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Portfolios%20%3D%20%221003%22%20and%20Disp_Obj_Type%20%3D%20%22Sculpture%22%20and%20Century%20%3D%20%2220th-21st%20Centuries%22
Sculpture
The Gardener (Melissa with Bob Marley Shirt)
John Ahearn, (Binghamton, NY, 1951 - )
Ahearn, John
United States
1951
Male
Primary
Torres, Rigoberto
United States
1960
Male
Primary
67 x 36 x 36 in. (170.2 x 91.4 x 91.4 cm)
.
.
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without base
figure
.
.
.
base
base
Fiberglass
Fiberglass
1997/2007
Sculpture
John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres have worked together and independently to make casts directly from living models since the early 1980s. Each sculpture is the result of a sustained interaction and creative collaboration with the sitter, offering a realistic portrait of an individual from their South Bronx neighborhood. Ahearn explains:
"We were working with neighborhood friends to create free-standing figures that define aspects of community… Melissa was constantly in the studio, she loved children, and she was an active gardener… her favorite sweatshirt featured the image of Bob Marley with his words, "WE AFRICANS MUST FIGHT IF NECESSARY FOR WE ARE CONFIDENT IN THE VICTORY OF GOOD OVER EVIL.'"
Melissa’s casual attire and the everyday objects she holds seem to indicate her work as a gardener, yet the portrait takes on the quality of the sculpted saints found in churches. Melissa gazes up into the sky. Is she simply checking for rain, or is there a divine source attracting her attention?
[Hawks Gallery reinstallation, summer 2019]
John Ahearn
2019.14
item
Memorial Art Gallery
6/19/2019
2019.14DI#1
digital image
9/19/2019
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2019.14_A1.jpg
2019.14DI#2
digital image
9/19/2019
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2019.14_A2.jpg