Fait Accompli

2003

Artist

Jason Middlebrook, American, 1966-: Born: Jackson, MI; Work Locations: Hudson, NY

Country

United States

Object

drawing

Medium

Colored pencil, ink, acrylic paint on paper

Accession Number

2016.149

Credit Line

Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum

Jason Middlebrook (American). Fait Accompli. 2003. Colored pencil, ink, acrylic paint on paper. Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum. 2016.149.

Dimensions

height: 58 in, 147.3200 cm; width: 80 in, 203.2000 cm; frame height: 60 in, 152.4000 cm; frame width: 81 7/8 in, 207.9625 cm; frame depth: 1 1/2 in, 3.8100 cm

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Collection

Modern and Contemporary Art

Jason Middlebrook is a contemporary mixed-media artist, whose work explores the complex relationship between nature and man. In "Fait Accompli," a whimsical approach is taken by Middlebrook to explore the idea of returning to nature. The drawing shows the head and nude torso of a reclining female, seemingly dismembered and dead. The flowers emerging from her chest suggest that her body has merged with the nature surrounding her. A pig and penguin stand vigil, with anthropomorphized emotions and cosmological designs on their bodies. The title defines her death as a fait accompli.

Jason Middlebrook was born in 1966 in Jackson, Michigan. He received his BFA from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1990 and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in California in 1994.

Known Provenance

Purchased by Vicki and Kent Logan from Sara Meltzer Gallery, 2003; gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2016.

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