The Fountain,1977 (featured above) was created by Ed and Nancy Kienholz in Hope, Idaho, during a period when the couple divided their time between Hope and Berlin, Germany. This sculpture belongs to The White Easel series, the first body of work to emerge from their newly constructed studio in Hope (where the couple relocated in 1973). 

Nancy Reddin Kienholz recounted the various elements of The Fountain in the catalogue we produced for our current exhibition Kienholz: Berlin/Hope.

“The elephant leg came from a Berlin flea market. We shipped it to Idaho, and soaked it in water. When [former studio assistant] Rich Post was stretching it over the driftwood stump [sourced from the drift yard at the Denton Slough, on Lake Pend Oreille in Hope, near the mouth of the Clark Fork river], the smell was pervasive. The dogs would growl when they passed it.”

Click here to view the complete e-catalogue.

Kienholz: Berlin/Hope is on view at L.A. Louver through April 26th.

IMAGE: Edward & Nancy Reddin Kienholz, The Fountain, 1977, mixed media assemblage, 96 ¾ x 65 x 22 ½ in. (245.7 x 165.1 x 57.2 cm)