The Soul of a Moth
Artist
Jimmie Durham
(USA, 1940 - 2021)
Alternate Title
- En nattfjärils själ
Date1997
MediumWooden table, cloth, obsidian, broken glass lamp with brass holder and wick
Dimensions133 x 49 x 45 cm (52 3/8 x 19 5/16 x 17 11/16 in.)
ClassificationSculptures
Credit LinePurchase 1998 with contribution from The Lovén Foundation
Countries
Object NumberMOMSK 267
The artwork is not on display
About the artworkA blow, a spark glitters… This stone, called obsidian, is neatly broken, showing its gleaming hard and beautiful surface; a broken night light, an extinguished candle and a hole burnt in the white cloth… A moth is dead, its spirit hangs heavily over the battlefield. These fragments form a sculpture with a clear message about the fragility of life: time, life and death are the cornerstones of a fatal drama, a three-dimensional still life. As always in Jimmie Durham's art this work is characterised by a tense relationship to its material, where the lamp - human light - meets the stone, implacable nature. As early as the Sixties Jimmie Durham emerged as a political activist, artist and poet in Houston, Texas. He trained to be a sculptor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva during the Seventies. He has participated in Art Biennals all over the world, especially during the Nineties. In an age with increasingly open frontiers, and where art is showing an increasing interest in other cultures than the traditional Western culture, Jimmie Durham has become one of the truly central figures in contemporary art. He is a deeply committed artist. A Cherokee Indian of the Wolf Tribe, he has worked actively on behalf of the Indians in North America and was their representative at the United Nations during the 1970s.
Signatures, inscriptions and marks Osignerad, Etikett på bordets undersida: "GALERIE NORDENHAKE / JIMMIE DURHAM / The Soule of a Moth / 113 x 49 x 45 cm / wood, cloth, obsidian / glass, brass" Selected exhibition history Ny presentation av samlingen (2000-2002) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Moderna Museet c/o Malmö Konsthall (2003) Malmö Konsthall Surrealism, samlingen (den 19 oktober 2024 - den 18 januari 2026) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Samlingsutställning 2004 - 2011 - I vår tid (2004 - 2011) Moderna Museet, Stockholm The Moderna Museet exhibition catalogues Moderna Museet c/o Malmö Konsthall : [Malmö Konsthall : 8 februari - 4 maj 2003]
Signatures, inscriptions and marks Osignerad, Etikett på bordets undersida: "GALERIE NORDENHAKE / JIMMIE DURHAM / The Soule of a Moth / 113 x 49 x 45 cm / wood, cloth, obsidian / glass, brass" Selected exhibition history Ny presentation av samlingen (2000-2002) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Moderna Museet c/o Malmö Konsthall (2003) Malmö Konsthall Surrealism, samlingen (den 19 oktober 2024 - den 18 januari 2026) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Samlingsutställning 2004 - 2011 - I vår tid (2004 - 2011) Moderna Museet, Stockholm The Moderna Museet exhibition catalogues Moderna Museet c/o Malmö Konsthall : [Malmö Konsthall : 8 februari - 4 maj 2003]