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Untitled (lungs)

Two larger-than-life, soft, black, lung-like shapes are attached to a rectangular black canvas. They project out from the canvas and hang toward the floor; their surfaces are opaque and they are outlined in red/pink.

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  • Two larger-than-life, soft, black, lung-like shapes are attached to a rectangular black canvas. They project out from the canvas and hang toward the floor; their surfaces are opaque and they are outlined in red/pink.

Date:

2008–13

Artist:

Rodney McMillian
American, born 1969

About this artwork

Rodney McMillian’s work grapples with the complexities of race, class, and place in America across a wide range of media. In his sculpture he often redeploys domestic materials and approaches the conventional terms of painting— wall-bound, cloth-based. He engages not only history and contemporary culture but also the potential for alternative realities and future transformation.

The giant, ominous, bodily forms of Untitled (lungs) manifest current political and social tensions through their own insistent physicality: they simultaneously project into the room and hang abjectly down toward the floor; their shapes are soft and organic, but their surfaces are opaque and appear calcified; they are absurdly larger than life, but they prompt greater awareness of our own fragile, pulsing bodies.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Rodney McMillian

Title

Untitled (lungs)

Place

United States (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 2008–2013

Medium

Acrylic, fabric, and chicken wire

Dimensions

259.1 × 193 × 45.7 cm (102 × 76 × 18 in.)

Credit Line

Anonymous gift; Contemporary Art Discretionary Fund

Reference Number

2016.326

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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