Sculpture — Mac Balentine

Un Chant d'Amour, 2019

archival pigment print on rag paper, latex rubber, MDF

36" x 37" x 34"

Tappen, 2019

mixed media

dimensions variable

Gummi Shark, 2019

latex rubber, stainless steel

16" x 14.5" x 6"

Washing the Dolphin, 2019

latex rubber, stainless steel

43" x 35" x 6"

Garland, 2019

chain, latex tubing, fountain pump, 3D-printed plastic, slime, mirror

10' x 4' x 3'

(Attributions: Pan with Bear Cubs by Oliver Laric (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); Golden Eagle Claw by Manuel Pichler (CC 3.0))

This sculpture takes its name from the bronze garland fashioned for Michelangelo’s David to hide the figure’s genitals after public outcry upon the statue's unveiling in 1504. Comprised of 28 fig leaves, this was the first use of the fig leaf to veil the body outside of biblical depictions of Adam and Eve. David's garland is re-imagined here as a vertical chain strung with 28 3-D-printed fig leaves. The series of fig leaves includes new renderings as well as reproductions from historical works of art, including Francis Picabia's The Fig Leaf (1922, painting), Marcel Duchamp’s Female Fig Leaf (1950, cast bronze) and Frances Stark’s My Best Thing (2011, video). The chain hangs down into a slime-filled Plexiglas cube. A fountain pump propels the slime upward through latex tubing to the top of the chain. The viscous liquid cascades slowly down chain links and over fig leaves before dripping back into the Plexiglas tank. The slime recirculates continuously.