Houses: Dots, Hatches

Jennifer Bartlett, Houses: Dots, Hatches, 1999, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Smithsonian Associates, 2000.16
Jennifer Bartlett, Houses: Dots, Hatches, 1999, screenprint on paper, sheet: 38 1⁄4 x 38 1⁄4 in. (97.2 x 97.2 cm) image: 30 1⁄4 x 30 1⁄4 in. (76.8 x 76.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Smithsonian Associates, 2000.16

Artwork Details

Title
Houses: Dots, Hatches
Artist
Printers
Brand X Editions
Publisher
Smithsonian Associates
Date
1999
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 38 1⁄4 x 38 1⁄4 in. (97.2 x 97.2 cm) image: 30 1⁄4 x 30 1⁄4 in. (76.8 x 76.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Smithsonian Associates
Mediums Description
screenprint on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
  • Abstract
Object Number
2000.16
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2000.16

Artwork Description

Since 1970 Jennifer Bartlett has reworked this iconic emblem of a "house"--a triangle atop a rectangle--to explore how rules and systems govern our lives. Printed in twenty-three colors, this screenprint builds her simple design with a blanket of evenly spaced circles, disrupted by haphazardly arranged trios of hatch marks. Close inspection reveals that each dot is unique in shape and character, further destabilizing the picture's tight, organizing grid. The generic house crumbles into a field of individual human gestures and actions, suggesting that both the creation and the breaking of rules are powerful forms of self-expression.

Works by this artist (4 items)

Avery F. Johnson, The Isabelle, ca. late 1930s, watercolor and gouache on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1980.128.2
The Isabelle
Artist
Dateca. late 1930s
watercolor and gouache on paper
Not on view
Avery F. Johnson, Skating on Bonaparte's Pond (mural study, Bordentown, New Jersey Post Office), ca. 1940, oil on canvas mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.6
Skating on Bonaparte’s Pond (mural study, Bordentown, New…
Artist
Dateca. 1940
oil on canvas mounted on paperboard
Not on view
Avery F. Johnson, United States Coast Guard Wet, 1934, watercolor, tempera and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.93
United States Coast Guard Wet
Artist
Date1934
watercolor, tempera and pencil on paper
Not on view
Avery F. Johnson, Low Tide, ca. late 1930s, watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1980.128.3
Low Tide
Artist
Dateca. late 1930s
watercolor on paper
Not on view