{"id":8794,"date":"2026-10-20T08:08:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T15:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8794"},"modified":"2026-10-20T08:08:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T15:08:33","slug":"revisit-claes-oldenburgs-seminal-six-themes-50-years-after-its-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8794","title":{"rendered":"Revisit Claes Oldenburg\u2019s Seminal \u2018Six Themes\u2019 50 Years After Its Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Revisit<\/p>\n

Claes Oldenburg\u2019s (1929-2022) most famous piece of writing is his statement titled \u201cI Am For\u2026<\/a>\u201d which graced an exhibition catalogue in 1961 and starts:<\/p>\n

\n

I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum. \/ I am for an art that grows up not knowing it is art at all, an art given the chance of having a starting point of zero. \/ I am for an art that embroils itself with the everyday crap and still comes out on top. \/ I am for an art that imitates the human, that is comic, if necessary, or violent, or whatever is necessary. \/ I am for all art that takes its form from the lines of life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips, and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"a
Claes Oldenburg comparing his model to the large-scale \u201cClothespin\u201d (1976), Cor-Ten steel, stainless steel, 45 x 12 3\/14 x 4 1\/2 feet. Center Square Plaza, Fifteenth and Market streets, Philadelphia. @ 1976 Claes Oldenburg, Photo \u00a9 Roxanne Everett\/Lippincott\u2019s, LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In all, the statement runs about 700 words. The piece is worth reading all the way through, especially for anyone stuck at a creative impasse, as Oldenburg later described it as a \u201cslightly satirical ode or paean to the possibilities of using anything in one\u2019s surroundings (mostly urban) as a starting point for art.\u201d \u201cI Am For\u2026\u201d is often described as a manifesto, although the artist insisted it was not. I happen to have the last line quoted above tattooed on my arm anyway.<\/p>\n

Claes Oldenburg\u2019s large-scale installations are iconic, typically taking everyday items and tools and ramping them up to a monumental size. Perhaps the most famous, \u201cSpoonbridge and Cherry\u201d (1988), was made in collaboration with his wife and fellow artist Coosje van Bruggen and has pride of place over a pond in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. At the entrance of the Denver Art Museum, \u201cBig Sweep\u201d (2006) depicts a broom whisking crumpled paper into a dust pan. And in the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., \u201cTypewriter Eraser, Scale X<\/a>\u201d (1998-99) depicts a giant vintage eraser with a small attached brush used to manually edit typewritten texts. <\/p>\n

The latter motif is also one of Oldenburg\u2019s \u201cSix Themes,\u201d explored in-depth from the 1970s onward. These subjects, which spurred myriad artworks apiece, consist of Geometric Mouse, Three-Way Plug, Fagends, Clothespin, Typewriter Eraser,<\/em> and Standing Mitt with Ball.\u00a0<\/em>Sketches and material explorations prompted numerous interpretations of these seemingly mundane objects. <\/p>\n

Oldenburg scaled up the clothespin, for example, so it stood like a giant figure, and he also produced soft prototypes made of stuffed, sewn canvas. He said that \u201ca requirement of any subject is that it be extremely adaptable, especially in scale, so that a small clothespin would be as interesting as a clothespin a hundred feet high.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"a
\u201c1st Eraser Prototype\u201d (1970), acrylic on sewn, stuffed canvas, overall: 18 1\/2 x 8 3\/4 x 3 inches. Photo by Steven Probert Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The artist was also sensitive to objects\u2019 potential for dynamism where we might not expect it. In \u201cTypewriter Eraser, Scale X,\u201d the round rubber wheel appears to careen across the lawn, its bristles getting blown back in the wind. (The first time I saw one of the Typewriter Eraser <\/em>works, I thought it was meant to be a wheel that had absconded from its vehicle.)<\/p>\n

Oldenburg privileged re-creating objects rather than utilizing found examples, so although they have a readymade-like quality, they\u2019re anything but. He studied his source material from every angle, working with a team to fabricate giant installations that retain the familiarity of the original but challenge viewers to see them afresh. Over time, as some of the original objects have become obsolete\u2014namely the typewriter eraser and the movie film projector, the profile view of which inspired the Geometric Mouse <\/em>works\u2014they\u2019ve assumed an unintentional abstraction.<\/p>\n

Several sculptures from the series go on view next month at Paula Cooper Gallery<\/a> in the aptly titled Six Themes, <\/em>which in turn takes its name from the landmark survey exhibition staged at the Walker Art Center in 1975. Afterward, the show traveled to the Denver Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.<\/p>\n

The new Six Themes <\/em>is an ode to Oldenburg\u2019s seminal pieces that have not been celebrated collectively since they were first shown 50 years ago. The exhibition includes significant works representing each of the half dozen subjects, including rarely seen examples from the artist\u2019s estate and private collections. The show opens on November 5 and continues through December 19 in New York.<\/p>\n

\"a
In collaboration with Coosje van Bruggen, \u201cFagend Study, Prototype\u201d (1976), cast aluminum painted with enamel, 10 x 18 1\/2 x 9 1\/4 inches. Photo by Steven Probert Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cGeometric Mouse \u2013 Scale C\u201d (1971), anodized aluminum, 8 x 10 3\/4 x 8 inches. Photo by Steven Probert Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cClothespin \u2013 4 Ft. \u2013 Soft Version\u201d (1975), canvas painted with latex and filled with kapok with
metal hanger and wooden clothespins, 56 1\/2 x 16 x 4 inches. Photo by Steven Probert Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cNotebook Page: Studies for Edition of Notepages, Unpublished \u2013 Typewriter Eraser and Punching Bag\u201d (1961), watercolor on offset, 5 1\/8 x 3 1\/8 inches. Photo by Steven Probert Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cStudy for a Civic Sculpture in the Form of a Mitt and Ball\u201d (1974), toy glove and ball, nails, wood, painted with spray enamel, pencil, 8 1\/2 x 11 1\/2 x 10 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Installation view of \u2018Claes Oldenburg: Six Themes\u2019 at MIT Hayden Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1976). Photo by Roger N. Goldstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Revisit Claes Oldenburg\u2019s Seminal \u2018Six Themes\u2019 50 Years After Its Debut<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claes Oldenburg\u2019s (1929-2022) most famous piece of writing is his statement titled \u201cI Am For\u2026\u201d which graced an exhibition catalogue in 1961 and starts: I am for an art that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}