Grand Coulee Dam, Douglas County, WA (#17)

Toshio Shibata (Japanese, born in 1949)

1996

Medium/Technique Photograph, gelatin silver print

Dimensions Image: 92.4 x 114.9 cm (36 3/8 x 45 1/4 in.)
Sheet: 104.5 x 128.9 cm (41 1/8 x 50 3/4 in.)
Framed: 114.3 x 134 x 5.1 cm (45 x 52 3/4 x 2 in.)

Credit Line Museum purchase with funds donated by John and Olivia Parker

Accession Number1999.9

NOT ON VIEW

CollectionsAsia, Contemporary Art, Photography

ClassificationsPhotographs

In Shibata's Grand Coulee Dam, the dam itself, while powerfully present, is scarcely visible. Water flows over an immense surface in converging streams and columns, its inexorable rush in tension with the massive structure that holds it back. The vertiginous view is intentionally disorienting, with trails of foam easily misread as calligraphic clouds. The enormous size of the print showcases the confrontation between the natural and artificial worlds, reduced to an abstract idea of force and power.

InscriptionsVerso, stamped in blk ink, ctr: Photo & Print by; and signed in pencil: T. Shibata
Verso, in pencil, l.r.: 4/10
Verso, stamped in black ink: (c) Toshio Shibata

ProvenanceThe artist; Laurence Miller Gallery, New York; from whom purchased March 24, 1999.