The Tiger Cat

Label

In this sculpture, a tiger cat carries five chickens on its back, along with an upended goat on its tail, and fourteen other figures hang within. These animals are cut from sheets of metal with the edges folded over, taking away their sharpness. The surfaces are all painted in strongly contrasting patterns. Painted tape denotes the tiger cat’s facial expression.The body is fully transparent, with bars merely suggesting its volume.

This sculpture marked the introduction of the tiger cat to Dial’s work as a theme to which he would return often in his career. He used it to refer to the fight for civil rights, noting sardonically at one point: “The tiger cat used to be wild in the jungle, and catching his own food. Then they tame him and give him their food to eat. Then he get fat and slow, and he don’t scare nobody no more.”

What is the relationship between the tiger cat, the chickens and goat, and the figures within? Disparate in scale, they prompt questions concerning power, interdependence, and vulnerability.

From the 2021 exhibition Thornton Dial: The Tiger Cat, curated by John R. Stomberg Ph.D, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director

Course History

SART 16.01, Sculpture I, Matt Seigle, Winter 2022

SART 76, Senior Seminar, Enrico Riley, Winter 2022

Exhibition History

Thornton Dial: The Tiger Cat, Northeast Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 11, 2021–July 16, 2022.

Provenance

Souls Grown Deep Foundation

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu

Subject