A Ticket to Ride

Artist David Avery (American, born 1952)

Date2011

MediumEtching on Zerkall Laid Cover

DimensionsImage: 4 7/8 × 11 1/8 inches (12.38 × 28.26 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/8 × 17 3/16 inches (25.72 × 43.66 cm)

Credit LineGift of Catherine L. Futter

Object number2018.25

SignedIn pencil, below lower right corner of the image, “Avery”

InscribedIn pencil, below lower left corner of image, “15/30”; in pencil, below center of image, “A Ticket to Ride…”

Edition/State/Proof15/30

On View

Not on view

Collections

Contemporary Art

Terms

DescriptionThis horizontal, black and white print features a mostly nude human figure, likely male, holding a jousting lance and riding a horse-shaped attachment constructed on a simple railroad handcar, positioned left of center on a railroad track, moving toward the right. The horse is a ghastly combination of mechanical and fleshy parts. It’s missing its back legs below the knee and is attached to the handcar at that knee and around its buttocks. Its torso, front legs, neck, and head are cantilevered over the front of the handcar. The figure holding the reins wears only a helmet with a visor, a watch, and thin straps forming an X on his back. The shaft of his lance is partially splintered, partially covered with fur, and corkscrew-shaped right behind the head of the lance, which seems to be aflame. Horse and rider are reflected in an oval mirror held by skeletal hands above a chevron-striped half-wall that marks the end of the track. A skull lies at the wall’s base. Leaves and/or feathers are placed beside the hands holding the mirror. A water tank stands isolated in the background behind the railroad tracks, clouds behind it. An assortment of seemingly-random objects are suspended by cables and ropes from the top edge of the picture plane between the mirror and the rider. Disembodied hands reach down from the upper left corner to work the crank of the handcar. A rose falls from the sky between the crank and the rider. Cans are strung along behind the handcar, books fly into the air in its wake, and the wood of the rail tracks seems to wreck as the car rolls over it.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

None

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by Catherine L. Futter, Fairway, KS, April 2018–May 23, 2018;

Her gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, May 23, 2018.

Published References

None

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