Lucas Samaras

American, born Greece, 1936-2024

Transformation: Boxes, 1966-1967

twelve painted cardboard boxes in Plexiglas case with Formica base

case (overall): 64 1/2 x 15 1/8 x 15 3/4 inches (163.83 x 38.42 x 40.01 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1969

K1969:4

Inscriptions:

no inscriptions

Provenance:

the artist;
Pace Gallery, New York;
sold to Seymour H. Knox, Jr.;
donated to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, February 6, 1969

Object Classifications:

Sculpture

Construction (sculpture)

Information may change due to ongoing research. Glossary of Terms

This cube of twelve boxes belongs to a series Lucas Samaras called “Transformations.” For each work in the series, he selected a commonplace object such as a chair, eyeglasses, or a dinner plate. He then subjected the familiar item to a series of mutations and alterations, illustrating the many permutations that were possible without completely obliterating the original object. In this work, Samaras took on the box, a form that frequently appeared in his work during the previous decade. Transformation: Boxes demonstrates how a simple object can be radically transformed and still retain its fundamental character.

Label from Lucas Samaras: Reflections, June 21, 2014–January 4, 2015