Guarding the Flock, 2018
Mort Golub
Driftwood, shell, iron, bird head
19 inches (48.3 cm) high by 8 inches (20.3 cm) wide
#7399

Visual ambiguity is often a driver in Mort Golub’s work; this piece conjures images of the rabbit/duck paradox, with its stately figure janus-faced and iron-winged.

See the article Mort Golub: From Mahakala to Outsider Art by Thomas Murray in the Spring 2024 issue of Tribal Art Magazine.

Artist's Statement: I began making sculpture in 1993. My inspiration came from collecting and studying tribal art and antiquities. The paleolithic roots of this art became much clearer to me as the continuum of forms began to reveal itself.

My particular interests became centered on the masking traditions of the Himalayas, and in the early 1990s, when great masterpieces were still available, I began collecting masks from this area. Living with such pieces was very revealing and led me from painting to making sculpture.

Many of the ancient broken and discarded objects that I had been collecting became incorporated into my work. I try to preserve original surfaces and patinas that show the passage of time and use as much as possible. Starting in 1996, I began doing gallery shows as well as selling to the general public through my studio.

$1700