Electric
Date1997
Mediumacrylic on wood
Dimensions47 1/2 × 47 1/2 × 8 1/2 inches (120.7 × 120.7 × 21.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Rebecca Klemm.
Object number2005.24
Copyright© Sam Gilliam.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextUpon Sam Gilliam’s arrival in Washington, D.C., in 1961, the recent graduate discovered a new world of ideas and aesthetic possibilities, among them the Washington color school. The group was experiencing its heyday, and Gilliam, having mastered the signature color-school technique of staining raw, unprimed canvas with acrylic paints, became the only African American among its associates.
Gilliam’s work quickly grew past the flat solid-color designs of his Washington colleagues, and in 1969 the museum-going public first saw the now legendary draped, or suspended, three-dimensional paintings that hang and swing through space like bunting. Gilliam was able to exploit the pliant properties of the canvas and reveal the sculptural qualities of one of painting’s fundamental materials. His practice submits the thought-provoking idea that there may not be a measurable theoretical difference between a painting and an object such as a sculpture. In more recent years Gilliam’s work has continued to evolve stylistically but persists in defying the traditional divisions between painting and sculpture. Electric might be described as a wall-mounted sculpture, yet its surface bears colorful streaks that link it to the act of painting.
Text written for the exhibition Complex Uncertainties: Artists in Postwar America, October 24, 2020 – May 3, 2021.
