The Bluebird of Happiness and the Miner's Canary

Jimmie Durham

2008

Sculpture, 300 x 80 x 90 cm.
Materials: Hat rack base (american black walnut wood), truck rear-view mirror, deer antler, television antena, paint brushes, acrylic paint, drumsticks, pins, oak sapling

Collection: Hunting Collection, the Netherlands (Inv. no. JD2452).

"I
 was 
rum 
ageing through
 some
 junk 
in 
the 
Piemonte 
area 
of 
Italy 
and 
found
 the 
base 
of 
this 
sculpture.
 It
 had
 been
 a
 beautiful,
 hand‐made
 base
 for
 a
 hat
 rack
 made
 of
 American
 black
 walnut
 wood,
 so
 damaged
 by
 worms,
 that
 it
 had
 been
 thrown
 away.
 I
 took
 it
 to
 my
 studio
 in
 Rome,
 treated
 for
 all
 infestations 
and 
then 
put
 a 
special 
hardening
 agent 
on 
the 
areas 
that 
were 
rotten. 
I 
then 
varnished 
the
 entire 
thing 
and
 let 
it
 sit 
in 
my 
studio 
while 
it 
thought. 
(...)

I 
had 
in 
my
 Studio 
some 
brightly 
colored 
clothes pins, 
which 
looked 
a 
little 
like 
birds 
so 
I 
stuck 
them
 on to 
the 
top
 of 
the 
sculpture.
 One
 looked
 like
 the 
blue bird
 of 
happiness 
and 
one 
looked 
like 
the 
miner's 
canary.
 And 
I 
wondered 
what 
kind 
of 
song 
these 
two
 birds 
would 
sing. 
The 
sculpture 
itself
 said,
'classic
rock'." [read the full text bellow]

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Jimmie Durham – A Matter ...

25 May 2012 - 18 November 2012.
In the spring of 2012, the M HKA brought a major retrospective of the work of Jimmie Durham. The US-born artist settled permanently in Europe

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Jimmie Durham 1994 - 2012

Jimmie Durham moved to Europe in 1994 and has lived ever since in Brussels, Lisbon, Marseille, Rome and Berlin, where he is presently based (

Animal Skulls and Other F...

“On a long walk around the area of my studio I found a dead, desiccated crow. I walked on, and then after a while turned back. Along the way

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Jimmie Durham