Fried chicken drumsticks and gold chains; melted records and reeds; the Stars and Stripes in red, black, and green; a heat pipe wrapped in tin foil; a fake Louis XIV mirror and faux-"African" masks; paper bags; inner tubes; a cut-off hoodie...and words, twisted into puns, digs, and jokes. For nearly fifty years, American artist David Hammons has turned to materials like these to make subtle, graceful, and compelling objects that speak back to the history of twentieth-century painting and sculpture. This publication offers the chance to consider the development of the artist's work and to better understand the complex and powerful position Hammons occupies today.
Text by Mark Godfrey, Senior Curator, Tate Modern, with contributions made by award-winning poet Ben Okri, and artist Jannis Kounellis.
Publisher: The George Economou Collection
ISBN: 978-618-82591-0-2
Publication date: 2016