Marfa Works

Between 2011 and 2016, Erik Brunetti worked in Far West Texas, developing a body of material-based works using cowhide and custom-fabricated branding irons.

Marks were applied directly to the hides through heat and pressure. The resulting surfaces retain scorched symbols, reversals, incomplete impressions, tonal variation, and the physical residue of production. Variations in temperature, pressure, resistance, and the natural structure of each hide make every work singular.

The branding iron functions simultaneously as a drawing instrument, a means of permanent inscription, and an object historically associated with ownership, territory, labor, and control. Through this process, Brunetti translated reproducible graphic forms into physically irreversible marks.

The Marfa Works connect the artist’s established visual vocabulary with the material and geographic conditions of Far West Texas. Their production extends recurring concerns within his practice: repetition, authorship, American mythology, violence, property, transformation, and the cultural authority of symbols.

The works were created outside commercial commission and form a distinct historical chapter within Brunetti’s practice. The Foundation maintains significant examples and related documentation from this period as an interconnected body supporting provenance research, exhibition development, scholarly study, and the continuing documentation of Brunetti’s work in Marfa.

Selected works may be considered for museum exhibition, institutional acquisition, or placement in significant public and private collections when such placement supports the long-term understanding of the body of work.

Research, exhibition & placement inquiries:
archive@erikbrunettifoundation.org