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Oldenburg emerged as a Pop artist in the early 1960s with his so-called “soft” sculptures of quotidian objects, such as this work. Here he transforms the toilet—a factory-produced, rigid porcelain symbol of modern hygiene—into a hand-sewn, pliable object made of stuffed vinyl.
18 lip 2022 · By placing a toilet on a pedestal, Soft Toilet is an obvious homage to Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (an upturned urinal presented as art in 1917). Like its infamous predecessor, it is a mundane feature of the modern home intended for private use as opposed to aesthetic contemplation.
Early soft sculptures include Giant BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich) (1963), French Fries and Ketchup (1963), and Soft Toilet (1966). Monumental Sculptures As he became increasingly immersed in sculpture, Oldenburg expanded the dimensions of his work.
The soft toilet embodies key characteristics of Pop Art by transforming a commonplace object into an artistic form that is both playful and oversized. This approach reflects the movement's interest in merging high art with everyday consumer items, emphasizing accessibility and humor.
2009 Included in exhibitions: Claes Oldenburg: early sculpture, drawings, happenings and films and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen: the music room, at Whitney Museum of American Art; Soft sculpture, at National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Death of wife and collaborator Coosje van Bruggen.
15 paź 2016 · With a prolific career spanning over fifty years, Claes Oldenburg has made a radical contribution to the history of sculpture by rethinking its materials, forms, and subject matter. This exhibition is devoted to Oldenburg’s soft sculptures, a body of work that he began developing in 1962.
Because they provide analogies with the human physiognomy and anatomy, one can see Oldenburg’s soft machines as a kind of reformulated figurative sculpture. In their humanization, the soft machines are the opposite of the dehumanized, mechanical figures of Cubist sculpture.
