Untitled
- Artist: David Hammons
- Date: 1975
- Medium: Pigment on paper
- Dimensions: frame: 1070 × 783 × 40 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the "Untitled" by David Hammons, created in 1975. Hammons made this body print by covering his naked body in cooking fat and pressing himself onto a sheet of paper. He then dusted the greasy surface with powdered pigment, letting the image set. The result looks like a figure in a vest with hands raised—either shrugging or perhaps in a gesture of reverence. This technique is a direct descendant of Yves Klein’s 1960s “anthropometry” performances, where Klein had women painted in his signature International Klein Blue press their bodies onto paper. Hammons flips the script by becoming author, subject, and printing plate all at once. The work is a performative snapshot of the body’s presence, capturing movement and texture in a single, intimate imprint. It’s a striking example of how the body can be both medium and message in contemporary art.
See it in person
Untitled is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
