id:			161717
accession number:	2000.75.c
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2000.75.c
updated:		2023-08-23 23:52:12.675000

Man Spirit Mask: Mask, 1999. Willie Cole (American, b. 1955), Co-published by RCIPP and Alexander & Bonin Publishing, New York, NY. Photoetching and woodcut; sheet: 99.6 x 67.6 cm (39 3/16 x 26 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2000.75.c

title:				Man Spirit Mask: Mask
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1999
creation date earliest:		1999
creation date latest:		1999
current location:		
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	photoetching and woodcut
department:	Prints
collection:	PR - Etching
type:		Print
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Willie Cole (American, b. 1955)  - artist

* Co-published by RCIPP and Alexander & Bonin Publishing, New York, NY  - published by

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measurements: Sheet: 99.6 x 67.6 cm (39 3/16 x 26 5/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	40 numbered impressions; 2 PP; 2 RI (Rutger's Impression) 1 Shop proof (Galamander Press)

support materials:

	description:	Somerset Antique White Paper
	watermarks:	

inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Artlens Exhibition 2019
	opening date:   2019-06-11T04:00:00
	<i>Artlens Exhibition 2019</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* The Cleveland Museum of Art (1/26/2014 - 5/18/2014); "Our Stories: African American Prints and Drawings"

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact:
The steam iron is a personal symbol for this artist and it appears in many of his works.

digital description:


wall description:
Cole created a dialogue between blacks’ ancestral home in Africa and their forced resettlement in America using his self-portrait and a favorite item, the steam iron. In <em>Man</em>, the first panel of this triptych, a photograph of Cole’s face is covered with the embossed pattern of the steam holes of a Proctor Silex iron, a reference to the traditional tribal practice of skin scarification and branding for social identification. In <em>Mask</em> the iron resembles a face and is superimposed atop an inverted image of Cole’s visage; in tribal ritual a mask contains the spirit while the persona of the mask hides the wearer. In <em>Spirit and Mask</em>, irons resemble African tribal war shields and mimic the shape of slave ships as seen from above. Irons and ironing boards are also reminders that generations of African American women have labored as domestics.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES