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© Abelardo Morell. Courtesy of the artist and Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Tent-Camera Image on Ground: Rio Grande Looking Toward Mexico Near Boquillas Canyon, Texas

The Rio Grande, seen in this image, serves as the border between the US and Mexico. But rivers can move, and with them the boundaries they mark. The Rio Grande's fluid state demonstrates how borders are arbitrary and constantly shifting. Abelardo Morell reinforces this with his artistic process. Although he stood on US soil to produce this work, the light used in his photographic process crossed this invisible boundary to create an image of Mexico.

ArtistAbelardo Morell, born 1948
Date2011
MediumArchival pigment print
Dimensions30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm)
Signedverso, l.r.: Abelardo Morell
Mark(s)verso, l.r.: ABELARDO MORELL / Tent-Camera Image on Ground: Rio Grande Looking / Toward Mexico New Boquillas Canyon, Texas, 2011 / Edition 1/8 [label] verso, u.l.: [Optium Museum Acrylic label] verso, l.c., on stretcher: LAU 126855 38-1/4x47-3/4 [label]
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2020.77
ClassificationPhotograph
Provenance(Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, NY); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2020
On ViewNo
Tent-Camera Image on…30 × 40 in.Tennis Ball2.7 in. diameter

This artwork's face covers about 165× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.