CANBERRA.- The National Gallery of Australia is presenting an exhibition of works made by the major American abstract artist Frank Stella in collaboration with master printmaker Kenneth Tyler. Tracing their long history of groundbreaking prints, Frank Stella: The Kenneth Tyler Print Collection showcases works created by the duo, who contributed significantly to the major developments of twentieth-century printmaking.

New York based Frank Stella first pushed the boundaries of abstraction with the Minimalist forms of his Black paintings in 1959, gaining instant notoriety. Since then his work has continually striven to validate and renew the genre, inventing new ways to ‘save abstraction’ from a dead end.

‘Frank Stella was an unstoppable risk-taker, a constant adventurer and highwire act,’ said curator Jane Kinsman. ‘His constant search for new ways to give life to the art of abstraction is explored in this new exhibition featuring his significant body of work with Kenneth Tyler—himself a renegade.’

Stella began his collaboration with master printmaker Kenneth Tyler in the mid-1960s. Over the years the pure geometric shapes of his early works gave way to highly dramatic, narrative forms inspired by Baroque artists, especially Caravaggio. Yet, there is consistency in Stella’s work. An underlying ‘spring-loaded’ tension and dynamism has always characterised it, from the early Minimalism of his youth to the more off-the-wall extravaganzas of recent years.

Tyler was also prone to throw out the rule book. Taking his lead from his idol Pablo Picasso, he learnt the rules—only to bend and mould them to his will. He promised artists a workshop with no rules or restrictions, one that Stella took advantage of.

Frank Stella: The Kenneth Tyler Print Collection is on view until July 2017.