Untitled (Meat Pyramid)

Paul Thek, Untitled (Meat Pyramid), 1964, mixed media: plaster, glass, mirror, chrome and wax, 18 ¹⁄₄ x 18 ¹⁄₄ x 12 ³⁄₄ in. (46.2 x 46.5 x 32.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fredric B. Mueller, 1979.15.2

Artwork Details

Title: Untitled (Meat Pyramid)
Artist: Paul Thek
Date: 1964
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 18 ¹⁄₄ x 18 ¹⁄₄ x 12 ³⁄₄ in. (46.2 x 46.5 x 32.5 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of Fredric B. Mueller
Mediums: plaster
mixed media
glass
chrome
Mediums Description: mixed media: plaster, glass, mirror, chrome and wax
Classifications: Sculpture
Subjects: Abstract
Object Number: 1979.15.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/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.