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Nick Van Woert — Damnatio Memoriae (black)
Nick Van Woert

Damnatio Memoriae (black)

2011

A fiberglass statue is encased and obscured by a thick, consuming layer of black polyurethane, rendering the figure beneath unrecognizable and erased from view. Van Woert references the ancient Roman practice of "damnatio memoriae," or condemnation of memory, in which all traces of a disgraced individual were deliberately destroyed. The work raises questions about power, history, and the violent act of erasure.

Medium
fiberglass statue and polyurethane

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February 28, 2018

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About this work

Nick Van Woert, Damnatio Memoriae (black), 2011

A fiberglass statue is encased and obscured by a thick, consuming layer of black polyurethane, rendering the figure beneath unrecognizable and erased from view. Van Woert references the ancient Roman practice of "damnatio memoriae," or condemnation of memory, in which all traces of a disgraced individual were deliberately destroyed. The work raises questions about power, history, and the violent act of erasure.

Medium
fiberglass statue and polyurethane
Year
2011
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Postmodernism, Dark Aesthetic, Dark Mood, Male Artist, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Conceptual Art, Emerging Artist, Polyurethane, Fiberglass, Contemporary Artist, American Artist, Figurative Art, Black Monochrome, Mixed Media Sculpture, Contemporary Art, Monochromatic, Three-Dimensional, Cultural Critique

More works by Nick Van Woert

Collected by

Alex Capecelatro