Untitled, from Ward 81

Mary Ellen Mark

1979

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A contiguous chain of light grey paper ovals adhered to a blank white field and running horizontally in the lower half of the paper.
Black and white photograph of Sloss Furnaces
A very low, floor-bound wooden sculpture composed entirely of vertical elements. It is constructed in the shape of a glacial river. The sculpture is rudimentarily crafted out of architectural model building materials; doorways are cut into the walls of the sculpture at irregular intervals.
The painting's foreground is reddish pink. A red "horizon" line delineates this section and a pale pink background. A linear arrangement of Images/objects stand at the horizon. Most are recognizable and recurrent Guston objects: a pair of skinny, upturned legs in hobnail shoes, a knife blade, portion of a brick chimney or wall, a tool handle, the back of a stretched, oval canvas. Other areas are simply shapes or areas of paint. A red-outlined rectangle hovers at the painting's top left. Rendered in a palate of queasy rose and gray with punches of green, orange, and ochre, this cryptic configuration is compositionally direct, like a comic panel.