Security House
Alison Elizabeth Taylor
Contemporary Art
Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s Security House examines the contemporary landscape and culture of the southwestern United States. She uses marquetry, a woodworking technique dating from the Renaissance, to depict a dilapidated tract house amid an unkempt yard. Selecting wood veneers in a variety of grains and earthy desert tones, she embellishes the scene with details that suggest narratives relating to housing foreclosures and fears about border security. Security House taps into a long-standing romance with the American frontier, while also suggesting the persistence of boom-and-bust cycles that have historically characterized towns in the West.
MEDIUM
Wood veneer, shellac
DATES
2008–2010
DIMENSIONS
93 x 122 in. (236.2 x 309.9 cm)
a: 93 x 43 in. (236.2 x 109.2 cm)
b: 93 x 39 in. (236.2 x 99.1 cm)
c: 93 x 39 in. (236.2 x 99.1 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
2013.29.2a-c
CREDIT LINE
Gift of the Contemporary Art Acquisitions Committee
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Alison Elizabeth Taylor (American, born 1972). Security House, 2008–2010. Wood veneer, shellac, 93 x 122 in. (236.2 x 309.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Contemporary Art Acquisitions Committee, 2013.29.2a-c. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2013.29.2a-c_PS11.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2013.29.2a-c_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2022
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
© Alison Elizabeth Taylor
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