Untitled, # 17

Lucas Samaras American, born Greece

Not on view

Having previously introduced the hypodermic needle as a sculptural element in his boxes, Samaras later used it as a drawing tool to inject ink into wet paper. "The hypodermic is like a magic tool instead of a dumb brush," he said, "It’s like a prick, it’s impregnating the paper." Here Samaras uses the needle to spell the word "Draw" in black ink, surrounding it with metallic paint. Other four-letter words from this extensive series include "Work," "Exit," and "Dead."

Untitled, # 17, Lucas Samaras (American (born Greece), Kastoria 1936–2024 New York), Brush and black ink, black ink wash, and metallic-colored paint on paper

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.