Head of a Misanthropic Man

Peter Campus, Head of a Misanthropic Man, 1976-1978, analog video transferred to digital video, color, silent; looped, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.55.2, © 1976-1978, Peter Campus
Peter Campus, Head of a Misanthropic Man, 1976-1978, analog video transferred to digital video, color, silent; looped, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.55.2, © 1976-1978, Peter Campus

Artwork Details

Title
Head of a Misanthropic Man
Artist
Date
1976-1978
Location
Not on view
Copyright
© 1976-1978, Peter Campus
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
analog video transferred to digital video, color, silent; looped
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure male
Object Number
2011.55.2
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2011.55.2

Artwork Description

A key figure in the history of video art, Peter Campus explores the novelties of the electronic image and the transformative characteristics of video. Here Campus presents a tightly cropped and stationary portrait of a man's face, deliberately lit and framed for dramatic effect. His vague, unnerving gaze inverts the traditional role between audience and performer; the effect is amplified by the barely visible shimmer of a recorded picture. The titled itself suggests the uneasy interaction the viewer is about to enter.

Works by this artist (1 item)

Ray Growler, Billy Goat, ca. 1990, mixed media: carved wood with horns, wool, hide, and plastic, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.63
Billy Goat
Artist
Dateca. 1990
mixed media: carved wood with horns, wool, hide, and plastic
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.29.3 - SAAM-2016.29.3_1 - 124404
Watch This! New Directions on the Art of the Moving Image (5.0)
September 9, 2016–March 5, 2017
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image is a series of rotating exhibitions drawn from SAAM’s permanent collection.