Jimmie Durham

1991

Sculpture, 125 x 60 x 23 cm.
Materials: cast head, beads, paint, wood, photograph

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. BK006913-001).

The head of a reptile-like mouse is attached with yellow tape to a construction. This small head, painted in bright red and with one Plexiglas ear, is an armadillo' - an endangered animal with an armor consisting of strong bony plates, covered by horny skin. The animal is found in South and Central America and in the south-central states of the United States. Amongst other things, he eats animal remains and some believe that it searches for human remains on cemeteries. A black and white photograph is attached to the sculpture, at breast height. The picture seems to 'speak the language' of a B-movie. There are two figures: a dominant man in a black suit keeps another one imprisoned: a man with naked torso, tied to a chair with ropes. Durham purposely makes a 'speech error': the dominant man does not threaten the other with a pistol, but with the small head of an armadillo.