Born in Chicago, artist Joe Zucker relocated to New York in 1968 and began showing with prominent collector and gallerist, Holly Solomon. Describing his art as “proletarian,” Zucker’s practice finds its roots in his innovative processes and utilitarian materials. Zucker explains his definition of “strong work” as “resonating with its materials, and the style that’s produced by the selection of materials. My lack of quintessential style allows my work to be open-ended.” (Joe Zucker in Chuck Close, "Artists in Conversation: Joe Zucker by Chuck Close,” BOMB, no. 100, Summer 2007)
Provenance
Holly Solomon Gallery, New York Private Collection
Exhibited
New York, New Museum, The 1970s: New American Painting, June 15, 1979 - February 10, 1981 Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Surfacing Images: The Paintings of Joe Zucker, 1969-1982, July 9 - August 29, 1982, no. 20, p. 31 (illustrated)
Literature
Chuck Close, "Artists in Conversation: Joe Zucker by Chuck Close", BOMB, no. 100, Summer 2007 (illustrated, online)
Catalogue Essay
"Using diverse tools cancels out the affectation of talent, of the hand...To create insistence in which one’s personal skill diminishes by processing a result that might be an eccentric approach to constructing a painting. It’s a way of avoiding the issues of the realist paradox while we’re abstracting." -Joe Zucker
signed, titled and dated ""Help let me out of Here" 1977 Joe Zucker" on the reverse acrylic, cotton and Rhoplex on canvas 60 1/4 x 96 1/4 in. (153 x 244.5 cm.) Executed in 1977.
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $11,875
Contact Specialist Rebekah Bowling
Head of Sale
New York
+ 1 212 940 1250