Accession Number
2008/2.235

Title
Do yu Get it

Artist(s)
Martin Johnson

Object Creation Date
1996

Medium & Support
mixed media consruction, paint, wood, wire, toy car

Dimensions
22 1/16 x 23 7/16 x 3 in. (56 x 59.5 x 7.5 cm)

Credit Line
The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, a joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the Nation Gallery of Art, with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute for Museum and Library Services

Label copy
Martin Johnson
United States, born 1951
Do yu Get it
1996
Mixed media construction, paint, wood, wire, toy car
2008/2.235

Subject matter
This assemblage made of found materials makes reference to childhood themes, such as toy car racing and comic books. The association is further supported by the materials sued, which are items one would typically find in a craft box, such as googly eyes and fuzz balls, brightly colored nylon thread and puffy paint.

Physical Description
7-sided frame made of reclaimed wood moulding and slats nailed together and backed with strips of green felt, possibly from a pool table. Gold wire traces the wood frame, and is accented with a fuzz ball or googly eye at each corner. A toy car is placed on the gold wire “track” at bottom center; car racing flag stickers attached to the frame in a couple places. Three pieces of thread are strung horizontally across the frame, a “spider web” attached to top two lines with puffy paint. A wood (?) cutout of a smiling joker mouth hung from web by wire.

Primary Object Classification
Mixed Media

Primary Object Type
assemblage

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Abstract Imagist
Pop (fine arts styles)
assemblage (sculpture technique)
childhood
clowns
collage (technique)
eyes (animal components)
found objects
mouths
racetracks (complexes)
racing cars
spiders (frying pans)
textile components
threading
toys (recreational artifacts)
wirework