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William S. Burroughs

Gluttony, from the portfolio The Seven Deadly Sins

1991

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  • Artist William S. Burroughs (American, 1914–1997)
  • Title Gluttony, from the portfolio The Seven Deadly Sins
  • Date 1991
  • Medium Screenprint
  • Edition description 29/90
  • Dimensions unframed |
    framed | 46 7/8 x 32 7/8 x 2 in.
  • Credit line University purchase, Art Acquisition Fund, 1995
  • Object number WU 1995.16.04 b

4/13/1995
Shearburn Fine Art, William

Inscription Textual component: Sloth says don’t stick your neck out, go by the book, / never go too far in any direction, stay in the mainstream, / don’t get involved, don’t get mixed up in it. And Envy — / you know the type, unfairly passed over for promotion / . . . one such swine can disrupt a whole firm with his / tale-bearing, likes and slander. No wonder he is passed / over for promotion: he is so busy all the time with / affairs and intrigues, he has no time left to do his job. // The old miser fingering his gold coins with idiot / delight has given way to the deadly, disembodied Avarice / of vast multinational conglomerates, with no more / responsibility or consideration for the welfare of the / planet than the computers that orient their maneuvers, / programmed for maximum profit, humming and purring / and sucking up rain forests and spewing out dividends. / Avarice has ravaged the planet, cut down the rain / forests, and polluted the seas and rivers.

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