Sodbuster

Print

Purdue University Galleries

Name/Title

Sodbuster

Entry/Object ID

1993.04.01

Description

6 color Two oxen lead a farmer, as he plows his fields with the phrase “SODBUSTER” written in larger bubble letters at the bottom of the piece. A horned skull and what looks to be a gecko are meticulously placed above on and “SOD” on the left-hand side of the piece. The line work of the piece is heavily emphasized with the materials being used to create the piece, each individual line and stroke have a purpose, which comes through in the cross-hatching sections of the piece which create the depth in the piece. The farmer holds the wheat in which the oxen are plowing, the work of the farmer is denoted by the metal blade in the ground directly in front of him, the wooden plank attacked to the oxen’s necks, and the wheat being torn out of the earth which he is collecting. The depth in color, as well as the overall use of crosshatching and line work create an amazing visual, and the piece is very well balanced and dynamic. The piece has great depth which is created in the tandem movement of the oxen, as well as in the position of the farmer in relation to the animals, the wheat, and the land behind him. The oxen feel as though they are about to move off the page, which comes from the very dynamic looking lines and the texture from the materials used to create the piece. The colors which are very saturated go along the very intense compositional theme and contribute to the feeling of the hustle and bustle of harvest for this farmer.

Type of Print

Lithograph

Artwork Details

Medium

Paper

Acquisition

Accession

1993.04

Source or Donor

PEP Permanent Collection Fund

Acquisition Method

Purchase

Credit Line

Permanent Collection Fund

Made/Created

Artist

Luis Alfonso Jiménez

Date made

1983

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Tertiary Object Term

Lithograph

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Print, Planographic

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Graphic Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

31-5/8 in

Width

45-1/8 in

Color

Yellow, Blue, Black, Orange, Red, Purple, Green, White, Magenta

Exhibition

Indelible/Indexical (2021)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Luis Jimenez was born in El Paso, Texas in 1940. The son of an illegal Mexican immigrant, he created his art with the working class Chicano community in mind, a population he felt was his primary audience. Influenced by artists such as José Clemente Orozco, whose public murals are available to the masses that do not have access to museums or galleries, he began making large-scale figurative sculpture which focused primarily on culturally relevant, politicized themes of the Southwestern, Mexican-American working class. Favorite symbols are vaqueros, Indians, farmers, and rodeo queens.