2015.14: Triangle Constellation
Sculpture
The hanging sculpture show a series of triangles suspended at different heights that grow progressively smaller from top to bottom. The triangles are formed from chrome plated tubes attached with rope to interlocking black metal bars that form a series of V-shapes. The sculpture hangs in the five level courtyard. The floor is blue-stone tile, the first and second levels are arched arcades, the third and fourth floors are floor to ceiling glass panels.
Gallery Text
Amorales creates work in a wide range of media—from drawing and painting to sculpture, performance, and film—focusing on contemporary rituals and symbols. He studied art in Amsterdam during the 1990s and gained international attention for his “Amorales vs. Amorales” performances, inspired by lucha libre, the costumed world of Mexican amateur wrestling. The artist’s early work encompassed the decade-long creation of what he calls the Liquid Archive, a database of primarily black, white, and red graphic images, including birds, skulls, spiders, and trees. Amorales used this as a rich resource for his subsequent work, incorporating the forms into paintings, prints, animation, and objects. He interweaves familiar secular and religious symbols with the idea of performance, presenting narratives in which the viewer reads or plays a role.
In this installation, Amorales has greatly enlarged the traditional musical triangle, creating a mobile of suspended forms, which, as the artist explains, “create the visual idea of sound, a notion that can be realized so that the piece becomes performative as well.” Amorales conceived Triangle Constellation for the Calderwood Courtyard as a means of creating a collective experience. The sculpture can be played with a long stick, producing music that filters from the courtyard into the surrounding galleries, and unifying these spaces with vivid elements of sound and performance.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2015.14
- People
-
Carlos Amorales, Mexican (Mexico City, Mexico born 1970)
- Title
- Triangle Constellation
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Work Type
- sculpture
- Date
- 2015
- Culture
- Mexican
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/352128
Location
- Location
-
Level 1, Room 1000, Calderwood Courtyard
View this object's location on our interactive map
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Painted steel, chrome-plated steel, and rope
- Dimensions
- 670 x 332 cm (263 3/4 x 130 11/16 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Carlos Amorales, sold; [through, Kurimanzutto, Mexico City]; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2015.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Leslie Cheek, Jr.
- Copyright
- © Carlos Amorales, 2015
- Accession Year
- 2015
- Object Number
- 2015.14
- Division
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Contact
- am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Exhibition History
- 32Q: 1000 Courtyard, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/15/2015 - 01/01/2050
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Verification Level
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