ART CITIES:N.York-Louise Nevelson
Louise Nevelson emerged in the art world amidst the dominance of the Abstract Expressionist Movement. In her most iconic works, she utilized wooden objects that she gathered from urban debris piles to create her monumental installations. Nevelson carefully arranged the objects in order to historicize the debris within the new, narrative context of her wall sculptures.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Pace Gallery Archive
Louise Nevelson was an iconoclast artist known for her monochromatic sculptures, she is fundamental to the history of Feminist art, as it challenged the dominant stereotype of the male sculptor. The exhibition “Black & White” at Pace Gallery in New York brings together 20 of Louise Nevelson’s iconic black and white painted wood sculptures, wall reliefs, and installations from the late ‘50s through the late ‘80s. Nevelson is renowned for majestic monochromatic works, which are comprised of wooden materials found in the area surrounding her studio. She transformed these castaways by unifying and coating them in a new, monochromatic paint surface. A highlight of the exhibition is the monumental installation “Dawn’s Presence – Three” (1975-80), the artist’s only complete white environment held in private hands, the work is on presentation with the white sculptures: “Dawn’s Staff” (1969-75) and “Dawn’s Landscape XXXII” (1975), from the same body of work. Among the black wall reliefs and standing wall sculptures featured in the exhibition, a particularly striking work is the installation “Untitled (Sky Cathedral)” (1964). Louise Nevelson artist was born in Kiev, in 1905, she moved with her family from Ukraine to Rockland, Maine. In 1929 she began studying with Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League in New York City, and in 1931 she studied with Hans Hofmann in Munich, until the Nazis closed the school. She followed Hofmann to New York and enrolled at the Art Students League, an art school where Jackson Pollock and other Abstract Expressionists studied. She worked in various media, painting, sculpture and printing. In the ‘40s, Nevelson experimented with different styles and materials such as wood and junk that she found in the streets of New York. She began working with monochrome paint, particularly black, and assembled the sculpture pieces in groupings. Nevelson created works that illustrated how freedom of expression was a political act. While making a reputation with her art, she cultivated an extravagant personal lifestyle that included glamorous gowns, heavy face makeup and unconventional hairstyles. Nevelson’s real success came in the late ‘50s, when some of her works were featured at the Museum of Modern Art. Gradually, other big museums and collectors recognized her talent, and she rose through the ranks of the New York art world. In 1967, the Whitney Museum of American Art hosted her first museum retrospective and exhibited over 100 of her works spanning her entire oeuvre. Two years later, already in her 70s, she received her first commission for a monumental outdoor sculpture from Princeton University, which she fulfilled in 1971. Nevelson’s work stands out as a foundational contribution to feminist art challenging the stereotypical “male” sculptor style. She is admired for designing exhibitions with works that not only as individual objects, but as parts of a whole. Nevelson, not intimidated by new ideas or creativity, was an outstanding sculptor who redefined femininity in sculpture.
Info: Pace Gallery, 537 West 24th Street, New York, Duration 1/2-3/3/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.pacegallery.com
