Ed Kienholz, a self-taught sculptor who frequently sourced material in flea markets and junk shops, made large-scale multimedia installations often centered around hypocrisy and contemporary life. For most of his career, Kienholz worked in collaboration with his partner, Nancy Reddin Kienholz. The Eleventh Hour Final, 1968, in Glenstone’s collection, exemplifies the surreal sculptures and environments for which Kienholz became known. The artwork is a living room scene; the title refers to the focal point of the installation, a television set broadcasting the 11:00pm news. The television is frozen on a screen familiar at the time—a tally of the wounded and dead in the Vietnam War—with a severed wax head within the TV staring back at the viewer.

–Ariana Kaye, from the Glenstone Field Guide