Market St. Series V
Artist
Oben Abright
(American, born 1980)
Date2006
MediumMold-blown glass and oil paint
DimensionsOverall: 20 × 11 × 9 in. (50.8 × 27.9 × 22.9 cm)
ClassificationsGlass
Credit LineGift of Leon and Margaret Ellin, 2024
Object number2024.38.23
This sculpture is from Oben Abright’s acclaimed series
featuring portraits of homeless individuals. The artist
considers glass to be a powerful medium for conveying
the fragility of life as well as the interior emotional realm
and luminous presence of humans. Its title, Market
Street V, is a geographical reference to a street nearby
the artist’s studio in San Francisco. Abright treated each
figure study with a compassionate focus on the person’s
emotional state, while also aiming to create an accurate
portrayal of their physical appearance. The artist’s
intent is to inspire empathy in the viewer by providing
an opportunity to intimately connect with the emotional
essence of people in the unhoused population, who are
often ignored and dehumanized by society.
On View
On viewLocation
- Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion, 1st floor, gallery, floor
3rd c. CE
late 1st-2nd c. AD