1965

Momo

American, 1921 - 2009

Philadelphia native Tom Chimes is best known as a painter concerned with symbolism and mysticism, with a quasi-surreal exploration of the unconscious that often refers to the work of poets, philosophers, and writers, such as the psychologically tormented actor and playwright Antonin Artaud (1896-1948). This drawing is from a group of four that connect with imagery on Chimes's small metal box construction entitled Le Momo (1965), on which the same little birdlike head with swept-back hair appears in a circle. The title refers to a clown persona Artaud played on the Paris stage in his late and turbulent poem Artaud le Momo.