 1988, Joel Shapiro
Untitled
Date1988
color woodcut on paper
Not on view

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