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Edgar Arceneaux — Greenleaf on Evidence
Edgar Arceneaux

Greenleaf on Evidence

2019

Greenleaf on Evidence brings together a book, crystallized sugar and glass, a mirror, and a pedestal in a compact yet conceptually dense configuration that exemplifies Edgar Arceneaux's sustained inquiry into how objects, language, and material culture shape the stories we accept as true. The crystallization process transforms the book into something simultaneously preserved and obscured, its surface accreted with growth that renders familiar knowledge fragile and unfamiliar. The mirror introduces the viewer into the work's field of meaning, implicating the act of looking itself as a form of evidence gathering, one that is never fully objective. Arceneaux, born in Los Angeles in 1972, works across sculpture, drawing, film, and performance to interrogate the constructed nature of historical narratives, with particular attention to how African American histories have been shaped, distorted, or suppressed by the very systems meant to document them. His recent project Boney Manili, supported by a grant from the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, extends this practice into theatrical and cinematic territory, examining public fanaticism and the politics of entertainment across multiple formats. Greenleaf on Evidence reflects that same restless methodology in a more intimate register, compressing large questions about testimony and transformation into a single, holdable scale. Signed by the artist and offered in excellent condition, this work represents a strong entry point into Arceneaux's practice for collectors seeking conceptually rigorous sculpture with material elegance. Its modest dimensions belie the depth of its philosophical charge, and its participation in the MCA Chicago Benefit Auction connects it to a significant institutional context that underscores the artist's growing critical recognition.

Medium
Book, crystalized sugar/glass, mirror, and pedestal
Overall
Signed
Yes

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About this work

Edgar Arceneaux, Greenleaf on Evidence, 2019

Greenleaf on Evidence brings together a book, crystallized sugar and glass, a mirror, and a pedestal in a compact yet conceptually dense configuration that exemplifies Edgar Arceneaux's sustained inquiry into how objects, language, and material culture shape the stories we accept as true. The crystallization process transforms the book into something simultaneously preserved and obscured, its surface accreted with growth that renders familiar knowledge fragile and unfamiliar. The mirror introduces the viewer into the work's field of meaning, implicating the act of looking itself as a form of evidence gathering, one that is never fully objective. Arceneaux, born in Los Angeles in 1972, works across sculpture, drawing, film, and performance to interrogate the constructed nature of historical narratives, with particular attention to how African American histories have been shaped, distorted, or suppressed by the very systems meant to document them. His recent project Boney Manili, supported by a grant from the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, extends this practice into theatrical and cinematic territory, examining public fanaticism and the politics of entertainment across multiple formats. Greenleaf on Evidence reflects that same restless methodology in a more intimate register, compressing large questions about testimony and transformation into a single, holdable scale. Signed by the artist and offered in excellent condition, this work represents a strong entry point into Arceneaux's practice for collectors seeking conceptually rigorous sculpture with material elegance. Its modest dimensions belie the depth of its philosophical charge, and its participation in the MCA Chicago Benefit Auction connects it to a significant institutional context that underscores the artist's growing critical recognition.

Medium
Book, crystalized sugar/glass, mirror, and pedestal
Dimensions
overall: 34.9 x 21.6 x 29.2 cm
Year
2019
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
MCA Chicago Benefit Auction

Related themes

Mohn Art Collective

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