Exquisite Corpse

2015

Kerry James Marshall, Stephen DeSantis, Curtis Bartone

Associated Names
Kerry James Marshall

Artist, American, born 1955

Stephen DeSantis

Artist, American, born 1960

Curtis Bartone

Artist, American, born 1965

This piece appears to have been made with three separate artworks stacked on top of each other to create a composite figure, combining collage and illustration. The overall impression is of a surreal figure with a head that looks like a closed fist with facial features added onto it. The fist is bent down so that the upper part of the wrist looks like the neck of the figure, which has a watch or bracelet around it. This is the top artwork; the central artwork below it appears to show the body of the figure. It is a collage that combines machinery or architectural schematics overlaid on the torso of a person wearing a patterned uniform with badges who is holding a tool like a hammer. The lower half of their toros is a skeleton, with their spine and hip bones visible. The third artwork shows where the legs of the figure would be, but it is a detailed illustration of a wooden stool with four carved legs. The background of all of these three artworks is the same pale blue color.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    brush and black ink, crayon, photolithograph collage, and colored pencil on three adhered sheets of blue wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Bob Stana and Tom Judy

  • Dimensions

    overall: 64.77 × 27.94 cm (25 1/2 × 11 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2019.109.81


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Printworks Gallery, Chicago, Iliinois); Bob Stana and Tom Judy, Washington, D.C.; acquired 2019 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2015

  • Return of the Exquisite Corpse, Printworks Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, 2015-2016, no. 20.

Bibliography

2016

  • Deyoe, Mary. "Printworks: 35 Years of Exquisite Art." Chicago Gallery News (January-April 2016): p. 21, illustrated on cover.

Inscriptions

UPPER SHEET. lower right verso in black ink: K.J.M. 2015; upper center verso in graphite by unknown hand: Top Head;
CENTER SHEET. upper center verso in graphite: S.D.; upper center verso in graphite by unknown hand: Torso Top;
LOWER SHEET. lower right in graphite: C. Bartone 2015; upper center verso in graphite by unknown hand: Top Legs


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