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Renée Stout

Red Room at Five (F), 1999

Description

Maker

  • Renée Stout, b. 1958, American

Title

Red Room at Five (F)

Year

1999

Medium

chromogenic color print

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • chromogenic color print

Dimensions

Image: 11.5 x 15.3 cm (4 1/2 x 6 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

On verso,in ink LL corner: "(f) RS."

Identification

Edition

8/13 portfolio edition

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Photographs

Credit

Mary B. Jackson Fund

Object Number

2000.98F

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Bodies of Evidence

July 1 - September 25, 2005

African Affinities

January 19 - March 25, 2001

Renee Stout's art draws on African beliefs and practices, African-American traditions, and personal history. She is best known for her sculpture and installations incorporating found and constructed objects that deftly intermingle real-life stories, religious or cultural beliefs, and her own fantasies. Love and longing are major themes in her work. Although Red Room at Five is atypical in medium, it is entirely typical in content.

The piece was inspired by a friend's bedroom painted completely red and decorated with gold accents. Stout found it the perfect stage for acting out, in her words, a "short story." In looking at the series, we construct our own narratives from her performance. The small scale of the pictures and their intense color heighten the intimacy and anticipation expressed in the scene. The room itself will likely inspire viewers to fantasize about its owner.

The series also tells the story of Erzulie. Erzulie is a group of three female Haitian Vodou spirits tied to the African Yoruba goddess of love and sweet waters, Oshun. Allusions to Erzulie abound in Stout's work, and embossed on the portfolio cover for Red Room at Five is Erzulie's vévé, or symbol. Stout seems to play the role of the Erzulie Freda, described by one of the earliest writers on Haitian Vodou, Maya Deren, as "the divinity of the dream, the Goddess of Love, and the muse of beauty." Lovers repeatedly disappoint Erzulie Freda. She is sometimes associated with red dresses, which express her sensuality and sexuality. She craves perfume, candles, and things glittering and gemlike. Stout seems to adopt this character to assert her own desires and to take control of her dreams.

Related

No Image Available

Renée Stout

Red Room at Five, 1999
Z0019032.jpg

Renée Stout

Red Room at Five (A), 1999
Z0019033.jpg

Renée Stout

Red Room at Five (B), 1999
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Renée Stout

Red Room at Five (C), 1999
Z0019035.jpg

Renée Stout

Red Room at Five (D), 1999
Z0019036.jpg

Renée Stout

Red Room at Five (E), 1999
No Image Available

Renée Stout

Two Colophons for Renée Stout's Red Room at Five Portfolio, 1999

More objects +

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Red Room at Five (F) with the accession number of 2000.98F. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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