Rubbing of limestone slab carved bas-relief with six registers. The lower register depicts a chariot procession above fish-inhabited waters. The central three registers depict figures carrying out funerary rites. The top register shows a winged creature with a human face flanked by two writhing dragons and other animals, including two rabbits and a nine-tailed fox.
Subject Matter
Rubbing of a carved limestone slab that was originally part of a memorial hall or tomb. It portrays the vertical ascent of the soul of the deceased from earth toward the “Happy Homeland” or heavenly abode of the Queen Mother of the West.
On the lower register of the carving, the soul of the tomb occupant rides in a chariot procession. The fish-inhabited waters indicate his earthly surroundings. In the central three registers the family and friends of the deceased are shown carrying out the proper funerary rites that will insure the success of his journey. The Queen Mother herself, shown as a winged creature with a human face, dominates the top row. She is flanked by two writhing dragons and other heavenly immortals, including two rabbits, who reside on the moon and are shown pounding rice cakes, and an auspicious nine-tailed fox, associated with the sun.
The Queen Mother of the West was the subject of a very popular cult during the Eastern Han Dynasty, when concerns about immortality reached a new and feverish pitch.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Rubbing of limestone slab carved bas-relief with six registers. The lower register depicts a chariot procession above fish-inhabited waters. The central three registers depict figures carrying out funerary rites. The top register shows a winged creature with a human face flanked by two writhing dragons and other animals, including two rabbits and a nine-tailed fox.
Subject Matter
Rubbing of a carved limestone slab that was originally part of a memorial hall or tomb. It portrays the vertical ascent of the soul of the deceased from earth toward the “Happy Homeland” or heavenly abode of the Queen Mother of the West.
On the lower register of the carving, the soul of the tomb occupant rides in a chariot procession. The fish-inhabited waters indicate his earthly surroundings. In the central three registers the family and friends of the deceased are shown carrying out the proper funerary rites that will insure the success of his journey. The Queen Mother herself, shown as a winged creature with a human face, dominates the top row. She is flanked by two writhing dragons and other heavenly immortals, including two rabbits, who reside on the moon and are shown pounding rice cakes, and an auspicious nine-tailed fox, associated with the sun.
The Queen Mother of the West was the subject of a very popular cult during the Eastern Han Dynasty, when concerns about immortality reached a new and feverish pitch.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
152.4 cm x 114.3 cm x 3.81 cm (60 in. x 45 in. x 1 1/2 in.)
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
7.5 cm x 15.8 cm x 11 cm (2 15/16 in. x 6 1/4 in. x 4 5/16 in.)
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
278.45 cm x 155.26 cm x 5.08 cm (109 5/8 in. x 61 1/8 in. x 2 in.)
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Multi-colored fabric pieces hung loosely together in a horizontal format. Colors include red, orange, blue, green, black, purple, pink and various other combinations of these colors.
Subject Matter
Abstraction
Label Copy
Sam Gilliam
United States, born 1933
Alber’s Chain
2008
Acrylic on nylon
Gift of Larry and Brenda Thompson, 2008/2.308
Sam Gilliam moved to Washington DC in 1962 and subsequently became associated with the group of painters known as the Washington Color School. Part of the greater Color Field movement of the 1950s and 1960s, these artists adopted and extended the soaking and staining techniques of Abstract Expressionist painters like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Resolutely abstract, Color Field painting is characterized by large areas or “fields” of pure color stained or poured directly onto the canvas.
This emphasis on color saturation is evident in Alber’s Chain, one of Gilliam’s “drape” paintings, which he has made since the late 1960s. While these works highlight the artist’s interest in materials, process, and the expressive power of color, they also move beyond the traditional two-dimensional boundaries of modernist painting. In a radical move, Gilliam decided to remove the stretcher bar. The voluminous, richly hued fabric is attached directly to the wall, innovatively blurring the line between painting, sculpture, and architecture as it moves into the shared space of the viewer.
(6/28/10)
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Large bronze sculpture resembling a headless human figure. The surface texture is very rough with deep voids and coarse patches of metal. The brown patina has a whitish tinge.
Subject Matter
This is one of three Doner sculptures installed together- Angry Neptune, Salacia and Strider.
"Angry Neptune was made as a statement about the obscene gestures the human species has repeatedly made toward the sea. Robbing the shores of fish, sending plastics into the deep seas, spilling toxins into the water, etc. I feel his rage is palpable."
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Large bronze sculpture resembling a headless human figure. The surface texture is very rough with deep voids and coarse patches of metal. The brown patina has areas with a greenish tinge.
Subject Matter
This is one of three Doner sculptures installed together- Angry Neptune, Salacia and Strider.
"Salacia, in Roman mythology, is Neptune's wife. According to the legend, the god Neptune wanted to marry her and she ran off and hid in the Atlantic Ocean. Neptune sent a dolphin to find her."
Michele Oka Doner, Oct. 6, 2010
Doner began her Angry Neptune sculpture first and then while that remained in her studio, she began a companion piece, "to create a pairing of opposites from the imagined underwater kingdom."
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Large bronze sculptureS resembling headless human figures standing with one foot forward. The surface textures are all uniquely irregular and rough, with long vertical striations. All have colored patina, one is gold, one is green, and one is whiteish gray.
Subject Matter
This is one of three Doner sculptures installed together- Angry Neptune, Salacia and Strider.
"Strider was named because the giant is taking a stride. It seemed this movement was a defining characteristic as the wax occupied the same space as Neptune and Salacia....I think Strider resonated with the powerful giants. So, they were created in the same space in a relatively short period of time and seemed joined in scale, presence and purpose."
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
177.8 cm x 198.12 cm x 81.28 cm (70 in. x 78 in. x 32 in.)
Subject Matter
Heather Rowe's art sits precariously at the intersection of sculpture, architecture, and installation, and her hybrid, fragmentary constructions derive their aesthetic frisson from her (or their) refusal to adhere to the norms of any one discipline. The sense of the work as neither one thing nor another is heightened by an attention to transitional spaces: corridors, stud-walls, windows and doorways. Interior and exterior space collapse into one another as the raw materials of construction - modular units of drywall, lumber, glass, and metal - are combined with more decorative elements. Interstitial spaces reveal swatches of carpet or wallpaper, while shards of mirror incorporate the surrounding space in a fragmented patchwork of reflections.
Although keenly aware of such predecessors as Bruce Nauman's corridor installations, Robert Smithson's mirror displacements, and Gordon Matta-Clark's building cuts, Rowe's work combines formal and conceptual rigor with a psychological ambivalence and narrative tension in a manner both highly original and thoroughly contemporary.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A collage drawing with "Stakes is high" in large bubble letters at the top. The bottom of the drawing is a sparse cityscape and a figure wearing a purple skimask looking at the viewer.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A collage drawing with "When was the future?" in the middle of the object. The words are cut out of pictures of trees and a city's skyline. The background of the collage is the view of of a tall building and a cutout of a youth doing a handstand is placed on the balcony. A picture of a tree is included by the person.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
This is a black and white photograph that depicts a city street scene. It shows a crosswalk in front of a multi-story building, silhouetted against a clear sky. There is a large billow of steam rising from the street surface where a barrier and vent pipe have been contructed within the crosswalk.
Subject Matter
This is one of a series of photographs of Ferrato's neighborhood in New York City - TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal). Her images explore this historical area of Manhattan by depicting its people and places as it is developed into one of the trendiest zipcodes in the city - 10013.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A large sheet of rough cream colored paper with irregular edges and bits of pulp within the surface. On this sheet is an abstract form in the shape of a life size human body. This form is created by swirling, energetic black lines and fiberous black blots.
Label Copy
Recent Acquisitions Part II
March 31-August 5, 2012
Michele Oka Doner
United States, born 1945
Primal
2008
Relief from organic material on handmade paper
Given in honor of former Director James Steward for his contribution
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
97.1 cm x 97.1 cm x 2 cm (38 1/4 in. x 38 1/4 in. x 13/16 in.)
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
86.36 cm x 111.76 cm x 3.18 cm (34 in. x 44 in. x 1 1/4 in.)
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
