Nancy Graves: Camels Shouldn't Exist

Camels Shouldn't Exist

Why camels? Because "[c]amels shouldn't exist," said artist Nancy Graves '61 while she was visiting campus as the President's Distinguished Visitor in 1986. "They have flesh on their hoofs, four stomachs, a dislocated jaw. Yet with all of the illogical form the camel still functions. And though they may be amusing, they are still wonderful to watch." Graves created her first camel in Florence in 1966. Two years later, she would wow the art world in New York City with her solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art: three Bactrian camels with their extravagant curves, a whimsical, arresting study in balance. (Did we mention that she was the first woman ever to solo at the Whitney?)