Edition of 1517 of which 125 copies are signed 1-125, 26 copies are signed A-Z as artist's proofs. One copy signed as a dedication copy.

Three sets of progressives.

August 28, 2003

8 colors 17-1/2˝ x 24˝

Client: Chez Panisse Café & Restaurant, 1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley CA 94709 Telephone (510) 548-5525. website: www.chezpanisse.com

Model: Mina Reimer & Chicken Little,  Reference: Grant Wood, Appraisal, (1931)

1-125: Saint Hieronymus Press,  Dedication copy: Mina Reimer

Artist's Proofs: Saint Hieronymus Press

Progressives: One set to Mina Reimer, two sets to Saint Hieronymus Press

Is there a more domesticated creature than the chicken? The farmer breeds, feeds, houses, coddles and protects the chicken. In return, the chicken gives the farmer eggs, the occasional chicken dinner, and a handy alarm clock attachment that goes off at random intervals, mostly when the exhausted farmer is asleep. Man in a State of Nature had no call for chickens, chicken feed, chicken coops, chicken wire, broody eggs, egg-candling lamps, egg crates, egg timers, or any of the unbelievable amount of debris that accumulates around the fragile, disease-prone, evil-tempered, noisy, ill-kempt, brick-stupid chicken. Man in a State of Nature was footloose and fancy-free, spent most of his time hunting and fishing and bashing his neighbor on the head, and had no truck with chickens or garden-fresh vegetables or anything else that hadn't been invented yet. But the minute somebody or another got the bright idea of keeping a little plot of land and a few chickens, somebody else cultivated the notion of waiting until everything was just about ready to eat and then swiping it. This rapidly escalated to war, taxes, slavery, cities, congestion, air pollution and organized religion. In short, civilization as we know it is the direct result of the chicken's desire to lead a carefree life of luxury and ease, and we have fallen in with its plot and have just about become completely domesticated.