Unstretched Fragment, Clock

The circular shapes that Mira Schor calls orbs, “which radiate and explode,” have been a feature of her painting since her debut in the 1970s. They embody both femininity and sovereignty: their power is visually and symbolically imposing.

While in her earlier works these orbs often referred to an ecstatic relationship with nature, those in her recent works take on a more disturbing tone. Bright red orbs appear inside domestic spaces, explode in the sky, or retreat into the pictorial surface like black holes.

In this work, the orb is transformed into a clock set at two minutes to midnight, the position of the Doomsday Clock when it was reassessed in 2020. Created in the aftermath of World War II, the clock aims to represent the proximity of a global catastrophe, particularly a nuclear one. The clock thus suggests a state of extreme emergency, an imminent threat to humanity. Painted in 2020, the work seems to echo a moment of suspension in the world, marked both by the pausing of activities and by intense tension. 

Presented in the form of an unstretched, supple, floating canvas, the clock takes on a cosmic dimension. At the same time, Schor introduces a form of irony by reviving a motif that has been used extensively throughout art history.

This work is held by the Pinault Collection and was shown for the first time at the "Corps et âmes" exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce in 2025