Me and Myself
1991
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
Photo: Scott Leen
