Robert M. Wilson

Wilson is an acclaimed performer, visual artist, writer, and stage director known for his theatrical innovations and use of different mediums. Stalin Chairs consists of fiberglass armatures covered with sheets of lead. The work was inspired by the chair props used in Wilson’s 1973 opera The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin, which lasted for twelve hours and dealt with a transformative moment in Stalin’s life—the death of his first wife. The crucial moment of the opera was the scene in which two Stalins, representing his persona both before and after his wife’s death, appear seated in the chairs. This expressive work possesses an anthropomorphic character captured in the drapes and creases of the lead surface, which is an extremely soft material to model, and holds a monumental presence through the chairs’ size.