David Hammons

Untitled

A sequence of cooking pans, rubber tubing, and gold chains hang from a nail. If thrown on the ground, David Hammons’s Untitled would look like everyday junk collected on a city street. Through the assemblage of unrelated objects, Hammons’s sculptural practice presents unexpected symbols of daily life through emotive sensibilities.

Aged and damaged, the skillets and pans featured in Untitled contribute to an elevated color scheme. A bodily shape emerges out of Hammons’s discarded materials. Black, silver, and gold, trimmed with necklace-like chains, suggest an elegant outfit.

Based in New York City, Hammons employs critical wit to contemplate material symbols, especially those related to a Black urban experience. While his sculptures recall Dadaist ready-mades, Hammons’s works expand upon the cultural value of found components.