
Collection Online as of January 26, 2021
(Mexican, b. 1962)
Calcium sulfate (plaster), animal glue, graphite and mango tree trunk
Overall: 72.6 x 69.7 x 40 cm (28 9/16 x 27 7/16 x 15 3/4 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2009.343
© Gabriel Orozco
229A Contemporary
Orozco incorporates objects from urban and natural settings in his artwork. A fallen mango tree found in the state of Morelos in southern Mexico acts as the base for Mapa estelar en árbol. Indigenous inhabitants of Morelos use wood from mango trees for cooking and heating. Orozco has covered one side of the trunk with an even layer of animal glue, or gesso, on top of which he applied a layer of graphite that he fastidiously etched with a compass point. This process references an old master technique, one of many that Orozco has resurrected as part of his work.