Artwork
Liszt
Artist
Kay Rosen
(American, born 1943)
DepartmentContemporary Art
Date1990
MediumScreenprint
Dimensions76.5 x 57.5 cm (30 1/8 x 22 5/8 in.) (Other)
Credit LineGift of Feature Inc., NY, NY
Object number96.6.2
Copyright© Kay Rosen
DescriptionBlack text in script font printed on a white ground. Phrases are arranged in a vertical column centered on the sheet of paper.Label Text"In the abbreviated micro space of the art work,
language hopes to exceed and outperform its
normal representational function and its
obligation to be processed through the intentional
and subjective consciousness of an author/speaker.
Through the deployment of strategies which have as
much to do with design, advertising, fine art, and
standup comedy, as with linguistics, language is
capable of doing very surprising things which it
didn't know it could do."
Kay Rosen
Rosen is a contemporary practitioner of 'word art,' a genre that has gained favor among many conceptual artists over the past forty decades. In Rosen's case, explorations in word play come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from small works on paper to room-sized installations.
In this print portfolio, Rosen presents four types of lists to reveal complexities, ambiguities, or puns in the meanings, spellings, or contexts of the word 'list.' In Ugly Duckling, she displays twenty six family names that precede the surname 'Swan' in the Gary, Indiana, telephone book, eliminating repetitions to create a more uniform composition. For Liszt, Rosen compiled names of the compositions and writings by the nineteenth-century Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. Liste/List is divided into two sections. The top paragraph contains French words which may also be read as English words, while the bottom paragraph is an English translation of the top paragraph. Homophonia is a list of words that have identical successions of letters appearing more than once within a single word. In each instance, Rosen has varied the typeface and layout to suit the content of the text.
(David Rubin, 2008)Published ReferencesInscriptionsDated, titled, and edition number in pencil on verso at bottom.SignedSignature in pencil on verso.
Not on view
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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.
