{"data":{"id":"697","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":697,"topgoose_id":1798,"tms_id":697,"display_name":"Edward Kienholz","sort_name":"Kienholz Edward","display_date":"1927–1994","begin_date":"1927","end_date":"1994","biography":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1953 Edward Kienholz moved to Los\nAngeles, where he was instrumental in the\ndevelopment of the city’s burgeoning art\nscene and helped to found the Ferus\nGallery, a crucial venue for the nurturing of\nWest Coast assemblage, funk, and Pop\nart. Kienholz’s early work from the 1950s\nconsisted of relief paintings made by nailing\nscraps of wood to a support and spreading\nindustrial paint across their surfaces\nwith a broom. By 1958 these developed\ninto freestanding, three-dimensional\nassemblages and, by 1961, into the large-\nscale, life-sized sculptural installations he\ncalled “tableaux,” for which he is best\nknown. The components of these tableaux\nwere mainly found or discarded materials\nthat the artist scavenged from the street,\njunk stores, and flea markets—commonplace,\neven down-at-the-heels elements that\nnonetheless combined to provide\ncommentary on such significant issues as\nwar, crime, sexuality, religion, and racism.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/822\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Wait\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, one of Kienholz’s most\naffecting and morbid tableaux, addresses\nthe subject of aging and the loneliness\nand decay that can accompany it.\nIts centerpiece is the figure of an elderly\nwoman, her body shaped from cow\nbones and her face replaced by a glass\njar sporting a photograph of a young\nvisage on the front and an animal skull inside.\nPhotographs on a nearby table and\nmementos encased in a necklace of glass\ncanning jars offer poignant reminders of\nearlier, happier times, while the chirping\nof a live, caged parakeet underscores\nthe decrepitude of the rest of the scene.\nThe woman is alone with her sewing basket\nand a taxidermic cat; “the wait” named\nin Kienholz’s title is an anticipation of death.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500028686","wikidata_id":"Q583959","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:39:08.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-03-29T07:01:34.846-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/697/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/697/exhibitions"}}}}