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John Sokol

(Canton, Ohio, 1947 - )

Man Eating Trees

1989

Tar and varnish on canvas

72 x 96 in. (182.9 x 243.8 cm)

Collection of the Akron Art Museum

Gift of the artist

2000.20

More Information

In 'Man Eating Trees,' Sokol employs humor to comment on man’s self-serving destruction of the environment. Sokol’s title could refer to trees that eat men or a man that eats trees. The artist used tar, a substance originally derived from pine trees, to render the man and trees echoing the environmentalist theme suggested by the title. The tar, which looks muddy where it is applied thickly and glowing where it is diluted with varnish, lends the work a dark, nightmarish quality.

Keywords
Painting
Ohio
Contemporary Art
Mixed media
Trees
Akron
Nightmare