Alex Hay, Paper Bag, 1968. Fiberglass, epoxy, paint and paper, overall: 59 1/4 × 29 1/4 × 17 3/4 in. (150.5 × 74.3 × 45.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art 69.9
During the 1960s, Alex Hay made deadpan, over-scaled copies of disposable objects like a cash register slip, a page from a yellow legal note pad, toilet paper, and a paper airplane. Standing at nearly 5 feet, Paper Bag is an enlarged rendering of its diminutive source. Hay coated the sculpture’s paper skeleton with fiberglass, epoxy, resin, and paint to achieve a rigid surface and thoroughly realistic appearance, which features wrinkles, tears, saw-tooth edges, and a brand insignia. In Paper Bag, as in all of Hay’s large-scale sculptures of everyday items, the artist’s labor-intensive process stands in deliberate contrast to the ubiquity and unimportance of the throwaway objects he depicts so precisely.
Not on view
Date
1968
Classification
Sculpture
Medium
Fiberglass, epoxy, paint and paper
Dimensions
Overall: 59 1/4 × 29 1/4 × 17 3/4 in. (150.5 × 74.3 × 45.1 cm)
Accession number
69.9
Credit line
Purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art
Rights and reproductions
© artist or artist's estate
Exhibitions
Installation photography
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Installation view of Sixties Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 24, 2025–January 19, 2026). From left to right: James Rosenquist, The Light That Won’t Fail I, 1961; Robert Arneson, Klick, 1965; Robert Arneson, Call Me Lover, 1965; Alex Hay, Paper Bag, 1968; Joseph Raffael, Man, Boy, Doe, c. 1967; Gunvor Nelson and Dorothy Wiley, SCHMEERGUNTZ, 1965; Vija Celmins, House #1, 1965. Artworks © 2025 James Rosenquist Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY; © 2025 Estate of Robert Arneson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY; © Alex Hay; © The Estate of Joseph Raffael; Courtesy Filmform and the artists; © Vija Celmins. Photograph by Ron Amstutz, digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art
From the exhibition Sixties Surreal
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Installation view of Sixties Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 24, 2025-January 19, 2026). From left to right: Lee Lozano, No Title, 1964; James Rosenquist, The Light That Won’t Fail I, 1961; Alex Hay, Paper Bag, 1968; Paul Thek, Untitled, 1966; Joseph Raffael, Man, Boy, Doe, c. 1967; Claes Oldenburg, Soft Toilet, 1966; Gunvor Nelson and Dorothy Wiley, SCHMEERGUNTZ, 1965; Vija Celmins, House #1, 1965; Ed Ruscha, Give Him Anything and He'll Sign It, 1965; Karl Wirsum, Gargoyle Gargle Oil, c. 1969; Martha Rosler, Kitchen I, or Hot Meat, c. 1966-72; Martha Rosler, Damp Meat, c. 1966-72; Karl Wirsum, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, 1968. Artworks © Estate of Lee Lozano; © 2025 James Rosenquist Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY; © Alex Hay; © Estate of Paul Thek; © The Estate of Joseph Raffael; © Claes Oldenburg; Courtesy Filmform and the artists; © Vija Celmins; © Ed Ruscha; © The Estate of Karl Wirsum; © Martha Rosler, courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York. Photograph by Ron Amstutz, digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art
From the exhibition Sixties Surreal