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 (3 items)

Edward Kienholz, Nancy Reddin Kienholz, Sollie 17, 1979-1980, mixed media construction, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2001.58, © 1980, Nancy Reddin Kienholz
Sollie 17
Date1979-1980
mixed media construction
Not on view
Edward Kienholz, Untitled, n.d., encaustic on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia Colleen McCall, 1982.125
Untitled
Daten.d.
encaustic on fiberboard
Not on view
Edward Kienholz, Nancy Reddin Kienholz, Drawing for Sollie 17, 1980, mixed media construction, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of G & W Investments, 2001.59A-D, © 1980, Nancy Reddin Kienholz
Drawing for Sollie 17
Date1980
mixed media construction
Not on view

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