- Gallery Text
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Salcedo’s sculpture implies the presence of an absent body. In works such as this, the artist uses domestic objects, altered so that they no longer function as intended, to confront issues of social injustice and political violence. Suggestive of the chairs used for brutal state interrogations, this work serves as a witness to the lives lost in Colombia’s civil war. Salcedo created wax and paper models in Bogotà, then had the steel parts fabricated in a New York foundry and shipped back to Colombia, where she reconfigured the sculpture in her studio, fastidiously hand carving wood grain into the seat and legs. While one could sit in the chair, its open back and cold surface render it uninviting; one back corner is crumpled, as if someone had used the chair as a weapon. Subtle traces of violence emanate from this common object, indelibly incised on its stainless steel surface.
- Identification and Creation
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- Object Number
- 2010.573
- People
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Doris Salcedo, Colombian (Bogota, Colombia born 1958)
- Title
- Untitled
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Work Type
- sculpture
- Date
- 2004-2005
- Places
- Creation Place: South America, Colombia
- Culture
- Colombian
- Location
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Level 1, Room 1120, Modern and Contemporary Art, Contemporary Art: Body/Politic
View this object's location on our interactive map - Physical Descriptions
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- Medium
- Stainless steel
- Technique
- Carved
- Dimensions
- 106.7 x 40.6 x 38.1 cm (42 x 16 x 15 in.)
- Provenance
- Doris Salcedo created, 2005; Alan and Alison Schwartz, Toronto (2005-2010), sold; [through Alexander and Bonin, New York]; to Harvard Art Museums, 2010.
- Acquisition and Rights
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- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Cowles, by exchange
- Copyright
- © Doris Salcedo
- Accession Year
- 2010
- Object Number
- 2010.573
- Division
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Contact
- am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
- Publication History
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Mary Schneider Enriquez, Doris Salcedo, and Narayan Khandekar, Doris Salcedo: The Materiality of Mourning, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2016), p. 139, ill. (color)
- Exhibition History
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Portrait/Homage/Embodiment, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, 11/03/2006 - 06/30/2007
Re-View: European and American Art Since 1900, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/03/2011 - 06/01/2013
32Q: 1120 Contemporary Art: Body/Politic, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/01/2014 - 10/13/2016
Doris Salcedo: The Materiality of Mourning, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/04/2016 - 04/09/2017
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This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu