•Lot 7
"Tutancowman" Fiberglass Cow by Dennis L. Peabody, Cow Parade New York, 2000
The CowParade stampeded into New York City in the Summer of 2000, and took the city by storm. To the delight of residents and tourists alike, a herd of over 500 life-sized colorful hand-painted fiberglass cows could be found roaming and grazing throughout the five boroughs.
CowParade New York 2000 culminated from the collaborative efforts of the New York arts community, city government, and corporate sponsors all working together. It marked the first time a public art event had been staged simultaneously in all five boroughs of the City. Hundreds of artists participated, ranging from highly renowned individual artists to teams of corporate executives and groups of elementary school children.
Previous CowParades had been staged in Zurich, Switzerland (1998) and Chicago (1999). Following the great popularity and success of the New York Cow Parade – more than 44 million people viewed the NYC event – the concept spread in various forms to cities throughout the US and around the world.
Offered here is “Tutancowman” created by artist, Dennis L. Peabody. During the CowParade, this cow was installed near Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park.
As written in the book “CowParade New York (Workman, 2000):
Dennis Peabody is an artist who works in flat glass, particularly dichromic glass, which has an iridescent, gemlike quality. Not surprisingly, his first thought was to encrust his cow with this type of glass. "Then I realized how very expensive and tedious that would be," Peabody said.
So he scaled down his ambitions, and that's when the idea of an Egyptian theme cow occurred to him: "I thought of all the Egyptians I knew and remembered Tutancowmon. Or, should I say, Tutancowmon."
Peabody admits that he's not really a sculptor. Consequently, creating the distinctive pharaoh-esque headpiece was a challenge. He started by building a plywood armature for the neck, then covering it with chicken wire and plaster gauze. At every stage of building the headpiece, the artist was flooded with doubt. What was his biggest fear? "I didn't want it to come out like a bad high school project."
From, Cow Parade New York, Text written by Thomas Craughwell
Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000