Dog Gone Heads or Tails (Dog-Matic)

1982

Not on view

Infused with a sense of playful surrealism and rendered with extraordinary precision, Dog Gone Heads or Tails (Dog-Matic) is divided into two unequal parts. The larger of the two segments represents a fantastical, stylized creature reminiscent of a dog, as per the painting's　title. Its outer boundaries are defined by bands of color—yellow and red mostly—interrupted by the occasional yellow and pink. These bands frame smooth, unmodulated areas of color that evoke body, neck, and head. The setting suggests an interior, a living room, perhaps: indeed, the hound rests its haunches on an oval rug, directing its attention towards a second dog that occupies the smaller of the two sections. This one stands on its hind legs atop an architectural structure composed of interlocking geometric shapes. The work's style, much like its overall structure, is premised on exactitude. An intriguing tension animates the work: an approach indicative of reason and rationality creates a mis-en-scène full of ambiguity, curiosity, and nonsense.

Artwork Details

Title: Dog Gone Heads or Tails (Dog-Matic)
Artist: Barbara Rossi (American, Chicago 1940–2023)
Date: 1982
Medium: Acrylic on Masonite panel in artist’s frame
Dimensions: 36 1/8 × 48 × 2 in. (91.8 × 121.9 × 5.1 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Kohler Foundation Inc., 2022
Object Number: 2022.134.2
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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