Short Haired Cheese
As with so many of Gober’s classic works of the 1990s, the artist began by researching the archetypal forms of his chosen subject, landing here on an unmistakable, yellow-tinged wedge replete with air-bubble holes. The hair that appears to grow out of the rind (trimmings from one of his studio assistants) adds a haunting, anthropomorphic cast. Throughout this artist’s work, impeccably rendered objects associated with a nostalgic, mid-twentieth-century domesticity—comestibles such as butter, gin, or donuts, or home-maintenance products like house paint, light bulbs, or rat poison—are made strange, even unsettlingly queasy, through the artist’s distinctive interventions and allusions to a body in pieces.
Artwork Details
- Title: Short Haired Cheese
- Artist: Robert Gober (American, born Wallingford, Connecticut, 1954)
- Date: 1992–93
- Medium: Beeswax, human hair
- Dimensions: 4 × 6 1/4 × 6 1/2 in. (10.2 × 15.9 × 16.5 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Aaron I. Fleischman Collection, Gift of Aaron I. Fleischman, and Purchase, Aaron I. Fleischman Gift, in honor of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2020
- Object Number: 2020.257
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.