Jonathan Borofsky - Human Structures #1
American, b.1942
Human Structures #1, 2005
Screenprint, 60 x 51 inches
Edition 22/35
Gemini G.E.L.
06.001

Gift of the Global MBA Class of 2006

Borofsky took an unconventional route to his artistic accomplishments. After graduating from Carnegie Tech in 1949, he traveled to France to study at L’ Ecole du Fontainebleau, where he began counting. He would count everyday from then on, from one to infinity. Often, his finished work would carry not his signature, but the number he had reached that day. Borofsky is most known for being a pioneer in site specific art, like his massive sculptures and large gallery installations.

Jonathan Borofsky has focused almost exclusively on large-scale public sculpture for the past decade. This print is related to an installation, Human Structures, which he completed in 2006 at Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. The installation consisted of approximately 2,000 brightly colored, interlocking male and female figures made of transparent Lexan (a high-end industrial strength plastic). The figures were male and female icons assuming the posture of just-begun snow angels, their colorful hues suggesting Lifesavers candy. They connected at the hands, feet, and heads with little pins and hinges, interlocking to create a permeable structure that weaved through the gallery space. It was as though the modular concerns of Sol LeWitt met the prefab production aesthetic of IKEA.