Robert Therrien

No Title (Beard Cart)

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About this artwork

Robert Therrien has used fake beards and such prosthetics as fake noses in a number of his sculptures and installations. Placed on stands on a mobile trolley as though they are being presented for sale, the beards in this work vary in scale from larger than life to miniature versions. Fake beards suggest strategies for disguise that might be used in the theatre or for espionage. Beards also conjure up the magical and mythical men of fairy-tales and legends. These tactile objects may be an unusual subject for sculpture, but invested with independence and monumentality in their installation here they are transformed into a formal display that emphasises their symbolic function.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Robert Therrien (1947 - 2019) American
  • title:
    No Title (Beard Cart)
  • date created:
    2004
  • materials:
    Steel plate, stainless steel, plastic, wood, rubber, human hair and plaster
  • measurements:
    223.50 x 116.20 x 122.10 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Presented by the artist 2010
  • accession number:
    AR01128
  • gallery:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Robert Therrien

Robert Therrien