Kanaga Field Iron

Artist Willie Cole (American, born 1955)

Date1997

Mediumwood

Dimensions110.5 x 198.1 x 96.5 cm (43 1/2 x 78 x 38 in.)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of Don and Mary Melville

Terms

Object number1998.215

Label TextSince the mid-1980s, Willie Cole has explored the iron as a domestic, symbolic, and aesthetic object—one that alluded to the devalued domestic labor of his African-American female forebears and also generated layers of narrative based on his African heritage. For example, marks carved into the handle of the Kanaga Field Iron intentionally conjured the simplified facial features of a Dogon Kanaga mask. In its oversize form, the iron’s close resemblance to an overturned boat hull resonated for Cole with the unjust history of the Middle Passage when so many died in their forced move from Africa. In his sculptures, Cole says he “rediscovers meaning that is already present.” Our sense of a prior life in this sculpture’s materials (both carved and found wood) is central not only to its symbolic transformation from appliance to vessel but also for its power to trigger thoughts about dislocation, migration, and passage. ProvenanceAlexander and Bonin, New York

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On view