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Michael Thorpe is a multimedia artist whose work in quilts often portrays his family and friends, as well as famous historical figures. Like other examples in this medium, Thorpe layers and pieces commercially available cloth, often leaving the edges raw and exposed, to create a portrait, which he finishes by machine quilting with batting and a piece backing cloth. This work depicts Thorpe’s friend and studio assistant, fellow artist Sven (Tio) Ohman of East Boston, seated next to a black dog in the outdoor space behind his apartment in Brooklyn. The sitter’s head resting on his pink hand against the muzzle of the dog and the potted plants, clothesline, and trees contrast with the hardscape pavement, fence, and buildings. The range of quilted patterns used by the artist adds layers of complexity to the disarming cartoon nature of figures shown in this urban environment. The piece of white batting is left exposed on the edges, functioning as an irregular frame.
Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
pink hand man
Michael C. Thorpe (American, born in 1993)
American
2022
Medium/Technique
Quilting fabric, batting, thread
Dimensions
Height x width: 120.7 × 90.8 cm (47 1/2 × 35 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Adrienne Iselin Gilbert Memorial Fund and Textile Income Purchase Fund
Accession Number2023.439
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsTextiles
Michael Thorpe is a multimedia artist whose work in quilts often portrays his family and friends, as well as famous historical figures. Like other examples in this medium, Thorpe layers and pieces commercially available cloth, often leaving the edges raw and exposed, to create a portrait, which he finishes by machine quilting with batting and a piece backing cloth. This work depicts Thorpe’s friend and studio assistant, fellow artist Sven (Tio) Ohman of East Boston, seated next to a black dog in the outdoor space behind his apartment in Brooklyn. The sitter’s head resting on his pink hand against the muzzle of the dog and the potted plants, clothesline, and trees contrast with the hardscape pavement, fence, and buildings. The range of quilted patterns used by the artist adds layers of complexity to the disarming cartoon nature of figures shown in this urban environment. The piece of white batting is left exposed on the edges, functioning as an irregular frame.
Signed
Signed, titled and dated on artist label verso
Provenance2023, sold by LaiSun Keane Gallery, Boston, MA to the MFA. (Accession date: June 21, 2023)