Guitrum , 2016
26 x 42 in (h x w)
Please note: Image dimensions have been modified for online presentation. Actual dimensions are 13 x 21 x 8 inches. Wood, Duracal, wood putty, synthetic strings, Hardware, Delrin Courtesy of the artist and Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York Photo © Eric W. Baumgartner
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María Elena González (Havana, Cuba, 1957) presents a sculpture that also appears to be a fantastical musical instrument. Two drums are wrapped is a continuous band of wood that makes a distinctive s-curve through the instrument. The unusual title of the piece seems to suggest a mashup of a “guitar” and “drum,” tantalizing the viewer to about the music that may emanate from this unusual instrument. González has long been interested in sound, and more recently in music, as it relates to the visual arts. Her earliest works dealing with sound came while on an arts residency, when she noted the visual parallels between the distinctive white bark of a birch tree and of a cylindrical player piano roll. The visual parallel intrigued her, and she began a series of works that merged ideas of the natural world and music. The artist is particularly noted for the elegant geometric forms in her sculptures, and says “My interests with the tactility of sculpture and the primacy of form, the allure of materials and craft, and recombining materials and ideas, are of a primary nature to me.”

Plus de Lehman College Art Gallery

I WRITE THE SONGS , 2009
45 x 55 in (h x w)
Video Courtesy of the artist Photography: Peter Sterling
Lehman College Art Gallery
When Can We Start Playing , 2012
24 x 36 in (h x w)
Please note: Image dimensions have been modified for online presentation. Actual dimensions are 15 x 15 inches. Cut Paper Private Collection, Courtesy of Forum Gallery, New York, NY. © Cybèle Young;
Lehman College Art Gallery
A Change Is Gonna Come (Oh Yes It Will), , 2018
71 x 68 in (h x w)
Tambourines, metallic leather, suede, reflective plexiglas, grosgrain ribbon, lampwork glass Courtesy of Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, © Lava Thomas
Lehman College Art Gallery
Tambourine , 2016
32 x 24 in (h x w)
Denisyuk Hologram on Glass Courtesy of Johannes Vogt Gallery
Lehman College Art Gallery
Bakelite Robot , 2002
48 x 50 in (h x w)
Single Channel Video (color-silent) with LCD monitors and vintage Bakelite radios Courtesy of Gagosian © Nam June Paik Estate
Lehman College Art Gallery