Ed and Nancy Kienholz, White Easel with Face, 1978

“The wax face came from Dennis Hopper. Dennis had found, and subsequently sold to Ed, a whole prop trunk (approximately 40 x 36 x 18 inches large) full of World World II wax faces and torsos. These were used to teach soldiers the effects of syphilis, and to illustrate its horrible symptoms. One of these heads was also used inside the resin head of the black man in Five Car Stud.” – Nancy Reddin Kienholz

See White Easel with Face in our current exhibition Kienholz: Berlin/Hope, on view through April 26. And to learn more about The White Easel series, check out the e-catalogue produced for the exhibition, which includes commentary on this series by Nancy Reddin Kienholz and former Kienholz studio assistant, Rich Post.