Pollock Is … Crouching in My Pants”: Claes Oldenburg’s Ray Gun as Feminist Critique of the Abstract Expressionist Ego
Date of Award
2009
Document Type
Masters Research Paper
Degree Name
M.A.
Organizational Unit
School of Art and Art History, College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences
First Advisor
M. E. Warlick
Keywords
Claes Oldenburg 1929-, Criticism and interpretation, Abstract expressionism, Modernism
Abstract
The “seminal” piece of Claes Oldenburg’s Ray Gun art is Empire (Papa) Ray Gun (1959), a paper maché sculpted gun resembling an erect phallus and swollen testicles. After Empire (Papa) Ray Gun, Oldenburg defined Ray Gun art as anything with a right angle—a form representing the angle at which a handgun’s barrel and handle meet and/or where the erect penis and hanging testicles meet. The forms and tenants of Ray Gun continued into Oldenburg’s later installations, performances, and soft and monumental sculptures.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.
Recommended Citation
Kwapis, Beth A., "Pollock Is … Crouching in My Pants”: Claes Oldenburg’s Ray Gun as Feminist Critique of the Abstract Expressionist Ego" (2009). Art and Art History: Master's Research Papers. 286.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/art_mrp/286