Since the incorporation of the Esopus Foundation Ltd. in 2003, we have asked contemporary artists to create limited editions that we offer in exchange for donations. Revenue from these artworks allows us to continue our mission of providing an unmediated, accessible forum for artists and the general public.
These limited editions are not for sale; therefore, a portion of their value is tax-deductible per the Internal Revenue Code. Donors will receive an email receipt for their records.
The inspiration for our Limited-Edition Artwork series for Premium subscribers came from the fall of 2012, when Esopus invited acclaimed artist Robert Gober to create this limited edition to serve as a “placeholder” gift to subscribers during a shift in our production schedule. Reader response to the edition was overwhelming, and we realized that by continuing to produce these editions we could not only fulfill our mission of providing affordable artworks to our audience but also allow artists to work in a range of formats that were beyond the scope of a regular issue of Esopus.
Please note: Robert Gober created a signed-and-numbered multiple (edition of 25) of this artwork, of which a handful of copies are still available.
Robert Gober is an American sculptor and installation artist known for his eerie and evocative reconsiderations of everyday objects. His common motifs include the human body and domestic objects examined, often with humor, through notions such as religion, sexuality, childhood, and change. Gober studied at Middlebury College (1972–76), spending his junior year abroad at the Tyler School in Rome before settling in New York City. After a brief period as a painter, he drew notice in the 1980s with a series of haunting sculptures loosely based on the forms of household items such as sinks, drains, and playpens. Gober carried these ideas further in sculptures and installations that commingled the familiar with the strange. In 1999, Gober was awarded the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture by the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. He participated in the 2001 Venice Biennale and was the subject of a retrospective in 2007 at the Schaulager Museum in Basel, Switzerland. In 2014, the Museum of Modern Art in New York organized a major survey of his work, the first of its kind in the United States. Based in New York City, Gober is represented by Matthew Marks Gallery.
