Untitled #176

Copied 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.