Chihuahua
Artist:
Vernon Fisher
(American, 1943 - 2023)
Place made:United States
Date: 1990
Dimensions:
71 1/4 x 83 x 8 in. (181 x 210.8 x 20.3 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with Tom Slick Estate Acquisition Funds
Object number: 90.80
Copyright: © Vernon Fisher
Label Text
“I think consciousness is a very small part of our interaction with the world. My work is an allegory of our interaction with the stuff we call the world, it is a metaphor for our finding our way. I see myself more as an observer than anything else. I just see all this stuff and point to it.” —Vernon Fisher
In his blackboard paintings, Fisher gives visual form to the interaction of his thoughts, both conscious and unconscious. The blackboard functions as a practical device on which he can quickly scribble ideas and notations, and from which he can easily erase his marks and replace them with new thoughts. Additionally, blackboard erasures have a metaphoric value in that they often remain faintly visible, much like memories emerging from the past. In this example, Fisher juxtaposed chalk drawings of mathematical notations, hybrids of human hearts, a whirlpool, a geometric cube, and a river landscape—depicting the Rio Grande skirting the Chisos Mountains in western Texas—to create an evocative landscape of the mind.
(Label text, 2017)
In his blackboard paintings, Fisher gives visual form to the interaction of his thoughts, both conscious and unconscious. The blackboard functions as a practical device on which he can quickly scribble ideas and notations, and from which he can easily erase his marks and replace them with new thoughts. Additionally, blackboard erasures have a metaphoric value in that they often remain faintly visible, much like memories emerging from the past. In this example, Fisher juxtaposed chalk drawings of mathematical notations, hybrids of human hearts, a whirlpool, a geometric cube, and a river landscape—depicting the Rio Grande skirting the Chisos Mountains in western Texas—to create an evocative landscape of the mind.
(Label text, 2017)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
