GUERRERO, Raul

1976

plaster, sand, pigment, gelatin silver prints and color print

17 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 6 in. Plaster bust

In Beethoven, Raul Guerrero uses photography and sculpture to examine the role context plays in our understanding of objects. To that end, Guerrero has painted a bust of the stern looking, 18th-century composer Ludwig van Beethoven bright orange and placed it on a blue pedestal. This colorful combination gives the sculpture a playful appearance, linking it with pop art rather than traditional portraiture. The black-and-white pinhole camera photographs, which are also part of Beethoven, obscure our interpretation of the image and make for a ghostly, abstracted depiction of the composer. By contrast, the color photograph is a crisp, clear rendering, done in a straightforward manner, which gives the sculpture an air of studied seriousness.

1976

GUERRERO, Raul

United States, b. 1945

Gift of Morgan Thomas

1996.46-48