Marlon and Indian
An assemblage, Marlon and Indian consists of pre-existing objects that Harrison combines to generate narratives both playful and provocative. Here two readymade tables and pieces of polystyrene foam are stacked, glued, composed, and painted to create an abstract platform that doubles as the habitat, so to speak, for two additional items: a photograph of Marlon Brando and a figurine of an American Indian, both of them references to the 1973 Academy Awards, during which Sacheen Littlefeather declined an award on behalf of Brando, who boycotted the ceremony in solidarity with the members of the American Indian Movement. Marlon and Indian also demonstrates Harrison’s interest in the theatrics of exhibition and the mechanics of spectatorship. Just as her sculpture is on display, so too does it serve to display other things, and just as those other things, specifically the photograph and the figurine, are looked at by viewers, so too do they look at us in turn.
Artwork Details
- Title: Marlon and Indian
- Artist: Rachel Harrison (American, born 1966)
- Date: 2002
- Medium: Wood, polystyrene, cement, acrylic, plastic, and photograph
- Dimensions: 45 × 49 × 31 in. (114.3 × 124.5 × 78.7 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Kathryn E. Hurd Fund, 2016
- Object Number: 2016.460
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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