Untitled (Plak Shak)
Artist
Walker Evans
(American, 1903 - 1975)
Date1974
Mediumdye diffusion print
DimensionsImage: 3 1/8 × 3 1/8 in. (7.9 × 7.9 cm)
Support: 4 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (10.8 × 8.9 cm)
Support: 4 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (10.8 × 8.9 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Hubbard, 2017
Object number2017.18.2
DescriptionExterior of a shop painted minty green with a white sign over the door with letters in green reading: PLAK SHAK. Door at center is white with large window and is flanked by two big picture windows. All windows are covered from the inside; door and right window are covered with something bearing a pattern of green circles. Sidewalk in front of door has a liquid stain running between door and street. At far left is the edge of another sign with white background and numerals in red.eMuseum Notes
Best
known for his influential black-and-white photographs of mid-century American
vernacular architecture and signage – as well as the powerful photographs he
made in the southern U.S. during his short stint with the Farm Security
Administration – Evans began making color pictures with the Polaroid SX-70
camera in 1972 and used it for two years, creating more than 2,400 images. His
lifelong love of text, signs, home-made objects, and things that bear evidence
of time or heavy use are evident in this piece.
On View
Not on view