Joe Minter

Joe Minter

Artwork Details

TITLE

The First Fireplace

dATE

1998

Medium

Found metal, teapot, metal pot, metal ladle, metal fireplace tools, metal grate, chains

DIMENSION

55 x 36 x 13 1/2 in. (139.7 × 91.44 × 34.29 cm)

Minter uses found materials to create allegorical mixed-media critiques of the history of race and class inequities in the United States. Utilizing his training in construction and welding, he repurposes the detritus of rural life to create dense, geometrically complex, often anthropomorphic totems that mine African American history and the rich tradition of Southern yard art.

(from the Whitney 2019 Biennial catalog)