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"Twentieth Century America"
11/95 – 08/01
A pencil collage by Curtis Kitchens of Dallas, Texas
Original art: 36” x 60” pencil on 15 lb translucent bond paper.
In November 1995 Curtis began work on a pencil drawing collage commemorating America’s History during the Twentieth Century.
He created a list of what he believed to be some of the most memorable people, items and events associated with that time. The majority of the images used in the work were gathered from the Texas Tech University main library throughout 1997 and 1998. In January 1999 he created the collage and by February began the actual pencil drawing working almost daily until its completion in August 2001.
Some information about the Artist:
Curtis' artistic history is traced to his architectural education. He received a Bachelor’s of Architecture Degree from Texas Tech University in May of 1998, and acquired the majority of his learned drawing ability from world renowned Artist/Professor James Watkins.
Within the work there are things not immediately noticeable at first glance. The numerical portion of the bar code located at the bottom of the piece is not random, but rather the first and last dates of the century. Y2K has been incorporated into the computer keyboard. Aligning the right side of the border are silhouettes of inventions which played a key role, and the 5 states that entered the union during the century. Aligning the left side of the border are silhouettes of music media and symbols associated with the century. Aligning the top and bottom portions of the border is an Internet word strand. Within this strand of words are quotes associated with the century and these quotes continue behind the artworks title. The American Flag is incorporated into the top left and bottom right corners of the border. In the top right corner you will see a computer chip that blends into the suburban streetscape that aligns the right side of the border. The space shuttle blast located to the right of President Reagan doubles as a dust bowl storm, as well as the explosion, which took down the U.S.S. Arizona in the battle of Pearl Harbor. In the lower left corner of the work is another word strand composed of movie quotes associated with the century. Located over President Reagan’s right shoulder is a hard to see Swanson’s T.V. Turkey Dinner. To the left of the D-day invasion image is a peace sign composed of flowers. To the right of President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt is the first Teddy Bear, which historians have traced to an incident where president Roosevelt would not shoot a bear cub on a hunt. The image of the world trade center towers is not a depiction of September 11th 2001. The original artwork was being framed at the time of that event, which is part of the new 21st century’s history, and would never have been included in the art. The part of the image that resembles smoke rising from the towers is simply the shaded portion of the soldiers in the trenches of World War I. Curtis' father is the one who noticed the coincidence for the first time and brought it to his attention. There are many more interesting items within the collage and Curtis hopes that you have as much fun discovering them as he did in creating them.
22” x 36” laser prints on 80 lb. poster paper are available.
To view the detail of this print and pricing information, please contact Curtis
