Adam McEwen Bomber Harris 2008 acrylic, chewing gum on canvas 64 x 48 in. (162.5 x 122 cm.) Signed and dated "A. McEwen 2008" on the reverse; further signed and dated "A. McEwen 2008" on the stretcher.
Provenance Art:Concept, Paris Catalogue Essay “I chew the gum. Well, I pay people to chew the gum. Students get 50 cents for each piece. Then we take the gum and make it dirty with street shit. I want it to be both elegant and real.” - Adam McEwen Playing with preconceived notions of popular and consumer culture, Adam McEwen appropriates, recycles and re-orients existing commercial objects and images in a manner that’s seemingly equal parts saccharine Warhol pop and scathing Kienholz conceptualism. Bomber Harris is a superb example of how the artist is able to conflate the two seemingly opposable perspectives into a new unified conceit. Comprised of dirtied wads of chewed gum on a deep black canvas, the “painting” looks as much like a transcription of a sidewalk landscape as anything. However, its title belies a more profound understanding. All of McEwen’s chewing gum paintings allude to the Allied bombings of various towns in Germany during World War II. Here the gum assumes a more dastardly connotation as the bombs wrought such destruction over the land. Through his exploration of world history in his art, McEwen creates a bizarre and even comical mockery of the idea of death in the 21st century where everything is made to be immediately consumed and destroyed. Read More
Adam McEwen Bomber Harris 2008 acrylic, chewing gum on canvas 64 x 48 in. (162.5 x 122 cm.) Signed and dated "A. McEwen 2008" on the reverse; further signed and dated "A. McEwen 2008" on the stretcher.
Provenance Art:Concept, Paris Catalogue Essay “I chew the gum. Well, I pay people to chew the gum. Students get 50 cents for each piece. Then we take the gum and make it dirty with street shit. I want it to be both elegant and real.” - Adam McEwen Playing with preconceived notions of popular and consumer culture, Adam McEwen appropriates, recycles and re-orients existing commercial objects and images in a manner that’s seemingly equal parts saccharine Warhol pop and scathing Kienholz conceptualism. Bomber Harris is a superb example of how the artist is able to conflate the two seemingly opposable perspectives into a new unified conceit. Comprised of dirtied wads of chewed gum on a deep black canvas, the “painting” looks as much like a transcription of a sidewalk landscape as anything. However, its title belies a more profound understanding. All of McEwen’s chewing gum paintings allude to the Allied bombings of various towns in Germany during World War II. Here the gum assumes a more dastardly connotation as the bombs wrought such destruction over the land. Through his exploration of world history in his art, McEwen creates a bizarre and even comical mockery of the idea of death in the 21st century where everything is made to be immediately consumed and destroyed. Read More
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
