2 Wings for Wall and Person [top row, panel E]
1979-1981
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
photo-etching on Arches Satine wove paper
Dimensions
image: 130.8 x 613.4 cm (51 1/2 x 241 1/2 in.) sheet: 65.4 x 101.6 cm (25 3/4 x 40 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
1997.8.11
Art Historical Context
Vito Acconci's *2 Wings for Wall and [top row, panel]* (1979-1981) is a striking photo-etching on Arches Satine w paper, exemplifying the artist's shift from provocative performance art to explorations of space, body, and architecture. A key figure in 1970s conceptual and art, Acconci often blurred boundaries between viewer, performer, and environment. This print, part of a larger modular series suggested by its panel designation, invites contemplation of how forms extend from walls into personal space—like prosthetic "wings" bridging architecture and the human figure. The medium of photo-etc...
About the Artist
Vito Acconci
Vito Hannibal Acconci was born on January 24, 1940, in the Bronx, New York, to Italian immigrant parents as their only son, named after his ailing grandfather. Raised in a supportive household that encouraged artistic pursuits, he attended Roman Catholic schools, including Regis High School, where classrooms lacked female students until graduate school. Acconci earned a BA in literature from the C...