Shiprock Triptych #1 / Richard Misrach

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Record Details

Accession Number
2004/2.59.2
Title
Shiprock Triptych #1
Artist Nationality
American
Artist Life Dates
born 1949
Medium and Support
cibachrome print on paper
Object Creation Date
1987
Object Creation Place
North and Central America (continent)
United States (nation)
Creation Place 2
United States (nation)
Dimensions
20.5 cm x 25.5 cm (8 1/16 in. x 10 1/16 in.)
Century
20th century
Primary Object Classification
Photograph
Primary Object Type
cibachrome print
Physical Description
The lower portion of this work depicts a dusty brown landscape with a craggy rock formation rising in the central portion of the horizon. A dirt road is shown in the foreground. The upper portion depicts a vast, cloudless sky in tones of blue and pink.
Subject Matter
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Richard Misrach first began to photograph western landscapes as an undergraduate at Berkeley. Beginning in the late 1970s, he traveled extensively in the American West, using a large-format camera and color film to make beautiful and technically precise photographs of the often-disastrous effects mankind has had on the environment. For Shiprock Triptych #1, Misrach traveled to the Navajo and Chuska volcanic fields that stretch between northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, where Shiprock, the unique natural monument sacred to the Navajo, sits in close proximity to uranium mines and mill tailings (the radioactive waste resulting from the extraction and processing of uranium) that contaminate drinking and irrigation water and diffuse carcinogenic radon gas. Created from a volcanic eruption that occurred over 30 million years ago, Shiprock is shown in Misrach’s images as a majestic if distant presence, alone in the center of a sparse landscape. The three photographs—taken at intervals over the course of the day—emphasize both the actual passage of time and the sense of timelessness conjured by such natural monuments.
Primary Keywords
mountains
plains
rock
sky
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Technical Details

Image Size
1884 x 1488
File Size
373 KB
Record
2004/2.59.2
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2004-sl-2.59.2/2004_2_59_2.jpg

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Full citation
"Shiprock Triptych #1; Richard Misrach." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2004-sl-2.59.2/2004_2_59_2.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024.
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