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
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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
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.