Photo of collection object The Town
Dial, Thornton. The Town, 1987. Welded metal, broken glass, window screen, gravel, wire, concrete, Splash Zone epoxy, enamel, spray-paint, wood, overall: 99 lb. (44.91kg) storage (on pallet): 178 in. (452.1 cm). Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018, 2018.28.2. © artist or artist's estate.

The Town

1987

Thornton Dial

American, 1928-2016

Contemporary Art

Thornton Dial became a sculptor while constructing railway cars for the Pullman-Standard Company in Bessemer, Alabama, where he remained despite the large-scale Great Migration of African Americans to Northern cities in the wake of the enforced segregation and widespread racialized violence of the Jim Crow era. In The Town, we see a parody of white America—colorful houses and clothes contrast with the violence of the figure who has gouged out their eyes, able to see the hidden truths of racism and brutality underpinning white society.
Maker/Artist
Dial, Thornton
Classification
Sculpture
Formatted Medium
Welded metal, broken glass, window screen, gravel, wire, concrete, Splash Zone epoxy, enamel, spray-paint, wood
Dimensions
overall: 99 lb. (44.91kg) storage (on pallet): 178 in. (452.1 cm)
Inscribed
None seen, but bottom of base was not inspected
Departments
Contemporary Art
Accession Number
2018.28.2
Credit Line
Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018
Rights Statement
© artist or artist's estate
Dominant Colors

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