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Robert Arneson Wolf Head
Robert Arneson Guardians of the Secret II
Robert Arneson Guardians of the Secret II
Robert Arneson Saga of Jackson Pollock - Bookends
Robert Arneson Born to Raise Hell
Robert Arneson Pollock #4
Robert Arneson Jack Slow Down

Press Release

Guardians of the Secret II
 
Jan 1 - Jan 31, 1999


Through January of 1999, the George Adams Gallery will exhibit Robert Arneson's Guardians of the Secret II, 1989-90. Based on the Jackson Pollock painting of 1943, Arneson's  Guardians... measures approximately 7 feet high by 10 feet long by 2 feet deep and consists of 16 separate elements made from materials ranging from wood, plexiglass, glazed ceramic and found objects such as paint cans, brushes and even a garden hose. 

Guardians of the Secret II is the only piece Arneson made specifically reinterpreted another artists work, and it is the largest and possibly the most ambitious Arneson ever made. Working on a grand scale and in three-dimensions, Arneson recreated the allusions found in Pollock's painting and established the basis for an autobiographical reading of the Pollock painting. He interprets Pollock's experience with Jungian analysis, excerpts Pollock's notebooks, and not only recreates the painting, but by inventing a second, back, side, reveals the "secret" of the title.

Guardians of the Secret II and Wolf Head, a second major sculpture from Arneson's "Pollock" series, will be on view in the gallery through January 27th.


Exhibition Checklist

Clockwise from the right:


1.  Born to Raise Hell, 1987 
glazed ceramic, redwood
73 x 39 x 27 inches
RAs 20

2.  Guardians of the Secret II, 1989-1990 
glazed ceramic, wood, plexiglass, steel and mixed medium
96 x 120 x 24 inches
RAs 21

3.  Pollock #4, 1983 
glazed ceramic
15 1/2 x 11 x 8 1/2 inches
RAs 10

4. Jack Slow Down, 1986
mixed media on paper
30 x 44 1/2 inches
RAd 42

5.  Wolf Head, 1989 
bronze, redwood, ed. of 3
83 x 73 x 36 inches
RAs 41

6. Saga of Jackson Pollock - Bookends, 1988 
bronze, ed. 3/10
9 1/4 x 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches, (each)
RAs 17