Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA. Acquired through the Ackerman Foundation.
1980.6.80
Hansjorg Mayer Collection: The Boy and the Bird
1979 (Date created)
1980 (Date accessioned)
1980 (Date collected)
1980 (Date accessioned)
1980 (Date collected)
Ink
Printing
Books
6.875 in W
x
9.5 in H
(Object)
American
A series of illustrated poems.
Emmet Williams is a major American concrete poet, and a significant figure in the fluxus movement. His work is intellectually oriented, though in a creative and mischievous manner. In works such as this, he attempts to blend text with the illustrations accompanying it. The illustrations here parallel the constructivist theme of the book. figures start out ambiguous but become more clearly defined as the series progresses. Ideas become more complex as a figure in a frame expands and ends up falling out of the frame. In another series, a human is combined with various shapes, including a bird. The dark background produced by the aquatint lends a gloomy atmosphere to the pictures, which take on an absurdist air. The figures are cutouts or imitations of artists' wooden models, reflecting the redundancy and superficiality that is the nature of the poem.
In Collection
Gift of Donald D. Phillips via the Ackerman Foundation (1980)
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