Tiger Banana

Jiha Moon, Tiger Banana, 2023, stoneware, underglaze, glaze, and synthetic hair, 15 34 × 13 12 × 4 in. (40.0 × 34.3 × 10.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Howard Kottler Endowment for Ceramic Art, 2024.12, © 2024, Jiha Moon

Artwork Details

Title
Tiger Banana
Artist
Date
2023
Dimensions
15 34 × 13 12 × 4 in. (40.0 × 34.3 × 10.2 cm)
Copyright
© 2024, Jiha Moon
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Howard Kottler Endowment for Ceramic Art
Mediums
Mediums Description
stoneware, underglaze, glaze, and synthetic hair
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
2024.12

Artwork Description

"While [my art] might look Asian, it is all about America." --Jiha Moon
 
Peaches, bananas, Angry Birds, and moon cakes--Jiha Moon's sculptures blend references from Korean and American culture to challenge stereotypes about race, age, identity, and beauty. 
 
The title of this work, Tiger Banana, combines two racist slurs targeting Asian Americans: the first attacks mothers as having ferocious parenting habits, and the second disparages people as Asian on the outside ("yellow") and White on the inside.
 
Moon uses rich glazes to give the ceramic bananas and peaches the mottled look of overripened fruit, offering a humorous critique of society's obsession with youth, beauty, and sex.

Label text from The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture November 8, 2024 -- September 14, 2025

Works by this artist (20 items)

Anna Hyatt Huntington, Fox and Goose, 1936, cast aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1967.50.9
Fox and Goose
Date1936
cast aluminum
On view
Anna Hyatt Huntington, Llama, 1936, cast aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1967.50.12
Llama
Date1936
cast aluminum
On view
Anna Hyatt Huntington, Mare and Foal, 1905, cast aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1967.50.3
Mare and Foal
Date1905
cast aluminum
On view
Anna Hyatt Huntington, Hound on a Hill, 1939, cast aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1967.50.10
Hound on a Hill
Date1939
cast aluminum
On view

More Artworks from the Collection

William King, Good Old Days, 1983, aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1985.82.1
Good Old Days
Date1983
aluminum
Not on view
Anna Hyatt Huntington, Fox and Goose, 1936, cast aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1967.50.9
Fox and Goose
Date1936
cast aluminum
On view
Anna Hyatt Huntington, Llama, 1936, cast aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1967.50.12
Llama
Date1936
cast aluminum
On view
Anna Hyatt Huntington, Baby and Bantam, 1952, cast aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1967.50.4
Baby and Bantam
Date1952
cast aluminum
Not on view