Me and Myself

Date1991

Maker Robert Arneson American, 1930-1992

Label TextArneson'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.

Object number91.248

Photo CreditPhoto: Scott Leen

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Collection Highlights: 1945 To The Present, September 12, 1996 - June 1, 1997. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture, June 21 - September 2, 2024.

Credit LineGift of the artist and Rena Bransten in memory of Howard Kottler

Dimensions49 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)

MediumBronze