MARCH THROUGH SEPTEMBER a Letter from the Director
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MARCH THROUGH SEPTEMBER A letter from the director In 2014, the Hirshhorn will celebrate its fortieth anniversary. Many of these elements are already an intrinsic part of the As we approach this signifi cant milestone, I am pleased to Hirshhorn’s work. Our ongoing commitment to research launch a series of letters informing you about a range of excit- and substantive exhibitions is evidenced by the opening of ing initiatives now underway to mark this event. The core of Yves Klein, the fi rst US retrospective in nearly thirty years this effort is a recently adopted plan outlining seven priorities of the career of one of the most infl uential artists of the for the Museum in the coming years that together will make twentieth century. And the depth, breadth, and strength of the Hirshhorn not only a renowned museum of modern and our collection is central to current exhibitions on renowned contemporary art, but a truly international resource for the art abstract artist and educator Josef Albers—the Hirshhorn’s and ideas of our time. holdings are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world—as well as an exploration of artists’ diverse Briefl y, the seven priorities are: approaches to color and abstraction in ColorForms and the latest Directions project featuring cutting-edge new media a fundamental commitment to research and work by Irish artist John Gerrard. greatly heightened focus on education for all audiences and generations that enhances our role in the Other aspects represent new areas of emphasis, crucial to Smithsonian’s knowledge-based mission; a twenty-fi rst-century museum. In our approaches to our physical, digital, and educational presence, the Hirshhorn an emphasis on thematic content in exhibitions will be developing ways of more broadly connecting to and and programming dealing with key issues in art engaging with its local, national, and international communi- and society; ty to explore of the art, ideas, and issues of today. We look forward to having you with us in the exciting times ahead. a forward-thinking approach to collecting and conserving works of art; a revitalization of the Museum’s public spaces as gathering places and educational centers; Richard Koshalek a deployment of state-of-the-art technologies Director connecting our audiences on-site and online; the continual, direct engagement of artists in the life of the Museum and its programs; exciting new collaborations with other cultural and educational institutions, nationwide and internationally. General Information The Hirshhorn is located on the Administrative Offi ces: Admission is free. To subscribe to the National Mall on Independence Avenue 202-633-4674 eNews, e-mail [email protected]. at Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC. For up-to-date information about tours The nearest Metro stops are L’Enfant Communications: and program listings, please call 202- Plaza (Maryland Avenue/Smithsonian 202-633-1618 633-1000 or visit our website: hirsh- Museum exit) and Smithsonian. horn.si.edu. Development/Membership: Contact 202-633-2836 Hours and Location Information: Open daily except December 25 202-633-1000 This publication is a benefi t of Museum: 10 am to 5:30 pm membership in the Hirshhorn Annual Plaza: 7:30 am to 5:30 pm Programs/Tour Information: Circle. Join today by visiting Sculpture Garden: 7:30 am to dusk 202-633-EDUC (202-633-3382) hirshhorn.si.edu or call 202-633-2836. 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Em verat nibh et nit exero odolore ex et, Gait ipsum dit, qui te doloreetue min henismolorer sequis ad ming ero conulla consequat aliquatin henibh eugiat doloborerat.” — from the Wash- ington Post JOSEF ALBERS: INNOVATION AND INSPIRATION February 11– April 11, 2010 In a career that spanned more than as well as the primary colors red, yel- By the time Albers became chair- fi fty years, Josef Albers (American, b. low, and blue, which he hoped would be man of the art department at Yale Uni- Bottrop, Germany, 1888 1976) not only commercially manufactured in laminated versity in 1950, he was well known as established his own artistic prominence glass for use as windows in buildings. an abstract painter and color theorist. through his exploration of abstract form When the Bauhaus closed after the Believing that colors have no inherent and color, but also infl uenced genera- rise of the Nazi regime in 1933, Albers emotional associations, he emphasized tions of European and American artists and his wife, renowned fi ber artist the subjectivity of visual perception. and designers through his innovative Anni Albers, fl ed to the United States. Restricting himself to a standardized teaching methods. There, he was recruited to head Black format of only a few superimposed Albers began his career in the early Mountain College, an experimental squares, Albers generated innumerable 1920s at the revolutionary Bauhaus new school in North Carolina, where he studies of the interactions of multiple school in Weimar, Germany, which cham- taught a modifi ed Bauhaus curriculum colors until his death in 1976. pioned vanguard aesthetics and promot- for fi fteen years. An enthusiastic moti- Josef Albers: Innovation and Inspi- ed ways to improve modern life through vator, Albers shared his experience with ration presents sixty works from the pragmatic art and design. He created materials and design before gradually Museum’s extensive, world-renowned bold compositions in black and white, focusing on color. collection; many of these works have 2 hirshhorn.si.edu Credit lines still to come lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisic- ing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud never been on view before. The exhibi- tion is enhanced by key loans from the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. Documentary photographs, a video, and examples of his teaching aids offer insights into Albers’ artistic endeavors, process, and concepts. The exhibi- tion concludes with a display of works by artists who studied under, worked with, or directly inspired Albers, notably Anni Albers, Richard Anuskiewicz, Ilya Bolotowsky, Burgoyne Diller, Eva Hesse, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Rauschenberg, and Donald Judd. YVES KLEIN: WITH THE VOID, FULL POWERS May 20– September 12, 2010 KLEIN Yves Klein making Fire Paintings at the Centre d’Essais du Gaz de France, Paris, 1961, Yves Klein Archives “ What he was trying to Yves Klein (French, b. Nice, 1928– Self-identifi ed as “the painter of establish through the trace 1962) created what he considered his space,” Klein sought to achieve im- fi rst artwork when he signed the sky material spirituality through pure color of fi re…was the ‘presence above Nice in 1947. This simple yet (primarily an ultramarine blue of his own of absence,’ the mark of bold statement encapsulates the es- invention—International Klein Blue), sence of the artist’s goal—to capture inaugurating his defi ning series of mono- life that is diffused energy.” and convey the immaterial. During chromes in 1957. He even went so far – Pierre Restany an intense, prolifi c career that lasted in his renowned 1958 exhibition of “the only from 1954 to 1962, when he Void” to present white galleries emptied suffered a heart attack at the age of of all artworks. Among Klein’s best- 34, Klein took the art scene by storm known works are the Anthropometries, with his experiments in painting, begun in 1958. Under his direction, sculpture, performance, photography, nude female models were smeared with music, theater, fi lm, architecture, his ultramarine blue and used as “living and theoretical writing. brushes” to make body prints on pre- hirshhorn.si.edu 7 Yves Klein, TITLE Date Yves Klein Archives Yves Klein, Do-Do-Do, 1960, Yves Klein Archives pared canvas. The resulting images are sential to all of his art. not only likenesses of the models but The artist’s diverse body of work also represent their temporary physical represents a pivotal transition from presence. modern art’s concern with the mate- In the late 1950s, but most notably rial object to contemporary notions beginning in 1961, Klein began literally of the conceptual nature of art and is to use fi re, which he considered “the informed by Klein’s study of the mysti- universal principle of expression,” as cal sect Rosicrucianism, philosophical part of his creative process. His fi re and poetic investigations of space and paintings, in which fi re either replaced science, and the practice of Judo, which or was combined with paint, embody he described as “the discovery of the the ideas of process, transformation, human body in a spiritual space.” creation, destruction, dissolution, and The fi rst major retrospective of the elemental cosmology that were so es- artist’s work in the US in nearly thirty Yves Klein, TITLE While working on my paintings in my studio I sometimes used Date Yves Klein Archives sponges. Evidently, they very quickly turned blue! One day I perceived the beauty of the blue in the sponges; this working tool all of a sudden became a primary medium for me. The sponge has that extraordinary capacity to absorb and become impregnated with any fl uid, which was naturally very seductive to me. years, Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Minneapolis, MN. Major exhibition fund- Powers features examples from all of ing is provided by The Andy Warhol Foun- Klein’s major series as well as selec- dation for the Visual Arts, with generous tions of his lesser-known gold and pink assistance from Martha and Bruce monochromes, sponge reliefs, “air Atwater, Judy Dayton, and Constance architecture,” and immaterial works, but R.