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Hannah Wilke

Selected Work 1963-1990

October 16 – November 22, 2014

S.O.S. Starification Object Series

S.O.S. Starification Object Series
1975
chewing gum sculptures on rice paper mounted on rag board framed in Plexiglas box
33 3/4 x 26 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Flowers c.1985 ink drawing on newsprint

Flowers
c.1985
ink drawing on newsprint
22 1/2 x 30 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Bar Mitzvah 1985

Bar Mitzvah
1985
3 gums on invitation paper
5 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Fawn 1986 ink drawing on newsprint

Fawn
1986
ink drawing on newsprint
13 3/4 x 17 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

In the Doghouse

In the Doghouse
1973
pastel print with vintage photo
17 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Untitled 1963-66 pastel and graphite on paper

Untitled
1963-66
pastel and graphite on paper
35 x 46 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Roy Rogers 1974

Roy Rogers
1974
print
11 1/4 x 26 1/2 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

S.O.S. Starification Object Series

S.O.S. Starification Object Series
1975
chewing gum sculptures on rice paper mounted on rag board framed in Plexiglas box
33 3/4 x 26 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Self-portrait (BC Series)

Self-portrait (BC Series)
1990
watercolor on arches paper
43 1/2 x 31 1/4 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Sweet Sleeping Mayan

Sweet Sleeping Mayan
1986
ink drawing on newsprint
13 3/4 x 17 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Untitled (Bird) c.1984-90

Untitled (Bird)
c.1984-90
watercolor on paper
3 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Untitled (ceramic vagina)

Untitled (ceramic vagina)
nd
ceramic
2 1/8 x 4 x 2 3/8 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

Untitled (Flowers) 1987

Untitled (Flowers)
1987
watercolor on paper
11 x 14 inches
Hannah Wilke art and image copyright HWCALA/VAGA, New York

So Help Me Hannah-Snatch Shots with Ray Gun Performalist Self-Portraits with

So Help Me Hannah-Snatch Shots with Ray Gun Performalist Self-Portraits with
Donald Goddard
1978
gelatin-silver print
14 x 11 inches

So Help Me Hannah-Snatch Shots with Ray Gun Performalist Self-Portraits with

So Help Me Hannah-Snatch Shots with Ray Gun Performalist Self-Portraits with
Donald Goddard
1978
gelatin-silver print
14 x 11 inches

So Help Me Hannah-Snatch Shots with Ray Gun Performalist Self-Portraits with

So Help Me Hannah-Snatch Shots with Ray Gun Performalist Self-Portraits with
Donald Goddard
1978
gelatin-silver print
14 x 11 inches

So Help Me Hannah-Snatch Shots with Ray Gun Performalist Self-Portraits with

So Help Me Hannah-Snatch Shots with Ray Gun Performalist Self-Portraits with
Donald Goddard
1978
gelatin-silver print
14 x 11 inches

Press Release

The Tibor de Nagy Gallery is pleased to exhibit the work of Hannah Wilke (1940-1993) for the first time. The exhibition will comprise a rarely-exhibited body of work, drawn mostly from a single private collection. Many of Wilke’s most significant series will be represented. From the artist’s S.O.S. series, which is among her best known from the mid-1970s, there will be two grid works. They are a collection of pieces of chewed gum, each molded into a vaginal shape, which as a group make overtly sexual, feminist statements.

Also included will be a selection of abstract and representational drawings. Wilke drew throughout her career, frequently sketching animals and flowers. She had a particular affinity for birds, which she also kept as pets. The drawings (particularly the ink ones) reveal a sophisticated, self-assured skill. The drawings of flowers also explored the various stages between bloom and decay, life and death. A selection of prints will accompany the drawings, as well as one of her well-known ceramic sculptures.

Diagnosed in the late 1980s with lymphoma, Wilke’s self-portraits known as the B.C. (“Before Cancer”) Series took on an expressive urgency. The exhibition will include one of these self-portraits; done quickly and hinting at despair, this series continued her exploration of the inevitability of death.

Wilke graduated from Temple University in 1962. Her work is included in many museum collections, including the Centre Pompidou, the Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum, among many others.