Fischli and Weiss
Nuclear Family

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Artist Fischli and WeissSwiss, collaborative from 1979

Artist Peter FischliSwiss, born 1952

Artist David WeissSwiss, 1946–2012

CultureSwiss

Titles

Nuclear Family

Date1987

PlaceSwitzerland

MediumChromogenic print

Dimensionsimage: 15 3/4 × 11 3/4 inches (40 × 29.9 cm)
frame: 19 15/16 × 16 × 1 1/2 inches (50.6 × 40.6 × 3.8 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Charles Engelhard Foundation, Stephen D. and Karen Susman, and Max and Isabell Smith Herzstein

Object number97.155

Not on view

Explore Further

Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionWhether they are staging dramatic photographs of sausages or filming the adventures of household appliances, Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss are the masters of the everyday object. Nuclear Family is from a 45-part photographic series called Quiet Afternoon (Stiller Nachmittag), which features precariously balanced kitchen utensils in various situations. The title of the series suggests the artists' playful activities on a boring afternoon, but the photograph demonstrates a strange tension. Although the objects are in equilibrium now, there is a frustrating sense that they should fall-that they will fall-and that the momentary balance will disintegrate into chaos. A comment on order and disorder, the Quiet Afternoon series is also a celebration of art made from ordinary objects and evidence of spirited collaboration between the two artists.
Provenance[Texas Gallery, Houston]; purchased by MFAH, 1997.
Exhibition HistoryExhibited "Modernism in a Century of Change III, From Object to Icon: The Art of Assemblage", June 21 through August 30, 1998, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Exhibited: "Contemporary Art and Photography: Spotlight on the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," MFAH, Upper Brown Pavilion, September 30, 2001 - February 3, 2002.

"Ruptures and Continuities: Photography Made after 1960 from the MFAH Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Foundation Galleries, February 21 - May 9, 2010.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscription: Black ink stamp, verso of frame: "Fine Arts Service / Houston, Texas / 713 863-0400." Label, verso of frame: "TEXAS GALLERY / 2012 PEDEN / Houston, Texas 77019 / FISCHLI & WEISS / Nuclear Family / 1987 color photograph / 15 3/4 x 11 3/4 / Ed. 3/3."

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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