Hirshhorn's Sam Gilliam exhibition spotlights his decades-long investigation into abstraction
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, November 14, 2024


Hirshhorn's Sam Gilliam exhibition spotlights his decades-long investigation into abstraction
Sam Gilliam, “X for X,” 2021, acrylic and mixed media on panel in beveled frame, 48 x 48 x 4 inches (121.9 x 121.9 x 10.2 cm). Photo: Jonathan Nesteruk. © 2022 Sam Gilliam /Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Private Collection, San Francisco.



WASHINGTON, DC.- This spring, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is presenting an exhibition by pioneering abstractionist artist Sam Gilliam. Between May 25 and Sept. 11, “Sam Gilliam: Full Circle” pairs a series of circular paintings (or tondos) created in 2021 with “Rail” (1977), a landmark painting in the Hirshhorn’s permanent collection. Filling the museum’s second-floor inner-circle gallery, Gilliam’s first solo exhibition at the Hirshhorn reflects the breadth of his multilayered practice and mark the first exhibition in Gilliam’s chosen hometown of Washington, D.C., since 2007. “Full Circle” is organized by Evelyn C. Hankins, the Hirshhorn’s head curator.

In the 60 years since moving to Washington, Gilliam has produced a prolific body of abstraction across media through which he has continually pursued new avenues of artistic expression. He initially rose to prominence in the late 1960s making large, color-stained manipulated, unstretched canvases. Gilliam continues to experiment with staining, soaking and pouring pigments, elaborating on the process-oriented tradition of Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland and other Washington Color School artists. In 1972, Gilliam represented the United States at the 36th Venice Biennale, and returned in 2017 with “Yves Klein Blue,” a draped work that welcomed visitors to the Venice Giardini. Gilliam’s approach focuses keenly on the cornerstones of abstraction—form, color and material—from which he creates artworks that reflect his career-long engagement with art history and the improvisatory ethos of jazz.

“The Hirshhorn’s institutional support for Sam Gilliam began with the acquisition of his landmark painting “Rail” within a year of its creation,” said Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu. “The museum has since championed his practice by presenting this and other major works in exhibitions. “Full Circle” shows Gilliam’s most recent works in recognition of his indefatigable vision, presented in his chosen hometown on the National Mall at the national museum of modern art.”

“I am greatly looking forward to premiering this new body of work,” Gilliam said. “The tondo series introduced in this show encapsulate many of the ideas that I have been developing throughout my career. Just as importantly, they reflect my current thinking about color, materials, and space. These spaces determined by color and texture are limitless.”

Sam Gilliam’s most recent engagement with the Hirshhorn reflects his tireless propulsion of the through lines of abstraction. His tondos expand the body of beveled-edge abstract paintings that Gilliam first pioneered in the 1960s. Ranging in size from 3 to 5 feet in diameter, each tondo begins with a beveled wood panel, which the artist loads with layers of dense, vibrant pigments, their aggregate effect heightened through the addition of thickening agents, sawdust, shimmering metal fragments, wood scraps and other studio debris. Using a stiff metal rake along with more traditional tools, Gilliam then abrades, smears and scrapes the coarse surfaces to reveal a constellation of textures and colors below.

The series is being shown alongside “Rail” (1977), a stellar “Black” painting by Gilliam in the Hirshhorn’s collection work that marks some of the artist’s earliest experiments with pronounced materiality. With its immense scale of more than 15 feet in length, stained underpinning, pieced canvas structure and deep tones, “Rail” offers a resonant counterpoint to the artist’s recent tondos.

For six decades, Gilliam (American, b. 1933, Tupelo, Mississippi) has created groundbreaking work in a range of media. After earning his Bachelor of Arts (1955) and Master of Fine Arts (1961) from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, he moved to Washington in 1962 and has since lived and worked here. Gilliam’s work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group shows at institutions and biennials such as Tate Modern, London; the Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland; the Museum of Modern Art, New York City; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Dia Beacon, New York; the Venice Biennale, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City, among others. His work is held in the collections of major museums worldwide, including the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Menil Collection, Houston; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City; and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark.










Today's News

May 29, 2022

An Irish national treasure gets set for a long-needed restoration

Mnuchin Gallery opens its first exhibition dedicated to Robert Rauschenberg

"Cecilia Vicuña: Spin Spin Triangulene" on view at the Guggenheim

First retrospective exhibition of Etel Adnan alongside works by Vincent van Gogh

'Triangle of Sadness' wins Palme d'Or at Cannes

Hirshhorn's Sam Gilliam exhibition spotlights his decades-long investigation into abstraction

20th/ 21st Century Art Sale series achieved a combined total of $231,529,651 at Christie's Asia

'Pistol' tells Steve Jones' story. With a touch of showbiz.

Modern Art Oxford opens the first public solo exhibition in Europe of Ruth Asawa's work

Christie's to offer two Andy Warhol screenprints of Queen Elizabeth II

Phillips' ULTRA/NEO series spotlights a diverse range of ultra-contemporary international talent

Nohra Haime Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Julie Hedrick

Exhibition features Christine Howard Sandoval's architectural drawings, sculptures and experimental film

Morton L. Janklow, agent for best-selling authors, dies at 91

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago opens the most comprehensive survey of Nick Cave's work to date

Artpace San Antonio announces Summer 2022 International Artists-in-Residence

John Moran Auctioneers announces its California Living post-sale results

Creative Growth exhibition opens at Kohler Arts Center

Christie's presents Tiffany Masterworks from the Garden Museum: A Private Collection

Exhibition at ADA Rome investigates the concept of appearance as an aspect of reality

Brian Gross Fine Art opens 'Willem de Looper: Stain Paintings 1968-1969'

The South Enta Montauk Foundation opens an exhibition of recent work by Faith Ringgold

A starry 'Into the Woods' will play Broadway this summer

Nathalie Obadia opens an exhibition of works by Guillaume Leblon

Elbrus Climbing Routes




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful