Michael Byron, Untitled (Monkey), Mixed Media Sculpture, c. 1985
Solid institutional pedigree — MoMA, Whitney, Whitney Biennial. This is a good one.
A tiny sovereign on a grand throne — Michael Byron's polychrome figure commands its weathered timber post like a forgotten deity.
ARTIST: Michael Byron (American, b. 1954)
PERIOD: Late 20th Century, c. 1985
TITLE: Untitled (Monkey)
CATEGORY: Sculpture
MATERIALS: Mixed media, found wood
DIMENSIONS: 51 h × 8¼ w × 9 d in. (130 × 21 × 23 cm)
CONTEXT: Michael Byron's inclusion in MoMA's landmark survey An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture in 1984 marked the beginning of his international career. This sculpture dates from that pivotal moment — between 1984 and 1989, Byron worked and exhibited in New York City as well as in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and Europe, culminating in his participation in the 1989 Whitney Biennial. Byron integrates two- and three-dimensional aspects of his vision, typically placing objects in relation to painted or constructed surfaces. Here the diminutive, heavily worked figure — its surface alive with color and gesture — is set against the mute gravitas of a weathered timber post, a pairing that is characteristically his: raw material and made object held in productive tension. Byron's work is held in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, among others.