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Me and Myself

Me and Myself

1991

Robert Arneson

American, 1930-1992

Arneson's self-portraits mix irreverence, informality, and humor. From a distance this head looks suspicously like a straightforward echo of a classical bronze, complete with empty eye sockets. Close inspection reveals that Arneson has "defaced" it with such punning phrases as "It is eye; I am it; it is me; find this mind of mine." The wordplay continues on the pedestal, which is decorated with a daunting alphabetical list of "self" adjectives, beginning with "self-abased." "Me & My Self" is impressed word by word on the four sides of the base.

Bronze
49 x 21 x 22 in. (124.46 x 53.34 x 55.88 cm)
Thickness: 3/16 in.
194 lb 16. oz (88.45 kg)
Gift of the artist and Rena Bransten in memory of Howard Kottler
91.248
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Collection Highlights: 1945 To The Present", September 12, 1996 - June 1, 1997. (09/12/1996 - 06/01/1997)

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