Splatter Chair III
Artist
Richard Artschwager
Washington 1923 – Albany, New York, 2013
Title
Splatter Chair III
Date
1992
Materials
Chromed aluminum, plywood, enamel paint
Dimensions
112.5 x 107 x 57.9 cm
Credits
Gift of Ann Birks in memory of her husband, Barrie Drummond Birks, inv. 2010.518
Collection
International Contemporary Art
A real jack-of-all-trades, painter, sculptor and photographer, American artist Artschwager appropriated almost all the trends that had marked contemporary art since the 1960s: “Sculpture is for touching, painting is for looking. I wanted to make sculpture for looking and painting for touching.” His work, inspired by Pop art, and the Conceptual and Minimalist movements, remains unique and highly singular.
He used Formica and plywood, the modern materials of the 1960s, with which he created constructions that allude to reality, but which challenge the object’s place in daily life. Artschwager spoke of his works as “useless objects.” With his “Splatter Chairs,” he brought into play the fundamental elements of their composition: volume, surface, texture, space. The result is an unbridled work of unquestionable originality.
© Richard Artschwager / SOCAN (2021)
