Luis Jiménez, Venus Figure
Luis Jiménez
1940 El Paso Texas - 2006 Hondo, New Mexico
Venus Figure
1965
welded 16 gauge steel
Albuquerque Museum, gift of Kurt and Edith Kubie
PC1994.35.1
© 2021 Estate of Luis A. Jimenez, Jr. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Venus Figure is one of Luís Jiménez’s earliest known sculptures. It is very different from his later works, such as Progress I, seen in the hallway to the left. Jiménez makes explicit the inspiration he received from some of the earliest known representational art: “Venus” figurines found in European caves and burial sites dating back tens of thousands of years. Jiménez’s series of Venus figures made between 1963 and 1965 were created with a desire to express fundamental human experiences. In this case, he addressed women’s ability to produce and nurture life. He intentionally left his sculpture “unfinished” stating, “I wanted it to rust and appear to be a discard from an earlier civilization. Philosophically, it is.”