Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) was a towering figure in postwar American art, exerting great influence with her monumental installations, innovative sculpture made of found wood objects, and celebrated public art.
She was recognized during her lifetime as one of America's most distinguished artists, and her work continues to inspire contemporary sculptors today. The Jewish Museum presents The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend, the first major American survey of her work since 1980, from May 5 through September 16, 2007.
Sixty-six works are on view including sculpture, drawings and two room-size masterworks. The exhibition focuses on all phases of Nevelson's career and demonstrates how her life story was a force that propelled her work. Following its New York City showing at The Jewish Museum, The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend will travel to San Francisco, California where it will be on view at the Fine Arts Museum s of San Francisco, de Young from October 27, 2007 through January 13, 2008.
Exhibition visitors have the opportunity of seeing works from international and national collections, dating from 1928 to 1988, including abstract self-portraits; a re-creation of Dawn's Wedding Feast(1959), the white installation Nevelson constructed specifically for an influential Museum of Modern Art show; and Nevelson's culminating environment, Mrs. N's Palace (1964-1977), a black sculpture evoking a house with a mirrored floor.
Dawn's Wedding Feast has been specially reassembled with loans from twelve museums and private collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago, The Menil Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.
Also on view will be a vast sculpture that memorialized the Holocaust, Homage to 6,000,000 I (1964), a loan from the Osaka City Museum of Modern Art in Japan. This black work is a key example of a Nevelson ' s wall in which the artist filled stacked wooden crates. A video featuring interviews with six contemporary artists inspired by Nevelson and archival film footage of the artist from the 1960s and 1970s gives a final touch to this major exhibition.
The Jewish Museum, Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, New York, NY
212.423.3200
http://www.thejewishmuseum.org
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