Borofsky, who graduated with an MFA from Yale in 1966, is known for his large, figurative public sculptures, immersive installations, and prodigious output of large-scale ink drawings—both on paper and directly on the gallery or museum wall. The drawings are generally sourced from images and situations he encounters in his subconscious while dreaming, and the flurry of ink-work they manifest speaks to the fluidity of his imagination and mental state while drawing.
Running men became a recognizable and frequent motif in Borofsky's work in the 1970s, a time when he himself often jogged for excercise. But the runner has darker connotations, as well. As Mark Rosenthal writes in his 1984 monograph on the artist, the running figure also represents the artist's "escape from psychological anxiety." In as much as they might represent personal fitness or progress, they could also signify terror, fear, and escape from conflict, war, or other atrocities.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Running Man through Four Frames with Persian Script (All is One) at 2,415,911 and 2,677,372
Artist:Jonathan Borofsky (American, born Boston, Massachusetts, 1942)
Date:1976–80
Medium:Acrylic and ink on paper
Dimensions:50 × 80 in. (127 × 203.2 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Gift of Lenore Weseley, in memory of Alvin and Jonathan Weseley, 2018
Accession Number:2018.876
[Paula Cooper Gallery, New York?]; Commodities Corporation, Princeton, N.J. (by 1981–at least 1983); Dunkin' Donuts, Inc., Randolph, Mass. (by 1984–at least 1987); private collection, New England (in 1998; sale, Sotheby's, New York, June 24, 1998, no. 336, bought in); Lenore Weseley, New York (ca. 2000–18; her gift to MMA)
Ridgefield, Conn. Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. "New Dimensions in Drawing, 1950–1980," May 2–September 6, 1981.
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. "New Directions: Contemporary American Art from the Commodities Corporation Collection," December 9, 1981–January 24, 1982, unnumbered cat. (p. 11).
Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Museum of Art. "New Directions: Contemporary American Art from the Commodities Corporation Collection," February 8–March 28, 1982, unnumbered cat.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art. "New Directions: Contemporary American Art from the Commodities Corporation Collection," April 17–May 30, 1982, unnumbered cat.
Grand Rapids Art Museum. "New Directions: Contemporary American Art from the Commodities Corporation Collection," July 11–September 6, 1982, unnumbered cat.
Madison, Wisc. Madison Art Center. "New Directions: Contemporary American Art from the Commodities Corporation Collection," October 3–November 28, 1982, unnumbered cat.
Montgomery, Ala. Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. "New Directions: Contemporary American Art from the Commodities Corporation Collection," January 14–March 13, 1983, unnumbered cat.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Jonathan Borofsky," October 7–December 2, 1984, unnumbered cat. (pl. 51; lent by Dunkin' Donuts, Inc.).
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Jonathan Borofsky," December 20, 1984–March 10, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Berkeley. University Art Museum. "Jonathan Borofsky," April 17–June 16, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Minneapolis. Walker Art Center. "Jonathan Borofsky," September 13–November 3, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Jonathan Borofsky," December 14, 1985–February 9, 1986, unnumbered cat.
Milwaukee Art Museum. "Jonathan Borofsky Drawings," October 10–December 28, 1986, brochure no. 3 (lent by Dunkin' Donuts, Inc., Randolph, Massachusetts).
Des Moines Art Center. "Jonathan Borofsky Drawings," January 23–March 22, 1987, brochure no. 3.
Sam Hunter inNew Directions: Contemporary American Art from the Commodities Corporation Collection. Ed. Sam Hunter. Exh. cat., Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale . Princeton, 1981, pp. 11, 115, 131, collection cat. no. 20, ill. p. 11.
Harry F. Gaugh inNew Directions: Contemporary American Art from the Commodities Corporation Collection. Ed. Sam Hunter. Exh. cat., Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale . Princeton, 1981, p. 42.
Richard Marshall inJonathan Borofsky. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1984, p. 92, pl. 51.
John Russell. "Art View: A New Show 'Activates' the Philadelphia Museum." New York Times (October 21, 1984), p. H37.
Dean Sobel. Jonathan Borofsky Drawings. Exh. brochure, Milwaukee Art Museum. Milwaukee, 1986, unpaginated, no. 3.
Jacob Lawrence (American, Atlantic City, New Jersey 1917–2000 Seattle, Washington)
1942
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