Five for Friday, written by a variety of MoMA staff members, is our attempt to spotlight some of the compelling, charming, and downright curious works in the Museum’s rich collection.
The exhibition <a href="http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1572" target=blank">Andy Warhol: Campbell’s Soup Cans and Other Works, 1953–1967</a> opens tomorrow (April 25), and as the title implies, the show’s focal point is Warhol’s iconic 1962 <a href="http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/audios/57/1098" target=blank">suite of 32 paintings</a> of, well, Campbell’s Soup cans. Strangely, the early 1960s appear to have been a fertile time for what I guess we should call “can art.” Jasper Johns’s Painted Bronze of 1960—a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/arts/design/moma-lands-jasper-johnss-painted-bronze.html" target=blank">recent gift to MoMA</a>—is a prime example, and it joins several others in the Museum’s collection.
So why cans? Beats me. Ubiquity, maybe. Or something about consumerism. Cylinders seem pretty easy to paint. Whatever the reasons, artists seem to love the things, which means we love ’em, too. So in honor of Andy Warhol’s can-do attitude (sorry!), here’s a selection of five other can-centric works from MoMA’s collection.
1. Hi Red Center with Genpei Akasegawa, Natsuyuki Nakanishi, Jiro Takamatsu. Canned Mystery. 1964
Speaking of aptly titled works, this can’s contents are a literal mystery: the artists in the <a href="http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2013/01/30/exhibiting-fluxus-mapping-hi-red-center-in-tokyo-1955-1970-a-new-avant-garde-2" target=blank">enigmatic Fluxus collective Hi Red Center</a> certainly aren’t telling. (And this mystery approaches X-Files proportions: several groups of mystery cans were included in the Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection, which was <a href="http://press.moma.org/wp-content/press-archives/PRESS_RELEASE_ARCHIVE/FluxusFinalRelease.pdf" target=blank">acquired by MoMA in 2009</a>.)
2. Jasper Johns. Working proof for Ale Cans. 1964
The Painted Bronze mentioned above features a coffee can, but Johns also made a number of works (including another of his most recognizable painted bronzes) depicting a pair of Ballantine Ale cans. The lithographic proof above is one of several versions in the collection.
3. Piero Manzoni. Artist’s Shit No. 014. 1961
Since this multiple (of 90!) was created using steel cans, there’s no way of knowing just how accurate the title truly is (at least, not without popping one open—and I’ll pass). Yet several people close to the artist claim he was as good as his word, which would mean Manzoni had a very…interesting 1961. (You can read more about Artist’s Shit <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/manzoni-artists-shit-t07667/text-summary" target=blank">at the Tate’s website</a>.)
4. Haegue Yang. Can Cosies – Pomodori Pelati 400g. 2010
You can’t have all these cans without cosies—we call them coozies back home—but there’s much more to Yang’s work than keeping beer cold. Luckily, <a href="http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/01/13/haegue-yangs-can-cosies" target=blank">there’s already a whole blog post</a> about them!
5. Harvey J. Finison. Can Opener. 1977
If you’re tempted to end the canned mystery of #1 above (or, god forbid, #3), you’ll need a sturdy can opener, and this no-frills synthesis of form and function certainly fits the bill. Harvey Finison gave these to the Museum back in 1978, the year after they were introduced by his Northampton Cutlery Company.