Untitled (Meat Pyramid)

Paul Thek, Untitled (Meat Pyramid), 1964, mixed media: plaster, glass, mirror, chrome and wax, 18 1418 1412 34 in. (46.246.532.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fredric B. Mueller, 1979.15.2

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled (Meat Pyramid)
Artist
Date
1964
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
18 1418 1412 34 in. (46.246.532.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Fredric B. Mueller
Mediums Description
mixed media: plaster, glass, mirror, chrome and wax
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1979.15.2

Artwork Description

This "meat" sculpture is one in a series of Technological Reliquaries that Paul Thek made in the mid-1960s. In the series the artist placed lifelike wax models of flesh in hard-edged clear cases. The glass structure, which keeps the viewer outside and imprisons the wax-flesh inside, echoes the way that machines have made personal contact less common in our fast-paced modern world. Thek hoped that the "raw flesh" would provoke people into "seeing more than they do." This work calls attention to the fragility of human life and reminds us of our need for spirituality and love.

Works by this artist (1 item)

Joe Feddersen, Horses and Deer, 2020, glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund, 2021.34, © 2020, Joe Feddersen
Horses and Deer
Date2020
glass
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Gene Pozzesi, Untitled, ca. 1996, Gabon ebony, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur and Charles Bresler in honor of Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery (1995--2003), 2003.60.47
Untitled
Dateca. 1996
Gabon ebony
Not on view
Ron Fleming, Black Lotus, 1996, ebony, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur and Charles Bresler in honor of Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery (1995--2003), 2003.60.16
Black Lotus
Date1996
ebony
Not on view
Frederick A. Miller, Dish, 1960, hammered and engraved sterling silver with ebony, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor in memory of Dorothy S. Payer and in honor of Frederick A. Miller, 1992.107.2
Dish
Date1960
hammered and engraved sterling silver with ebony
On view
Earl Pardon, Box Ring, ca. 1960, sterling silver, ebony, ivory and amethyst, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Renwick Acquisitions Fund, 2003.20
Box Ring
Dateca. 1960
sterling silver, ebony, ivory and amethyst
Not on view