Untitled (Cheer)

James Castle

after 1930

Handmade box containing bundle of twenty-five color and monochromatic drawings (six double-sided) and various commercially printed ephemera (matchbook covers, food product labels/packaging, and comic strips), drawing media includes color of unknown origin, soot, and soot wash on various found paper and commercially printed cardboard supports, box sleeve and tray fashioned from thin gray found cardboard faced with cream paper (commercially printed Cheer laundry detergent packaging), cut, folded, and wrapped, sewn and tied with thick white (pink-toned) cotton string

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Featuring more than two dozen unique drawings (some double-sided) and a selection of commercial ephemera, this remarkable James Castle “bundle” work is essentially a portable exhibition in a box. Most of the drawings are portraits or figurative compositions, though subjects include abstractions, landscapes, and an ocean liner. The selection incudes both color and black-and-white examples. Castle fashioned the exterior and tray of the box from a discarded carton of Cheer laundry detergent. It is nearly identical to the cardboard boxes of wooden kitchen matches that he favored as substrates for his soot drawings. But for him, everythi