1998.44, Jim Hodges, Changing Things, 1997


GENERAL DESCRIPTION  
Jim Hodges's art references ideas of traditional beauty and intense emotion. Drawing on commonly understood symbols, objects, and formats, Hodges expresses a spirit of human interconnectedness and interdependency in works that are richly metaphorical. In Changing Things, Hodges placed 342 individual components of disassembled artificial silk flowers in a rhythmic pattern across a wall. Flowers, a token of romance and death, are a recurring motif for Hodges. Here they function as a poignant memento mori, underscoring the transitory nature of life and love. Hodges evokes the fragility and precariousness of life while celebrating its mysteries and beauty.

Adapted from
  • Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Changing Things (1998.44); "and still this" (2008.33.a-j)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 348-49.
  • Charles Wylie, Celebrating Sculpture: Modern and Contemporary Works from Dallas Collections, 2003.
  • DMA unpublished material, 1998.

NOTES
  • updated geo x refs and provenance
Jim Hodges belongs to a generation of younger artists who have dared to reference ideas of traditional beauty and intense emotion. Drawing on commonly understood symbols, objects, and formats, Hodges expresses a spirit of human interconnectedness and interdependency in works that are richly metaphorical. In Changing Things, Hodges placed 342 individual components of disassembled artificial silk flowers in a rhythmic pattern across a wall. Flowers, a token of romance and death, are a recurring motif for Hodges. Here they function as a poignant memento mori, underscoring the transitory nature of life and love. For the visually arresting and still this, Hodges gilded the surfaces of ten canvases with gold leaf in nature-inspired patterns suggesting trees, water, and clouds. HInged together, the canvases form a freestanding semicircle that envelops the viewer in an environment of dazzling richness.

Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Changing Things (1998.44); "and still this" (2008.33.a-j)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 348-49.

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Cultures

Geography 

Process/materials

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS 

PROVENANCE 
Until 1998: CRG Gallery, New York, NY

From 1998: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from above

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

WEB RESOURCES 

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS

TEACHING IDEAS

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Apply to objects where number equals 1998.44

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General Description
 
Jim Hodges's art references ideas of traditional beauty and intense emotion. Drawing on commonly understood symbols, objects, and formats, Hodges expresses a spirit of human interconnectedness and interdependency in works that are richly metaphorical. In Changing Things, Hodges placed 342 individual components of disassembled artificial silk flowers in a rhythmic pattern across a wall. Flowers, a token of romance and death, are a recurring motif for Hodges. Here they function as a poignant memento mori, underscoring the transitory nature of life and love. Hodges evokes the fragility and precariousness of life while celebrating its mysteries and beauty.

Adapted from
  • Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Changing Things (1998.44); "and still this" (2008.33.a-j)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 348-49.
  • Charles Wylie, Celebrating Sculpture: Modern and Contemporary Works from Dallas Collections, 2003.
  • DMA unpublished material, 1998.

Fun Facts

Archival Resources

Web Resources
 

Notes
  • updated geo x refs and provenance
Jim Hodges belongs to a generation of younger artists who have dared to reference ideas of traditional beauty and intense emotion. Drawing on commonly understood symbols, objects, and formats, Hodges expresses a spirit of human interconnectedness and interdependency in works that are richly metaphorical. In Changing Things, Hodges placed 342 individual components of disassembled artificial silk flowers in a rhythmic pattern across a wall. Flowers, a token of romance and death, are a recurring motif for Hodges. Here they function as a poignant memento mori, underscoring the transitory nature of life and love. For the visually arresting and still this, Hodges gilded the surfaces of ten canvases with gold leaf in nature-inspired patterns suggesting trees, water, and clouds. HInged together, the canvases form a freestanding semicircle that envelops the viewer in an environment of dazzling richness.

Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Changing Things (1998.44); "and still this" (2008.33.a-j)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 348-49.

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Cultures

Geography 

Process/materials

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS 

PROVENANCE 
Until 1998: CRG Gallery, New York, NY

From 1998: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from above

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS

rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1998.44
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
@Bowling
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*Contemporary Art
installations (visual works): AAT: 300047896
romantic partners: AAT: 300400493
flowers (plants): AAT: 300132399
symbol: AAT: 300055878
patterning: AAT: 300248891
deaths: AAT: 300151836
rhythm (formal concept): AAT: 300056305
beauty (aesthetic concepts): AAT: 300055821
objects: AAT: 300312158
emotion: AAT: 300055150
Hodges_Jim: ULAN: 500115976
source file
object_notes_1_a-0226.xml.nores