drawing
- Museum number
- 2000,0520.10
- Description
-
Poison Drawing, drawing has been folded in the middle in order to create identical impression of abstract shape on either side of crease. 1997
Snake venom and ink
- Production date
- 1997
- Dimensions
-
Height: 610 millimetres
-
Width: 610 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Parker describes the process of making the drawings as follows:
'In the 'Poison' and 'Antidote' drawings (nb 'Antidote' drawing 2000-5-20-11), which is a series of linked pairs, I began with the idea of different sorts of oppositional things. I was thinking of Hitler and Freud, for example, in terms of how they seem to personify contrasting parts of the psyche. I also wanted to make something physically dangerous. The idea of poison appealed to me when I thought of someone literally dropping dead on reading a 'poisoned' letter...Mixing snake venom and ink had a lot of resonance for me and using Rorschach blots was significant as I could not fully dictate the result. The drawings literally come from the material...I used Parker 'Quink' and this created a fluid substance which rendered soft, almost oriental shapes...The way I thought about the antidote drawing is that it should be molecular in form, rather like antibodies in the body. By dropping the mixture of anti-venom and correction fluid onto the paper the final form was, once again, beyond my control.' Quotation from unidentified source (London Institute publication?), see artist's dossier.
This work is not fixed.
See also 2000 Feb-April, Boston, Institute of Contemporary Art, Cornelia Parker.
Label text from 2008-9 Sept.-Jan BM, British Sculptors' Drawings
Cornelia Parker is fascinated by opposites and transformations. Her most striking piece, 'Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View', (1991) was an exploded garden shed whose fragments the artist hung by wires around a single light bulb. In these two drawings the artist wanted to explore the linkage of opposite pairs: 'I was thinking of Hitler and Freud...they seem to personify contrasting parts of the psyche ...I also wanted to make something physically dangerous...mixing snake venom and ink had a lot of resonance for me and using Rorschach blots was significant as I could not fully dictate the result.'
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2001 May-Sep BM, P&D, 'Paper Assets' (no cat.)
2008-9 Sept.-Jan BM, British Sculptors' Drawings, no cat.
2019-2020 Sep-Jan, London, BM, G90, Pushing Paper: Contemporary drawing from 1970 to now
2020 29 Feb - 17 Mar, Durham, Oriental Museum, Pushing Paper: contemporary drawing from 1970 to now
2020 19 Sep-23 Oct and 11-29 Nov, Swansea, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Pushing Paper: contemporary drawing from 1970 to now
2021-2022 2 Oct – 5 Feb, Barnsley, Cooper Gallery, Pushing paper: contemporary drawing from 1970 to now
2022 2 Apr-4 Jun, Stromness, Pier Arts Centre, Pushing paper: contemporary drawing from 1970 to now
- Acquisition date
- 2000
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 2000,0520.10