Gun Play

Rico Gatson, Gun Play, 2001, single-channel video, color, sound; 02:35 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2015.7.1, © 2001, Aunrico Gatson

Artwork Details

Title
Gun Play
Artist
Date
2001
Location
Not on view
Copyright
© 2001, Aunrico Gatson
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
single-channel video, color, sound; 02:35 minutes
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — weapon — gun
  • Figure group
Object Number
2015.7.1

Artwork Description

Rico Gatson appropriated the familiar imagery of pop-culture cinema in his 2001 video, Gun Play. It is an arresting collage that mixes sequences from Jack Hill’s 1974 blaxploitation film Foxy Brown and Sergio Leone’s epic spaghetti western The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, from 1966. Here Gatson composes a kaleidoscope of cult references and Hollywood clichés that confront the mesmerizing power of mainstream media.

Watch This!: Revelations in Media Art, 2015

Works by this artist (3 items)

Rico Gatson, History Lessons, 2004, four-channel video, color, sound; 10:12 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2015.7.2, © 2004, Aunrico Gatson
History Lessons
Date2004
four-channel video, color, sound; 10:12 minutes
Not on view
Rico Gatson, Gun Play, 2001, single-channel video, color, sound; 02:35 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2015.7.1, © 2001, Aunrico Gatson
Gun Play
Date2001
single-channel video, color, sound; 02:35 minutes
Not on view
Rico Gatson, Jungle, Jungle, 2001, single-channel video, color, sound; 02:40 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2015.7.3, © 2001, Aunrico Gatson
Jungle, Jungle
Date2001
single-channel video, color, sound; 02:40 minutes
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Cat Mazza, Knit for Defense, 2011-2012, single-channel digital video, black and white, surround sound; 9:10 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2012.28, © 2012, Cat Mazza
Knit for Defense
Date2011-2012
single-channel digital video, black and white, surround sound; 9:10 minutes
Not on view
Kota Ezawa, LYAM 3D, 2008, digital animation, color, silent; 04:00 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible through Deaccession Funds, 2010.23, © 2008, Kota Ezawa
LYAM 3D
Date2008
digital animation, color, silent; 04:00 minutes
Not on view
Rico Gatson, History Lessons, 2004, four-channel video, color, sound; 10:12 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2015.7.2, © 2004, Aunrico Gatson
History Lessons
Date2004
four-channel video, color, sound; 10:12 minutes
Not on view
The Passage
Date2009
single-channel video, color, sound; 19:00 minutes
Not on view