Fishing

Artist Marisol (Escobar) (American (born France), 1930-2016)

Date1970

DimensionsH: 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm); W: 17 in. (43.2 cm); Depth: 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm)

MediumCast iridescent plastic

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

2010.13

Not on View

Label TextMarisol Escobar, who went by just Marisol, became famous in the 1960s for her wooden, box-like figurative sculptures assembled from found materials and casts of her own face and body parts. They depicted political figures, family groupings, and women at leisure or at gatherings and provided nuanced commentary on societal relationships and structures. Fishing is an example of a series of carved and cast human-faced fish sculptures she began in the 1970s. Throughout her career, often at moments when she felt heightened levels of pressure, Marisol would withdraw from New York’s art world and travel extensively. On a visit to Tahiti, the potent experience of scuba diving and taking underwater photographs inspired her fish series. In Fishing, the cast of the fish’s mouth is of Marisol’s own. Shown about to eat a smaller fish, it potentially speaks to the predatory aspects of the art world or broader society that drove her to travel. Celebrated during her day, Marisol fell out of the public eye in the 1970s. In recent years she has been getting recognition for her significant contribution to mid-20th century artistic movements, including Pop art.