Duane hanson biography summary
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Hanson started to produce visceral pieces in this vein, his first of note being Abortion - a white cloth veils a life-size version of a woman in the early stages of pregnancy - in 1966. James (citing Marinescu) writes, "The sculptures seem to be daring people to look at them at the same time as challenging the viewer to politely avoid staring [they] provide the viewer with the opportunity to ignore the 'rules of appropriate social proximity and etiquette' and 'approach the lifelike sculptures and stare, visually dissecting them and transgressing boundaries otherwise respected in the everyday life'.
And it is his "ordinariness" that endears him to us (should we be so observant as to be able to spot him, of course); our guard is both the viewer and the viewed. This reaction didn't derail Hanson's ambitions, however. It was one of the last of these more sensationalist pieces before he shifted focus onto more mundane aspects of contemporary American life.
Fiberglass, polyester, original clothing - Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna
1971
Woman Eating
This woman is looking a little disheveled.
In fact, Hanson often called on family and friends to model for his sculptures (his children Maja and Duane helped out with Children Playing Game (1979), Child with Puzzle (1978), Cheerleader (1988)) but it is not a family portrait as such. After him are Erik Olin Wright (1947), Gina Torres (1969), Debra Jo Rupp (1951), Jane Bowles (1917), Bob Backlund (1949), and Timothy Pickering (1745).
Others born in United States
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Jerry Schatzberg
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James Shigeta
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Courtney B.
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ACTOR
1960 - Present
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Rank: 6,785
Ray Barretto
MUSICIAN
1929 - 2006
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Duane Hanson
SCULPTOR
1925 - 1996
HPI: 56.72
Rank: 6,787
Erik Olin Wright
SOCIOLOGIST
1947 - 2019
HPI: 56.71
Rank: 6,788
Gina Torres
ACTOR
1969 - Present
HPI: 56.71
Rank: 6,789
Debra Jo Rupp
ACTOR
1951 - Present
HPI: 56.71
Rank: 6,790
Jane Bowles
WRITER
1917 - 1973
HPI: 56.71
Rank: 6,791
Bob Backlund
WRESTLER
1949 - Present
HPI: 56.71
Rank: 6,792
Timothy Pickering
POLITICIAN
1745 - 1829
HPI: 56.71
Rank: 6,793
Among SCULPTORS In United States
Among sculptors born in United States, Duane Hanson ranks 10.
The overall effect is a scene that appears to barely have been choreographed at all. She also fell pregnant while in Greenwich with their first child, a son.
Alas, their preferred careers did not take off and Janice continued her training as a doctor. When the mould dried, it was cut up the back and removed from the model. The model, who was asked to shave off their body hair, was greased with petroleum jelly to ensure the easy removal of the casting material.
Duane Hanson is the 195th most popular sculptor (up from 217th in 2024), the 6,785th most popular biography from United States (up from 7,217th in 2019) and the 10th most popular American Sculptor.
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Among SCULPTORS
Among sculptors, Duane Hanson ranks 195 out of 258.
This work was in fact the second Tourist iteration, the first dating back to 1970. He has been compared favourably, too, to the French Realists in the way that his art lionized those subjects who were underrepresented in the canons of modern art. It was also during this period, as Historian Lisa S. Wainwright notes, that Hanson met George Grygo.
With these pieces he began to shift his content away from political commentaries towards the banality of contemporary American life. Hanson poured liquid polyester resin reinforced with fiberglass into the mould, working from the feet up. Her legs have bruise marks, her face is pimpled, her clothes are worn, her hair unkempt, and the table at which she sits is cluttered.
On the subject of this sculpture, Hanson spoke of his intention to break down barriers between the visitor and the museum and his guard elicited different reactions from different visitors.