Eye for an Eye

Details

TUNGA (1952-2016)
Eye for an Eye
32 pieces in plated bronze with iron stands, and mahogany board, 2005, number AP 2/3, one of three artist's proof sets aside from the edition of seven, published by RS & A. Ltd., London, within the original two wooden boxes
King & Pawn 140 mm.
Board 750 x 750 x 750 mm.

Literature

Yves Marek, Art échecs et mat, Editions de l’imprimerie nationale, Paris, 2008, p. 183 (p. 167, ill.).
George Dean, Chess Masterpieces. One thousand years of extraordinary chess sets, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 2010 (p. 265, ill.).

Exhibited

The Art of Chess, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow (exh. cat.), 2006 (p. 24-25, ill.).
32 Pieces: The Art of Chess, Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland (exh. cat.), 24 January - 13 April 2009 (p. 88-91, ill.).
The Art of Chess, Dox Centre of Contemporary Art, Prague (exh. cat.), 2010 (p. 28, ill.).

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Lot Essay

Brazilian artist Tunga often creates work with exotic materials that focuses on the female body, sexuality and cultural rituals. To arrive at his Eye for an Eye chess set design the artist literally delved into the body as well as the cultural history of the game. He reasoned that there are thirty-two teeth in one’s mouth just as there are thirty-two chess pieces, and has presented them as oversized bronze casts on an elegant chessboard. In doing so, Tunga has created a naturally integrated and harmonious ensemble of the most durable forms in the human body while also associating chess play with the Freudian links between teeth and sexual anxieties.

This work is accompanied by a certificate issued by the publisher.

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