Object Details
- Luce Center Label
- Cephlapod 5 shows David Gilhooly's interest in the sea. As a child, Gilhooly and his family lived for a time in the Virgin Islands and he dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. The artist believes that animals can evoke emotional responses without the viewer being aware of it. Cephalopods are an ancient group of marine mollusks that appeared millions of years before the first primitive fish began swimming in the ocean. Indeed, Cephlapod 5 looks slimy and repulsive, as though the primordial creature just crawled out of the sea.
- Luce Object Quote
- "Animals are strong totemic-type symbols . . . Historically, a totem was an animal or plant with which man could claim blood kinship. In our contemporary sense, a totem is something that means something to us and elicits a reaction we're not even conscious of." David Gilhooly, interview with Jane Goodman in Sacramento Magazine, November 1979
- Data Source
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Artist
- David Gilhooly, born Auburn, CA 1943-died Newport, OR 2013
- Date
- 1971
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection
- Medium
- white earthenware and glazes
- Dimensions
- 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (10.8 x 10.8 x 17.1 cm)
- Type
- Sculpture
