Temptation to Sell the Soul, James Dean Pruner

Artwork Overview

1951–1987 or 1988
Temptation to Sell the Soul, 1984
Portfolio/Series title: Man as Machine
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: lithograph
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 230 x 152 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 357 x 285 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 9 1/16 x 6 0.98425 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 1/16 x 11 1/4 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Lucy Shaw Schultz Fund
Accession number: 1991.0048.06
Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Visible and Divisible America: In Conversation with the 2019–2020 KU Common Book
In her essay for Tales of Two Americas “Blood Brother,” Kansas native and KU alumna Sarah Smarsh details the process by which low-income Americans generate income by selling their plasma. As artist James Dean Pruner implies in his capitalist critique of a man tempted to sell his soul, and as stated by Smarsh, “today, the body itself is a commodity.”
Visible and Divisible America: In Conversation with the 2019–2020 KU Common Book
In her essay for Tales of Two Americas “Blood Brother,” Kansas native and KU alumna Sarah Smarsh details the process by which low-income Americans generate income by selling their plasma. As artist James Dean Pruner implies in his capitalist critique of a man tempted to sell his soul, and as stated by Smarsh, “today, the body itself is a commodity.”
Archive Label 2003 (version 1): After studying art at Fort Hays State University in the early 1970s, Pruner became an independent artist based at his Stafford County farm. Pruner’s Man as Machine portfolio recounts his experiences with street people and civic authorities while he was on the road in Los Angeles in 1983. The portfolio was printed at Lawrence lithography Workshop. Pruner has become something of a cult figure in Kansas, due in part to his reclusive lifestyle and mysterious death in 1987. Exhibition Label: "Printed Art and Social Radicalism," Jun-2002, Stephen Goddard After studying art at Fort Hays State University in the early 1970s, Pruner became an independent artist based at his Stafford County, Kansas, farm. Pruner’s Man as Machine portfolio recounts his experiences with street people and civic authorities while he was on the road in Los Angeles in 1983

Exhibitions