Untitled
1991
Beeswax, hair, leather, cotton, wood
34 x 18 x 96.5 cm. 35 kg (13 3/8 x 7 1/16 x 38 in.)
Robert Gober's sculpture Untitled is troubled by its ambiguity between banality and strangeness. This elegantly dressed leg, which sits on the floor, is a cast of the artist's own leg, made of beeswax and covered with hundreds of human hairs. The knee of this dislocated limb that arouses curiosity and fear is surmounted by a candle, an incongruous appendage that adds an obvious homoerotic dimension to the work.
On the borderline between realism and alienation, Untitled is part Gober's work on memory, very dear to the artist, which combines the evocation of a morbid childhood memory with an erotic experience. By bringing together sexuality and mortality in this way, Gober also delivers a work committed to the fight against AIDS.
A sculpture transcending human vulnerability, Robert Gober's Untitled is in the Pinault Collection. It was first exhibited at the "Sequence 1" show in 2007 at the Palazzo Grassi.
On the borderline between realism and alienation, Untitled is part Gober's work on memory, very dear to the artist, which combines the evocation of a morbid childhood memory with an erotic experience. By bringing together sexuality and mortality in this way, Gober also delivers a work committed to the fight against AIDS.
A sculpture transcending human vulnerability, Robert Gober's Untitled is in the Pinault Collection. It was first exhibited at the "Sequence 1" show in 2007 at the Palazzo Grassi.
Exhibitions
Photo credit: Geoffrey Clements
Courtesy of the artist
Photo: Matteo De Fina
© Palazzo Grassi Spa.
Exhibition view, Dancing with Myself, Punta della Dogana, Venice, April 8th – December 12th 2018.
