Untitled

Description

Known primarily as a sculptor, Robert Therrien’s work has always sought to find that place between abstraction and symbolism. In his work, Therrien transforms elements from popular culture and everyday life into forms that have timeless clarity. Working with familiar images embedded deep within American culture—snowmen, black clouds, storks—he created two- and three-dimensional works that transcend their everyday associations. Wanting his work to have multiple meanings and levels, Therrien looks for open-ended subjects that allow for many readings.
Untitled used the gallows as its source and seems to have emerged in 1991–1992. It this work, Therrien has reduced the form to its absolute basic elements and dramatically silhouetted the form against a white ground. The image works on a purely visual level of three black elements conjoined on a white surface. It can also remind the viewer of the children’s game of "hangman." Of course, it certainly also represents the gallows, with all of its deeper associations and references to death and execution.
Sean M. Ulmer, University Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, for "A Matter of Degree: Abstraction in Twentieth-Century Art," November 10, 2001 - January 27, 2002