%C2%A9 May Stevens %2F Courtesy Ryan Lee Gallery
Big Daddy with Hats, 1971
May Stevensexpand_more
Color screenprintexpand_more
Gift of the Ryan Lee Gallery and the artist in honor of Dennis Michael Jonexpand_more 2017.122
Not on Viewexpand_more
A leading feminist artist and political activist, May Stevens created "Big Daddy" in the mid-1960s as a symbol of reactionary, patriarchal politics and to protest American involvement in the Vietnam War. Stevens based the character of Big Daddy on her own father, whose stanch patriotism and blind allegiance to conservative beliefs had poisoned their relationship. Her mocking depiction renders him naked, bloated, and sporting a bullet-shaped head, an unmistakably phallic symbol signifying male dominance and the capacity for violence. Here, she portrays Big Daddy as a paper doll, to be dressed in the guise of a soldier, police officer, executioner, or Klansman. In this parody of authority, she renders him powerless, nothing more than a child’s game.
Details
- Title
- Big Daddy with Hats
- Artist Life
- 1924–2019
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2017.122
- Provenance
- The artist, Santa Fe, N.M.; [Ryan Lee Gallery, New York]; given to MIA, 2017.
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Coppel, Daunt & Tallman 160
- Curator Approved
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© May Stevens / Courtesy Ryan Lee Gallery