supremely black
Haim Steinbach
American, born Israel 1944
1985
A sculptural display that places two glossy black ceramic pitchers and three boxed Bold detergents on a plastic‑laminated wood shelf, using ordinary packaged goods and simple materials to make a gallery presentation out of consumer objects.
The electric orange of the three Bold boxes jolts against the muted two‑tone shelf and the mirror‑black pitchers, producing a crisp, commercial clarity and a rhythmic imbalance between repetition and singular forms.
Part of Steinbach’s practice of treating retail shelving and packaged goods as sculptural elements, this work helped refract Pop and readymade strategies into a curatorial mode that makes branding, display, and everyday objects visible as cultural forms.
Medium
Plastic laminated wood shelf, ceramic pitchers, and cardboard detergent boxes
Dimensions
29 × 66 × 13" (73.7 × 167.6 × 33 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Hillman Periodicals Fund (by exchange)
Accession
555.2016.a-f
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
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