Untitled (Tornado series)
Artist
Gilda Snowden
(American, 1954-2014)
Date1998
MediumPastel on paper
DimensionsPaper Size: 41 1/2 × 29 1/2 in. (105.4 × 74.9 cm)
Frame Size: 53 1/8 × 40 1/2 in. (134.9 × 102.9 cm)
ClassificationsDrawing
Credit LineGift of Compuware, 2015
Object numberUAC6319
DescriptionSnowden returned often to the symbol of the tornado, an image which she stated gave her nightmares, in varying capacities throughout her oeuvre. The “Tornado Series,” created in the late 1980s through 1990s, focused on the repetition of this abstracted symbol of violent nature. While most of Snowden’s work has personal connections, the “Tornado Series” is especially poignant when viewed as a reaction to the passing of both of her parents in 1987. One can sense the emotional metaphors of disorientation, anger, and fear expressed in the bold, short strokes of black and red that make up a fractured, blurry image of chaos. Gilda Snowden, a prominent Detroit artist, received a BFA and MFA from Wayne State University. From 1985 until her early death, she was a Professor of Fine Arts at the College for Creative Studies and in 2009 she was awarded the prestigious Kresge Artist Fellowship. The work was purchased, and later donated, by James Pearson Duffy a passionate collector of Detroit Cass Corridor art (Detroit’s first avant-garde movement). Snowden is considered a second generation Cass Corridor artist, in that she worked alongside the first generation who were on faculty at Wayne State University.
Fiorucci
2/25/18
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