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Ron Nagle

Waiting for Jumbot, 2009

Description

Maker

  • Ron Nagle, b. 1939, American

Title

Waiting for Jumbot

Year

2009

Medium

Earthenware with glaze

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • clay products

Dimensions

12.1 x 16.5 x 9.5 cm (4 3/4 x 6 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches)

Place

Western

Type

  • Sculpture

Credit

Purchased with funds donated by Yvette Boisclair and Mark Mandell in honor of Judith Tannenbaum

Object Number

2009.94

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Stranger Than Paradise

July 14, 2017 - February 25, 2018

Waiting for Jumbot is part of Nagle’s ongoing Thin Fins series of ceramic scenes, developed between 1998 and 2002 and from 2007 to the present. Here a red cube-like form is placed a pinkish-gray stage-like setting that also resembles the ledge of a mountain. The work’s title and the cube’s isolation and the rough gray texture surrounding it suggest Samuel Beckett’s existentialist drama Waiting for Godot, as well as the famous 19th-century circus elephant, Jumbo.

Building Blocks

May 6, 2011 - March 25, 2012

Ron Nagle’s small-scale ceramic sculptures use complex, layered glazing techniques to create a range of surfaces—from smooth, liquid-like glosses to highly textured matte finishes. The process often involves firing each piece up to twenty times. Untitled, 1981, takes characteristic features of a cup (handle, lip, and foot, for
example) and alters them to the point of negating functionality. Waiting for Jumbot is from Nagle’s “weeorama” series, which evokes miniature tableaux or stage-sets. Its title refers to Samuel Beckett’s seminal play Waiting for Godot, imbuing the lone tiny red cube with a suggestive existential dimension. The title and matte gray glaze also evoke Jumbo, the famous 19th-century circus elephant, adding a note of humor.

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 Waiting for Jumbot with the accession number of 2009.94. 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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