Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Juanita (Jean) Exley. It dates from 1965 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1965, Untitled is a black-and-white print by Juanita Exley, combining etching and aquatint techniques. It resides in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. The work presents a fragmented composition of urban and cultural imagery, arranged without linear hierarchy. Its tonal range and layered textures suggest a meditation on memory and place, rather than a narrative sequence.
Subject & Meaning
The print juxtaposes disparate scenes: a bullfight, a solitary figure seated on a wall, and a brick surface bearing the inscription '6 TOPS 6.' These elements appear disconnected yet coexist in a single field, evoking the disjointed nature of urban experience. The inscription may reference local signage or graffiti, grounding the work in a specific, if ambiguous, social context.
Technique & Style
Exley employed etching for fine linear details and aquatint to achieve gradations of tone. The interplay of dense shadows and delicate hatching creates a sense of depth across overlapping planes. Textural variation—rough walls, smooth figures, and blurred motion—enhances the tactile quality of the image, reflecting the artist’s command of intaglio processes.
History & Provenance
The work entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly after its creation. Exley, who also went by Jean Exley, was active in mid-century printmaking circles but remained relatively underrecognized. Untitled is among the few documented prints from this period, making it a key example of her experimental approach to print media.
Context
Produced during a time of renewed interest in printmaking as a fine art medium, Untitled reflects broader postwar trends toward abstraction and collage in visual culture. Its fragmented imagery aligns with contemporaneous explorations of urban alienation and the erosion of coherent narrative, common in European and American art of the 1960s.
Legacy
Though Exley’s oeuvre is limited in public record, Untitled stands as a significant example of her technical precision and conceptual restraint. It contributes to the understudied body of work by women printmakers of the era, offering insight into how personal and cultural fragments were rendered through intimate, handcrafted processes.
Artist & collection
