Universal Mule T-Shirt

Shirts are a blend of polyester, cotton and rayon.

The Universal Mule T-Shirt is a reproduction of Jack Niven's Universal Mule, a large-scale work of public art that now resides in the Ogden Museum's permanent collection. Universal Mule is part of artist Jack Niven’s 2008 project, American Beauty-South, and was displayed on the side of the New Orleans London Lodge Motel on Airline Drive. Airline Drive is part of the final stretch of Highway 61, which connects the Canadian border to New Orleans. This route resonated with Niven as a symbol of his own migration from his home country to the American South.

American Beauty-South utilized the street-side walls of motels to exhibit seven artist-created billboards, addressing three major themes: American Beauty, the South and Highway 61. In its full glory, Universal Mule is an impressive 16 feet tall and 8 feet wide. It will be on view during the Ogden Museum's upcoming exhibition BIG, opening November 29.

“The piece I made for American Beauty-South is called Universal Mule. One of the things I have noticed from a broad observance of Southern literature, film, art and folklore is a preponderance of mule depictions. This has, for me in this instance, been distilled to a notion of things ‘mulish.’ In the same way that mules once served as the engine of a rural economy, and still do in a small way, their character as a quotidian symbol is a potent one to invoke on many levels. Hence, the Universal Mule I have called upon here is everyman among us. I wanted this mule to stand as witness to the highway from a cosmic trajectory.”
– Jack Niven