About This Artwork

Robert Overby
American, 1935-1993

Concrete Screen Door, 1970

Concrete and steel
203.2 x 114.3 x 12.7 cm (80 x 45 x 5 in.)
Estate of Robert Overby, 2008.709

Robert Overby’s varied work ranges from extensive investigations of materials and process conducted through castings of large-scale architectural elements and fixtures, to intimate casts of everyday objects, geometric prints, and representational paintings. At the same time that Overby introduced concrete into his repertoire of materials, he discovered a form that would hold a special importance for him—the door. The artist explained: “I see the door definitely as a body. . . . But the door’s also something that you set your scale by. It’s also a barrier—I have that kind of peeping Tom mentality you know, wanting to know what’s behind it.” Concrete Screen Door is part of a series of five doors—all screen doors cast in concrete. Playing on the translucency inherent in the original object, the sheer materiality of Overby’s door undermines its utility, thwarting the viewer’s ability to peer through its form.