Untitled (1991 for Parkett 27)

1991

Untitled (1991 for Parkett 27), 1991. Robert Gober (American, b. 1954), printed by Maurice Sanchez & Joe Petruzzelli, Derrière L'Etoile Studio, published by Parkett. Lithograph on newsprint with handtorn edges, printed on both sides and folded three times, hand-colored with coffee (coffee stain) by the artist; sheet: 55.5 x 34.5 cm (21 7/8 x 13 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Stephen Dull 2020.242 © Robert Gober, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery Robert Gober’s Untitled seems to be a real page out of the Metropolitan section of the New York Times from Thursday, October 4, 1960, but in fact it has been meticulously fabricated—by way of patched-together stories, found photographs, and invented newspaper copy—by the artist. The announcements of sunny weather, a strong market, and wedding nuptials are interspersed with alarming stories about a twelve-year-old girl held prisoner by her parents in a closet, and the drowning of a boy in a pool. The drowned child’s name is Robert Gober, and the date is the year Gober turned six. This reference to his own imagined death set within optimistic announcements of marriage and market earnings aligns with Gober’s fascination, throughout his work, with the contrasts between life’s simultaneously hopeful and horrific existence. The coffee stain on this fabricated newspaper page was in fact meticulously painted on by the artist.