Those that have missed Tim Prythero’s Last Emperor will be thrilled to learn that this popular mixed-media sculpture will return in the exhibit Cool Art. Numerous works in this exhibition point to a phenomenon in postmodern art that reconciled high (academic) and low (popular culture) art—blurring the edges. This exhibition is meant to engage our museum audience in works that connect with our contemporary consciousness and push the boundaries of what is traditionally considered fine art.

Last Emperor is part of a series of miniature structures—trailer homes, gas stations, diners, hippie school buses—created in the 1980s by Albuquerque artist Tim Prythero. His sculptures, in astonishing detail, record moments in time and commemorate New Mexico’s dilapidated roadside architecture. His motifs include old tires, torn screen doors, rusted swamp coolers, furniture in disrepair, and human clutter. Prythero’s creations are amalgams derived from numerous visual sources, yet they are also singular icons for a state that is largely poor and rural. As Prythero did while building his environments, visitors often contemplate who might have lived in Last Emperor, and whether that horseshoe strung across the front porch spins in the New Mexico wind.