Synopses & Reviews
In 1957and#150;58, after he moved to New Yorkand#8217;s Lower East Side, Claes Oldenburg (b. 1929) began making collages he has described as and#147;mostly done in an uncontrolled and intuitive dream mode.and#8221; Made from found, printed imagery, the Strange Eggs are enigmatic, surrealistic, and vastly different from the Pop art of the 1960s for which he soon became famous.
These collages are characterized by self-contained forms, or "eggs," the artist made by melding cut fragments of photographic illustrations. While many of the pieces are unrecognizable, some original references are discernible: a piece of pie, the hind leg of a horse, the creased skin of a clenched fist, and the texture of concrete. These eighteen collages were first shown at the Menil Collection in 2012, and they are being published together for the first time, along with poems that the artist wrote at the same time based on found imagery from his walks around New York's Lower East Side. Anticipating second-generation New York School art-poetry collaborations by half a decade, Strange Eggs makes an important single-artist contribution to our understanding of the period.
Synopsis
Oldenburg's entire series of eighteen enigmatic and surrealist collages from the late 1950s, called Strange Eggs, is published here for the first time.
About the Author
Claes Oldenburg is a world-famous sculptor and Pop artist. Michelle White is curator at the Menil Collection.