Figure 2 (II)
Erin Shirreff works in a variety of mediums to include sculpture, photography, video, and prints. Central to her art is the engagement with art history, perception, memory, and memorialization. Shirreff explores modernist sculptures constructed with geometric forms that recall minimalist works made several decades earlier. Such three-dimensional works are frequently known exclusively through two-dimensional means, such as photographs found in journals, books, and powerpoint lectures. Shirreff explores the interactions between representation of the sculpture and the object itself, and the transformation inherent in such processes. In probing the difference in the ways in which one encounters and processes three-dimensional and two-dimensional objects, Shirreff challenges concept of scale. While the modernists works that her works evoke are often large in scale, the sculptures Shirreff's photographs are often quite small and made from such basic materials as foam core, cardboard, and plaster. Yet through her two-dimensional representations (either photography or print) the sculptures acquire a sense of monumentality and presence. Shirreff takes closeup photographs, which she tightly crops to create abstract compositions. In this way, she evokes yet another mode of perception, that of painting or drawing.
Artwork Details
- Title: Figure 2 (II)
- Artist: Erin Shirreff (Canadian, born 1975)
- Date: 2016
- Medium: Photogravure and chine-collé
- Dimensions: Image: 16 × 12 in. (40.6 × 30.5 cm)
Sheet: 25 1/4 × 19 9/16 in. (64.1 × 49.7 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Anonymous Gift, 2025
- Object Number: 2025.351.4
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Erin Shirreff
2009
Erin Shirreff
2008
Louise Bourgeois
1947
Multiple artists/makers
1978
Multiple artists/makers
1978
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.