Provenance
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris
Catalogue Essay
The place of your origin always stays in you, no matter how you wish to deal with it. At the same time, I find discussing the issues of national identity less and less interesting. It seems that now it has become solely a public relations term. You know, national pavilions, international quotas at biennials, etc. If you master the right nationality, it might prove very beneficial.

-Piotr Uklanski

(“A Conversation Uklanski/Cattelan,” Flash Art, No. 236, 2004)

Though he now divides his time between the United States and Poland, Piotr Uklanski still identifies himself as a Polish artist, creating works imbued with rich nationalistic (and at times subtly subversive) symbolism from both countries. Emboldened by Poland’s rich history, Uklanski fearlessly explores potentially controversial subjects to produce works that often incite polemical reactions. He utilizes the material of history and political flashpoints to powerful effect. His photographic series Untitled (The Nazis), for instance, caused protests when they were exhibited at The Photographers Gallery in London, in 1998. Soliciting a contrary but equally powerful response, in comparison, was his billboard of Pope John II, exhibited on the streets of Warsaw, spontaneously turned into a memorial shrine upon the Pope’s death in 2005.
For the present work, Uklanski has chosen a deeply layered symbol. The eagle, the national symbol of both the United States and Poland, has long been associated with power, liberty and freedom. Eagle imagery can be traced as far back as the cave walls of the Stone Age, through both the Roman and Holy Roman Empires—even Napoleon chose the eagle as his seal. Still today, Eagles grace the coat of arms of Poland, Austria, Germany, Egypt, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Armenia, and the United States, among others.
The eagle, both in Poland and America alike, is as much a part of daily culture as it is a representation of historical statehood. Eagles are found on flags, all official documents, seals, buildings and currency. The same eagle found on the back of the quarter, holding a bundle of arrows and resting atop the olive branch—symbolic of the power of war and peace—is the eagle Uklanski has drawn upon for Untitled (Eagle, American). His employment of light and utilitarian materials helps to create a work that plays off yet draws on the triumphant ambitions and aggrandizing stagecraft of politics.
Wings outstretched, clutching a bundle of thirteen arrows in its talons, here Uklanski has rendered this historical and political icon in Styrofoam. By interpreting the eagle in Styrofoam, Uklanski is perhaps invoking the fragility of the medium as a means to comment on the tenuousness of democracy. Still, he treats the symbol with the utmost respect, to the point that one could imagine seeing it on the side of any state building or government office. His handling of the medium and subject is neither sarcastic nor subversive enough to make an overt statement on the history and politics of the targeted nations—instead it finds itself entangled in the already complicated histories of both countries. In this way, Uklanski has managed to distill what is a highly charged political and cultural symbol into a complex vision of nationalistic iconography.
This striking work evokes an overwhelming, yet subtle sense of dignity and respect. Part of a Polish continuum, here isolated from the bureaucratic communism and the humiliations associated with World War II, this work demands respect and creates a distinguished artistic statement. Simultaneously alluding to both Polish and American nationalism, this work instigates the viewer to automatically compare Uklanski’s nationalism with their own American brand of patriotism, despite the difference between the two countries’ histories.

12

Piotr Uklański

Untitled (Eagle, American)

2006
Styrofoam.
78 x 118 x 6 1/4 in. (198.1 x 299.7 x 15.9 cm).
This work is from an edition of three plus one artist’s proof.

Estimate
$250,000 - 350,000

Sold for $242,500

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

4 March 2011
New York

1
Kelley Walker and Wade Guyton
Paint Cans (from Dear Ketel One drinker hello again)
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $27,500
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2
Wolfgang Tillmans
Freischwimmer 20
Estimate $30,000 - 40,000
Sold for $50,000
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3
Urs Fischer
Ohne Titel (Geige)
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $146,500
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4
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $194,500
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5
Cady Noland
No Title
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $230,500
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6
This lot is no longer available.
7
Albert Oehlen
Das Gewicht der Ladung
Estimate $70,000 - 100,000
Sold for $230,500
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8
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Pink Butterfly Green mg03)
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $434,500
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9
Jim Hodges
Once Together / Apart
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
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10
Michaël Borremans
The Veils
Estimate $150,000 - 250,000
Sold for $170,500
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11
Thomas Ruff
Zycles 3041
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $98,500
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12
Piotr Uklański
Untitled (Eagle, American)
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $242,500
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13
Jack Pierson
Some fucked up notion of a dream
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $116,500
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14
Raymond Pettibon
No Title (Measuring Up)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
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15
Andy Warhol
Detail of the Last Supper / Be a Somebody with a Body
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $602,500
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16
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled (After Sam)
Estimate $700,000 - 900,000
Sold for $902,500
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17
Steven Parrino
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $68,500
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18
Richard Prince
Untitled (Tire Planter, black)
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $80,500
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19
Jack Goldstein
Untitled
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $98,500
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20
Andy Warhol
Vesuvius
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
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21
Tom Sachs
Chanel Fountain
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $62,500
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22
Ross Bleckner
Pausing and inhaling
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
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23
Raoul De Keyser
Untitled
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $50,000
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24
Keith Haring
Untitled
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $386,500
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25
Donald Judd
Untitled 1978 (7.78 Judd)
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $68,500
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26
Agnes Martin
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $104,500
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27
Ugo Rondinone
Sunrise, august, west
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $182,500
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28
Gregor Hildebrandt
Wenn ich mir was Wünschen dürfte [M.D. auf Omas Tapete]
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $40,000
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29
Banks Violette
Black noise (Ampeg BA - 115) for S.P.
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
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30
Adel Abdessemed
Le mythe de Sisyphe
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
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31
Richard Phillips
NEW MUSEUM
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $158,500
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

4 March 2011 New York

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

12

Piotr Uklański

Untitled (Eagle, American)

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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4 March 2011
New York