Judgement Day at NEA
Warrington Colescott, Judgement Day at NEA, 1991, soft-ground etching, aquatint, and marbling, with à la poupée inking, and relief rolls through stencils, printed in color on white Rives BFK paper, Gift of the Artist, © Warrington Colescott, 2001.57.13
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Judgement Day at NEA
- Artist
- Date
1991
- Medium
soft-ground etching, aquatint, and marbling, with à la poupée inking, and relief rolls through stencils, printed in color on white Rives BFK paper
- Edition
13/20
- Catalogue Raisonné
Chapin 292
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
plate: 27 3/4 in x 43 1/2 in; sheet: 31 1/4 in x 47 5/8 in
- Collection Area
Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
- Object Type
intaglio print
- Culture
American
- Credit Line
Gift of the Artist
- Accession Number
2001.57.13
- Copyright
© Warrington Colescott
- Terms
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) reviews hundreds of proposals every year from artists seeking funding. Warrington Colescott once served on the panel of the NEA and described the relentless parade of slide carousels that had to be reviewed in quick succession each day. If a slide was upside down in the tray, rather than removing it and replacing it the proper way, the panel was forced to turn their heads, or, as in this print, do a handstand, rather than slow down the process.
Colescott stages an elaborate scene of the inner workings of the NEA in his complex print. In the background, the panel reviews slide after slide, while the foreground characters reference the 1989 uproar about NEA funding of an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe's homoerotic photographs. Protestors carry signs reading "War not Sex," and "No Visible Body Parts," while a uniformed officer devours a copy of ARTnews in an effort to suppress its contents.
- Exhibitions
2013 In the Studio: Reflections on Artistic Life Portland Art Museum
