Persian Rug
mixed media: wood, earth, steel, aluminum, fox fur
1991-1995
79 (d) x 28 inches / 200 (d) x 7,5 centimeters
Persian Rug was inspired by news accounts of the disastrous ecological consequences of the oil fires that burned for weeks at the conclusion of the 1990 Gulf War. In this work, the rich red patterns of a traditional Persian rug are suggested by the cracked red earth and clay, which have been embedded with circles of metal intended to evoke drilled oil wells. A halo of black fox fur recalls the destruction of animal life in the desert at the time of ecological catastrophe.
Collection of the artist
Bibliography:
Michel Gérard, sculpteur, et Marina Tëmkina, poet-artiste : Ensemble, Musée de l’hospice Saint-Roch, Issoudun, France (2023)
Michel Gerard by Ben Shahn Gallery, William Paterson College (1995): p. 20-21
Michel Gérard: Signature Transformations 2009–1972, Christian Pirot (2009): p. 50
Michel Gérard, The American Decade: 1989-1999, Neuberger Museum of Art (2002) with texts by Heartney, Gedeon, and Danto: p. 24, 36-37
Exhibitions:
2023 Musée de l’hospice Saint-Roch, Issoudun, France
2002 Neuberger Museum of Art