BOB HAOZOUS

Untitled (Cat Form)

Circa 1990s

Dimensions: 26” H x 16” W x 9” D

Medium: Steel

Condition: Overall very good

Provenance: 

– Artist

– Trotta-Bono Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA

Exhibited: Bob Haozous: A Retrospective View, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ, April 4 – November 30, 2025

Illustrated: Roche, David M., et al. Bob Haozous: A Retrospective View. Heard Museum, 2025. p. 145.

ON HOLD

Haozous’s steel sculpture represents a stylized feline figure standing alert, its body tensed, ready to howl. With an elongated tail arching in a sweeping curve that animates the entire composition, the body is articulated with bold planes using negative space cut through the torso to suggest ribs and sharp teeth. Haozous uses industrial steel, which has oxidized into a deep, earthen rust, creating a surface that feels elemental and enduring. Haozous contrasts solidity and absence, between mass and void, with the skeletal cutouts, suggesting vulnerability and mortality, while the confident stance conveys resilience. For the artist, animal figures are not only literal representations but also carriers of spirit and commentary. The animal reads at once as a domesticated, predator, and mythic being, becomes both guardian and witness, embodying survival within landscapes shaped by colonial violence and environmental strain.