Untitled #176

John McQueen, Untitled #176, 1988, ash wood and bark, 12 x 20 x 16 1⁄2 in. (30.5 x 50.8 x 41.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Diane and Sandy Besser, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1997.95.1

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled #176
Artist
Date
1988
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
12 x 20 x 16 1⁄2 in. (30.5 x 50.8 x 41.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Diane and Sandy Besser, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mediums
Mediums Description
ash wood and bark
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1997.95.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1997.95.1

Artwork Description

In Untitled #176, art and nature contend for the viewer’s attention. John McQueen fashioned this work out of lengths of ash, stripping and plaiting the bark around the wood. The artist often creates pieces that suggest the malevolent power of nature, and this work simultaneously evokes strangler vines, a great slug, or a snake and its lifeless prey. But McQueen has left enough of the materials in their original state to disrupt these illusions, so that there is not just one meaning to be taken from the piece.

Works by this artist (7 items)

View all artworks
John McQueen, Touch, 1987, tied red osier sticks, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jane and Arthur K. Mason on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, 1996.98.7
Touch
Artist
Date1987
tied red osier sticks
Not on view
John McQueen, Untitled, 1992, yucca, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Eleanor T. and Samuel J. Rosenfeld, 1997.41.3
Untitled
Artist
Date1992
yucca
Not on view
John McQueen, Untitled #176, 1988, ash wood and bark, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Diane and Sandy Besser, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1997.95.1
Untitled #176
Artist
Date1988
ash wood and bark
Not on view
John McQueen, Untitled #94, 1980, cedar bark and ash, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Julian and Elsa Waller in memory of Charles R. Gailis, member, Board of Directors, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts 1972-1991, President of the Board 1975-1981, and constant chronicler of Haystack life, 2007.16
Untitled #94
Artist
Date1980
cedar bark and ash
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Stanley Rembisz, Apple Basket, 1996, white oak, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole, 2011.47.58
Apple Basket
Artist
Date1996
white oak
Not on view
Todd Hoyer, Sphere, 1988, Arizona ash, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur and Charles Bresler, 1998.11.1
Sphere
Artist
Date1988
Arizona ash
Not on view
Marion Hildebrandt, Basket #81, 1993, ash, paper with madrone bark, wire, paint, stain, and thread, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Theodore Cohen in memory of his mother and her sisters: Rose Melmon Cohen, Blanche Melmon, Mary Melmon Greenberg and Fanny Melmon Liberman, 1998.122.13
Basket #81
Artist
Date1993
ash, paper with madrone bark, wire, paint, stain, and thread
Not on view
Edith Bondie, Porkypine Basket, 1975, woven black ash, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1975.135A-B
Porkypine Basket
Artist
Date1975
woven black ash
Not on view