Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a print by Rosemarie Trockel. It dates from 2015 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 2015, this untitled work by Rosemarie Trockel is a digital print that forms part of a limited series of eight editions produced in various media. The piece is part of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection and is presented as a simple gray cardboard box bearing a yellow label that reads “INSPECTED BY HARRY” in stark black lettering, secured with a small blue clip.
Subject & Meaning
The work foregrounds an everyday object—a cardboard box—paired with a bureaucratic‑style inspection tag. By stripping the box of any contents and emphasizing the utilitarian label, Trockel invites viewers to consider systems of control, documentation, and the mundane language of institutional oversight within an artistic context.
Technique & Style
Executed as a digital print, the image reproduces the texture of corrugated cardboard and the crispness of the printed label. The minimal visual vocabulary—limited color palette, flat surface, and precise typography—reflects Trockel’s interest in reducing objects to their functional essence while preserving the materiality of the original object through print.
History & Provenance
The edition was released as a boxed set of eight multiples, each produced in different media, underscoring the work’s reproducibility. The Museum of Modern Art acquired the piece shortly after its release, incorporating it into its holdings of contemporary print and conceptual art.
Context
Trockel’s practice often engages with objects associated with craft, domesticity, and institutional processes. This print aligns with her broader exploration of how ordinary items can be recontextualized as critical commentary, echoing the tradition of minimal and conceptual art that foregrounds idea over aesthetic embellishment.
Artist & collection
Artist
Rosemarie Trockel is a German conceptual artist. She has made drawings, paintings, sculptures, videos and installations, and has worked in mixed media. From 1985, she made pictures using knitting-machines. She is a…
