Untitled #192

John McQueen, Untitled #192, 1989, burdock burrs and applewood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance, 1993.27, © 1989, John McQueen
John McQueen, Untitled #192, 1989, burdock burrs and applewood, 22 141820 34 in. (56.645.852.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance, 1993.27, © 1989, John McQueen

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled #192
Artist
Date
1989
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
22 141820 34 in. (56.645.852.8 cm)
Copyright
© 1989, John McQueen
Credit Line
Gift of the James Renwick Alliance
Mediums
Mediums Description
burdock burrs and applewood
Classifications
Object Number
1993.27

Artwork Description

The materials and design of Untitled #192 express nature's tenacious power. Burdock is a particularly stubborn weed that grows in the cleared fields of the northeast. Every autumn, John McQueen goes out into the fields and builds his pieces where the burdock grows, partly because the burrs cannot be stored, but also because the artist wants to emphasize the intimate connections between nature and art. The bristly sphere of seed-bearing burrs swells with energy while a trimmed twig of applewood seems to have erupted from within. The result is an object that resembles a sprouted seedpod or the globe of the earth itself, with one symbolic tree rising from it.

Works by this artist (5 items)

Kenneth M. Adams, Evening, ca. 1950-1960, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Arvin Gottlieb, 1991.205.2
Evening
Dateca. 1950-1960
oil on canvas
On view
Kenneth M. Adams, Deer Track (Pa-ee-na), after 1924, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Arvin Gottlieb, 1991.205.1
Deer Track (Pa-ee-na)
Dateafter 1924
oil on canvas
On view
Kenneth M. Adams, Taos Indian Woman, ca. 1920-1930, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Arvin Gottlieb, 1993.48.1
Taos Indian Woman
Dateca. 1920-1930
oil on canvas
On view
Harvest
Date1940
lithograph on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.11 - SAAM-2016.11_6 - 124929
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
November 13, 2015March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.

More Artworks from the Collection

Unidentified, Pieced quilt (Flying Geese), ca. 1845-1850, calicoes and chintz, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia S. Smith, 1998.149.33
Pieced quilt (Flying Geese)
Artist
Unidentified
Dateca. 1845-1850
calicoes and chintz
Not on view
Louise Todd Cope, Flax II, ca. 1970s, flax and linen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Helen Williams Drutt English and H. Peter Stern in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, 2007.47.8
Flax II
Dateca. 1970s
flax and linen
Not on view
Katherine Lewis, Rope Coil, 2011, willow, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole, 2011.47.39
Rope Coil
Date2011
willow
Not on view
Unidentified, Untitled, ca. 1860, cotton, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia S. Smith, 2016.57.10
Untitled
Artist
Unidentified
Dateca. 1860
cotton
Not on view