<commit_before>---
layout: post
title:  "Key Artworks at the Indianapolis Museum of Art"
date:   2014-12-20 17:00:00
author: "Amy"
location: "Chicago"
---

<p class=no-indent><em>In addition to the exhibitions at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, their permanent collection is also noteworthy.</em></p>

<figure>
  <img src="{{ site.baseurl }}/img/build/indy_1.jpg" title="<NAME>, Light and Space III, 2008.">
  <figcaption><NAME>, <em>Light and Space III</em>, 2008.</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>The success of an 1883 art exhibition in downtown Indianapolis (Indiana, USA), eventually turned into what is the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) today. Its exhibitions are impressive: from its <em>Ai Weiwei: According to What?</em> exhibition (2013) to the current <em>Georgia O’Keeffe and the Southwestern Still Life</em> (through February 15, 2015).  But so are the pieces on view throughout the museum.  Three artworks in particular capture the mind and the eye: <NAME>’s <em>Light and Space III</em> (2008), <NAME>’s <em>Untitled</em> (1989) and <NAME>’s <em>Drawing No. 652</em> (1990).</p>

<p>Each piece reveals distinct artistic goals, influences and contributions to the realm of art. Yet these seemingly disparate artworks share some similarities: three American artists made pieces that call attention to space&mdash;making viewers aware of and sensitive to it&mdash;albeit in different ways.</p>

<!--excerpt-->

<p class=no-indent><strong><NAME>, Light and Space III, 2008</strong></p>

<p><NAME> is a forerunner in American art and leader in the Light and Space movement, which began in Southern California (USA) during the 1960s. This movement questioned traditional art and focused on sensory perceptions. His <em>Light and Space III</em> is a quintessential example of a site-specific artwork at IMA that pushes conventional art boundaries.</p>

<p>This piece consists of floor to ceiling scrim panels with white fluorescent lights that are placed in a pattern of lines at seemingly right angles on the wall surfaces surrounding the museums’ escalators. Importantly, Mr. Irwin includes the viewer’s perceptual experience and sensory awareness, which changes depending on the relation to the piece.  It can be viewed in its entirety from the Museum’s Pulliam Family Great Hall; or viewers become immersed in the work when using the escalator to travel between galleries.</p>

<p>On a macro level, this piece also calls attention to space.  In another context, such as a subway or shopping mall for instance, wall space surrounding an escalator is typically filled with movie or sale advertisements&mdash;not typically a grid of fluorescent lights.</p>

<figure>
  <img src="{{ site.baseurl }}/img/build/indy_2.jpg" title="<NAME>, Untitled, 1989.">
  <figcaption><NAME>, <em>Untitled</em>, 1989.</figcaption>
</figure>

<p class=no-indent><strong><NAME>, Untitled, 1989 </strong></p>

<p>Those unfamiliar with <NAME>’s work may initially wonder what orange yarn stretching from the gallery floor to the opposing wall may mean, or question why it is even there.  <em>Untitled</em> demonstrates Sandback’s interest in everyday materials&mdash;metal wire, elastic cord or yarn&mdash;creating “subtly complex perceptual effects,” as <em>The New York Times</em> explains.  What may appear as a triangle with an orange outline is merely an illusion of his real interest.</p>

<p>Sandback dispensed with the conventions of sculpture.  He used linear outlines, diagonally, vertically or horizontally, to explore “the impression of volume and materiality,” <NAME> explains in the book, <em>The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art</em>.  Sandback’s yarn pieces can re-define a gallery space, which <em>Untitled</em> undoubtedly does.  The orange color draws visual awareness to the diagonal line that cuts across the gallery space.  Consequently, it redirects the viewer’s path and eye from inside the gallery towards the outside world: the opposing glass panes overlook a winter landscape.  And thus, Untitled demonstrates how something so simple, acrylic yarn, conveys complex ideas about space, materiality, illusion and perception.</p>

<p class=no-indent><strong><NAME>, Drawing No. 652, 1990</strong></p>

<p><NAME>, who is linked with both Minimalism and Conceptual art, is also remembered for his wall drawings.  <em>Drawing No. 652</em>, spanning from the floor to the ceiling, is one such example.  It is filled with vibrant colors and geometric shapes, and can be perceived from a variety of locations within the museum: coming down the escalator, looking over the railing on the different museum levels or exiting IMA’s Pulliam Family Great Hall.</p>

<p><em>Drawing No. 652</em> exemplifies one of LeWitt’s famous statements: “[The] idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work . . . The idea becomes the machine that makes the art.”  This piece, which has been created and recreated, denotes this very claim.  Since the original version from 1990 required a varnish that faded over time, it was recreated in 2005 and changed the original inks to acrylics.  The newer version also extended the wall drawing to accommodate the larger wall surface.  Both the original and current wall drawings, however, are based on the same original diagram; a team of assistants used the diagram and LeWitt’s instructions to create the piece.  Thus true to his words, LeWitt came up with the idea&mdash;the work of art&mdash;that can be replicated over and over again, as IMA demonstrates.</p>

<figure>
  <img src="{{ site.baseurl }}/img/build/indy_3.jpg" title="Sol LeWitt, Drawing No. 652, 1990.">
  <figcaption>Sol LeWitt, <em>Drawing No. 652</em>, 1990.</figcaption>
</figure>
<commit_msg>Corrections to 12-20-2014 post<commit_after>---
layout: post
title:  "Key Artworks at the Indianapolis Museum of Art"
date:   2014-12-20 17:00:00
author: "Amy"
location: "Chicago"
---

<p class=no-indent><em>In addition to the exhibitions at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, their permanent collection is also noteworthy.</em></p>

<figure>
  <img src="{{ site.baseurl }}/img/build/indy_1.jpg" title="<NAME>, Light and Space III, 2008.">
  <figcaption><NAME>, <em>Light and Space III</em>, 2008.</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>The success of an 1883 art exhibition in downtown Indianapolis (Indiana, USA), eventually turned into what is the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) today. Its exhibitions are impressive: from its <em>Ai Weiwei: According to What?</em> exhibition (2013) to the current <em>Georgia O’Keeffe and the Southwestern Still Life</em> (through February 15, 2015).  But so are the pieces on view throughout the museum.  Three artworks in particular capture the mind and the eye: <NAME>’s <em>Light and Space III</em> (2008), <NAME>’s <em>Untitled</em> (1989) and <NAME>’s <em>Drawing No. 652</em> (1990).</p>

<p>Each piece reveals distinct artistic goals, influences and contributions to the realm of art. Yet these seemingly disparate artworks share some similarities: three American artists made pieces that call attention to space&mdash;making viewers aware of and sensitive to it&mdash;albeit in different ways.</p>

<!--excerpt-->

<p class=no-indent><strong><NAME>, "Light and Space III", 2008</strong></p>

<p><NAME> is a forerunner in American art and leader in the Light and Space movement, which began in Southern California (USA) during the 1960s. This movement questioned traditional art and focused on sensory perceptions. His <em>Light and Space III</em> is a quintessential example of a site-specific artwork at IMA that pushes conventional art boundaries.</p>

<p>This piece consists of floor to ceiling scrim panels with white fluorescent lights that are placed in a pattern of lines at seemingly right angles on the wall surfaces surrounding the museums’ escalators. Importantly, Mr. Irwin includes the viewer’s perceptual experience and sensory awareness, which changes depending on the relation to the piece.  It can be viewed in its entirety from the Museum’s Pulliam Family Great Hall; or viewers become immersed in the work when using the escalator to travel between galleries. On a macro level, this piece also calls attention to space.  In another context, such as a subway or shopping mall for instance, wall space surrounding an escalator is typically filled with movie or sale advertisements&mdash;not typically a grid of fluorescent lights.</p>

<p class=no-indent><strong><NAME>, "Untitled", 1989 </strong></p>

<p>Those unfamiliar with <NAME>’s work may initially wonder what orange yarn stretching from the gallery floor to the opposing wall may mean, or question why it is even there.  <em>Untitled</em> demonstrates Sandback’s interest in everyday materials&mdash;metal wire, elastic cord or yarn&mdash;creating “subtly complex perceptual effects,” as <em>The New York Times</em> explains.  What may appear as a triangle with an orange outline is merely an illusion of his real interest.</p>

<p>Sandback dispensed with the conventions of sculpture.  He used linear outlines, diagonally, vertically or horizontally, to explore “the impression of volume and materiality,” <NAME> explains in the book, <em>The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art</em>.  Sandback’s yarn pieces can re-define a gallery space, which <em>Untitled</em> undoubtedly does.  The orange color draws visual awareness to the diagonal line that cuts across the gallery space.  Consequently, it redirects the viewer’s path and eye from inside the gallery towards the outside world: the opposing glass panes overlook a winter landscape.  And thus, <em>Untitled</em> demonstrates how something so simple, acrylic yarn, conveys complex ideas about space, materiality, illusion and perception.</p>

<figure>
  <img src="{{ site.baseurl }}/img/build/indy_2.jpg" title="<NAME>, Untitled, 1989.">
  <figcaption><NAME>, <em>Untitled</em>, 1989.</figcaption>
</figure>

<p class=no-indent><strong><NAME>, "Drawing No. 652", 1990</strong></p>

<p><NAME>, who is linked with both Minimalism and Conceptual art, is also remembered for his wall drawings.  <em>Drawing No. 652</em>, spanning from the floor to the ceiling, is one such example.  It is filled with vibrant colors and geometric shapes, and can be perceived from a variety of locations within the museum: coming down the escalator, looking over the railing on the different museum levels or exiting IMA’s Pulliam Family Great Hall.</p>

<p><em>Drawing No. 652</em> exemplifies one of LeWitt’s famous statements: “[The] idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work . . . The idea becomes the machine that makes the art.”  This piece, which has been created and recreated, denotes this very claim.  Since the original version from 1990 required a varnish that faded over time, it was recreated in 2005 and changed the original inks to acrylics.  The newer version also extended the wall drawing to accommodate the larger wall surface.  Both the original and current wall drawings, however, are based on the same original diagram; a team of assistants used the diagram and LeWitt’s instructions to create the piece.  Thus true to his words, LeWitt came up with the idea&mdash;the work of art&mdash;that can be replicated over and over again, as IMA demonstrates.</p>

<figure>
  <img src="{{ site.baseurl }}/img/build/indy_3.jpg" title="Sol LeWitt, Drawing No. 652, 1990.">
  <figcaption>Sol LeWitt, <em>Drawing No. 652</em>, 1990.</figcaption>
</figure>

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