Oldenburg executed this drawing on wrinkled butcher paper found in the kitchen of the restaurant in Provincetown at which he worked in the summer of 1960. He exploited the material’s flexibility, crinkling and ripping it, and completed the work by adding, in crayon, a few schematic lines that loosely evoke the American flag. As a motif, flags proliferated in Oldenburg’s work, accommodating a great degree of formal and material experimentation. As the title indicates, Oldenburg intended this work to be folded and carried in a pocket.
Gallery label from Claes Oldenburg: The Street and The Store, April 14–August 5, 2013.
