Exchange: Birds at Home

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If you are unable to come to UMMA in person due to illness, quarantine, etc., you can choose a work from this set of surrealist and surrealist-adjacent pieces from the UMMA collection.

59 Items in this Learning Collection

At the Crossroads (En Rade)

Three birds, executed with spare line and simple form, are set within an abstracted landscape of bright yellows and oranges.

Collection Object

Correspondances dangereuses

At the center of the etching are three or four amorphous figures in white and two shades of black, made in crosshatching. The figures are entwined and have animal and bird-like features. The background is crosshatched to the edges of the page. The print is signed (l.r.) "Max Ernst" and numbered (l.l.) "57/70" in pencil.

Collection Object

Solomon 1:16: 'Our bed is green...', from the suite 'Solomon: Song of Songs'

Collection Object

Creation of a Woman, II

Collection Object

Bugeleisen (Iron)

Collection Object

One of five prints from the suite "The Means to an End--A Shadow Drama in Five Acts"

Collection Object

One of five prints from the suite "The Means to an End--A Shadow Drama in Five Acts"

Collection Object

One of five prints from the suite "The Means to an End--A Shadow Drama in Five Acts"

Collection Object

One of five prints from the suite "The Means to an End--A Shadow Drama in Five Acts"

Collection Object

Now the Dove and the Leopard Wrestle

At the center of the painting, two animals meet: a horse and a bull. Painted in a variety of colors, the two animals are abstracted in a Cubist style. The painting is signed (u.r.) in black paint "Bearden".

Collection Object

Lenox Avenue

This is an abstract face of a figure looking to the right. The head is divided into compartments of varying textures by several straight lines. There are piano keys are on the left side of the head, and a cigarette at top left.

Collection Object

People

Collection Object

The Riddle, Plate 4 from 'The Myth of Oedipus'

Collection Object

Espace-temps en fusion

Winding through the center of this print, a melting clock oozes from the top right to the bottom center in red, yellow and blue. To the left of the base of the clock is a bright orange and red bolder. In the background, there is a large landscape with mountains and a cloudy sky. There are three figures in the scene. At the bottom right, a figure is seated with a staff and behind it is a large shape in yellow, red and blue. At the center, there is a sketch of a mounted figure on a rearing horse; and at the upper right, there is a figure with a strong shadow. The print is signed (l.r.) and numbered (l.l.) in pencil.

Collection Object

Télévision liquide et gazeuse

In this mixed-media print, there is a white background with black outlines of facial features, lips and an eye, and a creature in the bottom left. In the upper left corner there is a rectanglular sheet in cream layered on top; a wavy vertical design stretches diagonally from the top of the rectangle to the bottom in yellow, red, and blue. Within this sheet, there are small figures at the center left drawn in black. To the right in the sheet, there is a collaged image of one of the artist's paintings, incorporated into a cube. Above, there are drawn birds. There is a small mechanical-like figure on the sheet at the bottom left. At the center of the print, in the cream page, the artist signed "Dali" and dated the print "1975. To the bottom left, on the larger white page, there is text inscribed in the plate, mirrored and someone illegible, that possibly reads "Leill Ciclopeer Alucire la bouche Almient tire / Lula [illegible]." The print is number at the lower left in pencil.

Collection Object

Underworld

This hand colored lithograph shows a chaotic scene with three, masked figures at the lower left surrounded by a variety of sea creatures: squids, octopusus, sharks and turtles.

Collection Object

The Underworld

This print shows a chaotic scene with a white skeleton in the center. In the upper left, there are a series of sea creatures, including a grey colored shark, pink colored squids and two octopuses in shades of orange. At the bottom of the print, the skeleton is surrounded by a large lizard, skulls, and other figures. A moon and stars are in the upper left corner. The print is signed (l.r.) "Underground Ann McCoy" and numbered "18/100" in red pencil.

Collection Object

South Polar Quadrille

Collection Object

Quetzal

This color lithograph has a bright yellow background with figures in red and white at the center. Horizontally oriented at the center is a large white semi-geometric creature with three heads—one at the bottom and two at the flanks—that is capped with horns and breasts. There is a red box-like figure in the background that has a horned head and a series of horns, wings, and flames emanating from it. The print is numbered, titled and signed (l.r.) in pencil: "no 57 - "Quetzal" / Wilfredo Lam".

Collection Object

Sensations

Brightly-colored image of abstract shapes in hues of blue and red with white shapes giving the pieces a shining appearance.

Collection Object

The Archeologists IV (Gli Archeologi IV); Plate VI from the suite "Metamorphosis" (Metamorphosis is underlined)

Collection Object

Rhabdomancie

At the center of the print is a series of abstract bone-like shapes put together to resemble a creature or creatures. The background is colored, top to bottom, in blue, yellow, and green. The print is signed and dated (l.r.) "Yves Tanguy 1947" and numbered (l.l.) "57/70" in pencil.

Collection Object

I Want To See It To Believe It

This vertical print is bisected by four horizontal light blue squares approximately one third of the way up from the bottom. The second square from the left is joined by a square above and below so that all the liight blue squares create a horizontally oriented cross. Both inside and outside the cross-grid there are seven tan figures, who seem to be engaged in a variety of activities. There are a number of designs that move out from the cross, some related to what is pictured inside and some not. The print is signed and dated (l.l.) "Matta 47" and numbered (l.r.) "57/70" in pencil.

Collection Object

The Skyline (La Ligne d'horizon)

Collection Object

Bestiaire. IV. Le Sang et la Race

Collection Object

Bounded on the West by the Land Under Water

Four spare industrial structures rise at different angles into an empty landscape. On the viewer's right, a scaffolding rises from the lower corner and angles to the left. On the left, another scaffold structure runs from the bottom corner along the left edge. In the middle, a building-like structure rises from the bottom of the composition and leans into the visual space, resting on a long rectangular solid that is draped with a cloth.

Collection Object

The Terror Stopper (Le Bouchon d'Epouvante), Plate VI from the series "Dawn at the Antipode (Aube à l'Antipode)

Collection Object

Castronautes

In this print, there is a figure that is formed in the upper right with thick black lines. It floats above abstract circular line designs. There is a blue and purple background, with areas of light behind the figure, darker areas below the figure. The print is signed (l.r.) and numbered (l.l.) "5/100" in pencil.

Collection Object

Turning Form

Collection Object

Little Girl with Cherries (Expectation)

A girl at a table covered in fruit with a beach scene in the background

Collection Object

Birds at Home

A color photograph of a group of children and a cat at a table. Each child engages with something in the room, which is in an organized disarray. Egg shells fall from the table to the floor, toys are strewn about, and an infant and cat sit in the middle of the table.

Collection Object

Last Supper

A photograph of eight boys, all of which are the same person, voraciously eating a loaf of white bread off a rock in a forest.

Collection Object

Allume tes gitanes

This black and white print shows the images of two pistols pointed at each other. Two large black abstract forms with vertical stripes sit underneath and above the two guns. At the lower right, there is a rectanglular box with the text "ALLUME TES / GITANES" and artist's signature "Man Ray", alongside an image comprised of half a glass bottle and abstract shapes and marks. The print is signed (l.r.) "Man Ray" and numbered (l.l.) "8/41" in pencil.

Collection Object

Calling Radio Free America

This photolithographic print in shades of blue and rusty red is separated into three main registers. There are three television screens at the top, each with a different image: from left to right, a woman putting on her earrings as a man looks on, an American football game, and an image of a man in a suit from the chest up with the text Dr. Walter W. Heller. Below these images, there is a register with a grid of squares within squares with two large rectangular boundries; at the far right, two larger squares are stacked vertically. The bottom register of images shows a contemporary domestic kitchen, the colors of which are transected in two places, and, in the foreground, an oversized image of a female hand holding a sandwich and a fork with salad attached.

Collection Object

Martha Graham—Lamentation

A composite print from two negatives, each representing a moment from a dance performance. The woman wears a large cloth, which she manipulates with her motions to create forms and shapes.

Collection Object

Woman of the Woods

A photograph of two women standing outdoors. They stand next to a puddle of water, one left of center, one on the right side of the frame. Rows of trees extend into the background behind them.

Collection Object

Self-Portrait in Time

Collection Object

Equisetum Sylvaticum

This cyanotype photograph displays the silhouettes of six plant stems laid out in a row.

Collection Object

Self-Portrait: Vertical Motion Up, Medium; Pivotal Motion Large

This photograph is a blurred and distorted portrait of a figure standing against a blank wall.

Collection Object

Party Picture

The image depicts figures beneath three disco balls in three different horizontal compartments; one red, another yellow, and the third blue.

Collection Object

Untitled

A black and white photograph of droplets of water captured in suspension. Behind the water droplets, an eye is visible, though it is blurred by a shallow depth of field. In the water droplets, the eye is reflected upside down and in sharp focus.

Collection Object

Untitled (Medusa Marinara)

A photograph of a female head made of pasta and marinara sauce printed on a porcelain plate. On verso, the plate is numbered "39;" it is labeled part of "The Peter Norton Family Christmas Project" and dated 1999; the manufacturer is labeled "Made in Bernardaud in Limoges, France;" and, below, it reads "Lead Free Dishwasher Safe."

Collection Object

Three Eyes

Square-format photograph of three small sculptures with eyes printed on them organized in a stack, alongside a pair of spectacles.

Collection Object

androgyforms (made from self & white t-shirt)

This work is a series of thirteen photographs of a person in a closet.  The figure is dressed in a white t-shirt and makes various poses pulling the t-shirt over their body in different ways. Of the thirteen, one photograph is just the white t-shirt hanging in the closet and one is a photograph of the t-shirt on the floor; in both of these images the figure is absent.

Collection Object

In the Box - Horizontal

This monochrome photograph of a nude woman shows her reclining, knees bent; her figure framed by a large box.

Collection Object

Unititled

Collection Object

Allegorical Composition

This abstract composition shows a fantastical, surreal structure comprised of angular shapes in many colors. A shadow is cast on the brown surface upon which the structure stands.

Collection Object

The Student (L'Etudiante)

On a narrow, vertically oriented canvas, white surreal biomorphic forms float over a background of larger biomorphic forms in dark blues and black with some red splashes.

Collection Object

The Elements: Leaf transformed into a torso

Yellow form centered on a white background; the form is in the shape of a leaf.

Collection Object

Wives Waiting at a Mine Rescue

Collection Object

Machines and El Patterns

Collection Object

Male Venus

Collection Object

Illuminated Landscape

Nocturnal scene with landscape populated by otherworldly pink, green, and blue flora and fauna resembling marine life or celestial bodies.

Collection Object

Cradles in the Sea

Collection Object

What We All Lack (Ce qui manque à nous tous)

A clear glass bubble rests on the bowl of a plain white clay pipe. Along the stem of the pipe are the words, "Ce que [sic] manque à nous tous."

Collection Object

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Collection Object

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Collection Object

Copyright

Birds at Home

Accession Number
2013/2.103

Title
Birds at Home

Artist(s)
Julie Blackmon

Object Creation Date
2007

Medium & Support
inkjet pigment print paper

Dimensions
22 in x 22 in (55.88 cm x 55.88 cm)

Credit Line
Gift from the Collection of David S. Rosen MD, MPH

Subject matter
Julie Blackmon's work addresses family life in contemporary culture. She creates fictional and autobiographical images that explore everyday life. By employing tableau and staged scenes of her own family, she blurs the lines between imagination and reality, often adding fantastical elements to everyday scenes. In "Domestic Vacations," Blackmon was inspired by the "Jan Steen household," a term referring to the unruly, rowdy households full of large families depicted in 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings

Physical Description
A color photograph of a group of children and a cat at a table. Each child engages with something in the room, which is in an organized disarray. Egg shells fall from the table to the floor, toys are strewn about, and an infant and cat sit in the middle of the table.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Felis domesticus (species)
boys
children (people by age group)
dining tables
eggs (biological bodies)
girls
infants
interior views
kitchens
toys (recreational artifacts)