Ray JohnsonAmerican, 1927–1995Elvis Presley #1 (Oedipus)
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Elvis Presley #1 (Oedipus)” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
To make this work, Ray Johnson began with a photograph of Elvis Presley in profile, his eyes downcast and shrouded in shadow. Johnson then covered the work in red tempera, letting the paint drip down around the singer’s sinister sockets, evoking both blood and tears. In doing so, Johnson tethered Elvis, a cult figure of the present, to one from the mythological past: Oedipus, who gouged out his eyes to atone for committing patricide and incest. Works like Elvis Presley #1 situate Johnson among the earliest pioneers of Pop Art. In the 1960s Andy Warhol also gravitated to Elvis’s photographic likeness, incorporating it into silkscreened grids that commented on celebrity culture through the repetition and degredation of popular imagery.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- Obj: 248595
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
