Locus, Series #4

Dorothea Rockburne

Object Label

Moving from the study of mathematics to art as a student at Black Mountain College, Dorothea Rockburne kept conceptual and structural thinking at the heart of her innovative art-making, and that logical approach has also dictated her use of materials. For the Locus series, the artist experiments with the sculptural possibilities of paper through folding, printing, and polishing the print surface. Looking to the history of Italian altar painting, Rockburne also considered wall placement and its influence on the viewer, seeking a heightened presence by activating the interaction from above.

Caption

Dorothea Rockburne Canadian, born 1932. Locus, Series #4, 1972. Etching, aquatint and graphite on paper, 40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Nancy and Arnold Smoller, 2005.46.3. © artist or artist's estate

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Locus, Series #4

Date

1972

Medium

Etching, aquatint and graphite on paper

Classification

Print

Dimensions

40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm)

Signatures

Signed and dated in graphite lower right: Rockburne 72 Titled in graphite lower left

Credit Line

Gift of Nancy and Arnold Smoller

Accession Number

2005.46.3

Rights

© artist or artist's estate

Copyright for this work may be controlled by the artist, the artist's estate, or other rights holders. A more detailed analysis of its rights history may, however, place it in the public domain. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Tell me more.

    Like many of the artists in this exhibition, Rockburne pushes the boundaries of what can be considered art.
    Her work is considered to exist amongst the media of drawing, painting, sculpture, and printmaking -- while not being identifiable as any of them. These are about how they are made.
    To create these works, Rockburne folded the paper and ran it through a printing press in sections, creating more permanent creases. She also applied aquatint, which creates the velvety sheen you can see in certain areas.

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.