Poderosa (Powerful)

Artist Ed Paschke (American, 1939 - 2004)

Publisher Landfall Press (American)

Date1991

MediumColor lithograph on paper

DimensionsPlate: 26 1/4 × 35 inches (66.68 × 88.9 cm)
Sheet: 30 × 40 inches (76.2 × 101.6 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the Print Society

Object numberF92-5

Signedbottom margin, pencil: "4/60 "Poderosa" E. Paschke '91"

Edition/State/Proof4/60

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DescriptionOn rounded, dark-edged red rectangle like television screen, yellow-skinned mask-like head, left, looking down, with box-cropped brown hair, tattoos on cheeks and forehead, ears crossed by horizontal black lines, eye sockets enclosing triangle-edged red ovals overlaid with horizontal black lines; center, small black footprint and handprint; right, upright green glove with two center fingers covered, two outer fingers bare, gold cross on palm; no thumb.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Paschke is known for his surreal and disturbing images, often of iconic heads floating in a space reminiscent of a television screen disturbed by electronic interference. In Poderosa (Powerful) he captures the image of a tattooed mask floating next to a glove, perhaps worn by a Roman Catholic Cardinal. The mask and glove shimmer with an eerie thinness and a radiant glow. The image seems fleeting and ephemeral, like television in the process of constant change.

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