Donna Dennis

(American, b.1942)

Night roof

1987
Three dimensional construction printed on HMP paper, cut and folded into a 3D diorama and contained in a Perspex box, as issued
Edition of 18
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Overall: 19 x 20 x 13 inches (48.26 x 50.8 x 33.02 cm)

Price on request

Lithograph printed in two colors, a fine, fresh impression of the only known state, printed on HMP paper,  to the edges, cut and folded into a 3D diorama, signed, darted and numbered in white pencil by the artist, executed in edition of 18 (there were also proofs but presently unknown) printed by and published by Sharks, Ink, in very fine condition, contained in the original Perspex box, as issued.

Note:

Donna Dennis is an American sculptor, painter, printmaker and writer. She is one of a small group of groundbreaking women, including Alice Aycock, Jackie Ferrara, Alice Adams and Mary Miss, who pushed sculpture toward the domain of architecture in the early 1970s, a  sensibility that has been called the Architectural Sculpture movement.  The artist finds beauty in places shaped by ordinary people, which become repositories for memory and feelings.  Her seemingly familiar yet often darkly mysterious sites evoke memories, encourage reflection and allude to the transient nature of life.  Drawing from overlooked fragments of rural and urban  vernacular American architecture, her hand-crafted sculptures – tourist cabins, hotels, subway stations, roller coasters – have represented stopping places on the journey through life.  Her bold, life size installations of scaled down urban structures – often with sound – stand in for the human presence.  Her subject is not pure architecture or sculpture but portals to a metaphorical journey through life. 

In the present work, the artist shows us the view of a New York City rooftop at night, empty, yet full of the promise of things about to happen.  It is an excellent example of the artist’s interest in architecture as sculpture.