Notations for Streets, No. 14

Artist Siah Armajani American, born Iran, 1939–2020

Date1992

MediumMixed media, Liquitex paint on cardboard

Dimensions48 x 28 x 6 in. (121.9 x 71.1 x 15.2 cm)

ClassificationsMixed Media

Credit LineGift of Mary and Jim Patton

Object number2014.20.2

On View

Not on view

Label TextNotations for Streets, No. 14 belongs to Siah Armajani’s Streets series. These mixed-media creations are small-scale cityscapes—from street view, naturally—featuring dollhouse furniture to complete each creative assemblage. The main issue here concerns spatial relations. The effect of Armajani’s mishmash of items is both charming and jarring; how should we, as viewers, read it? Are we looking at these doll-size elements from above (as it may appear in the lower register of the panel), or across, as a city skyline in the upper portion of the work? Armajani’s street view is a humorous combination of opposites that leaves much to the imagination of the viewer.
[L. Dougherty, 2015]ProvenanceCreated Minneapolis, 1992; collection of the artist; [Max Protetch Gallery, New York]; Mary and James R. Patton Jr., Great Falls, VA, August 1993; given to NCMA, 2014.
Published ReferencesM.B. [Megan Bahr], entry for Notations for Streets, No. 14 in Space, Abstraction and Freedom: Twentieth-Century Art from the Collection of Mary and Jim Patton (exhibition catalogue) (Chapel Hill: Ackland Art Museum, 2001), no. 1, illus. (color) 31.
Exhibition HistoryChicago, IL, The Arts Club of Chicago, “Streets: Sculpture and Notations,” September 16–November 7, 1992, illus. (b-w) as Streets #14.

New York, NY, Max Protetch Gallery, “Siah Armajani: ‘Streets’,” April 29–June 12, 1993.

Chapel Hill, NC, Ackland Art Museum, “Space, Abstraction and Freedom: Twentieth-Century Art from the Collection of Jim and Mary Patton,” September 9–November 11, 2001, no. 1, illus. (color) 31.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “The Patton Collection: A Gift to North Carolina,” March 28–August 23, 2015.
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