The Nasher Summer 2017

THE NASHER S U M M ER 2017

I want a title that can be an entrance to something but never an explanation.

A title is more about staying away from certain things but sort of showing you an entrance without naming it. – RONI HORN

Many of the artists will address themes of particular topicality. Such topicality is inscribed in the very geography of this year’s documenta, which for the first time will take place not only in its home of Kassel, Germany, but also in Athens, Greece, highlighting the crisis of finance and debt that has wracked Europe in recent years. The international refugee crisis, too, will figure large in these shows, as artists come to grips with the human dimensions and political impact of this enormous and ongoing tragedy.

In recent years, such topicality has not been absent from the Nasher’s exhibition program. Shows this past year of Mai-Thu Perret, Kathryn Andrews, and Michael Dean have each addressed issues of particular current concern. But this summer, we turn in a different direction, and visitors to the Nasher will have the opportunity to find respite—both from the heat of Dallas, and from the press of current events—in the serene and sublime work of Roni Horn.

In the world of contemporary art, no moment is more replete than what occurs every 10 years, when three massive surveys—the Venice Biennale, documenta, and Münster Sculpture Projects—coincide. This “trifecta,” subject of an article in this issue of The Nasher, offers an unparalleled opportunity to assess the current state of contemporary art. Those able to visit any or all of these exhibitions will encounter an amazing array of work, in a dizzying range of media, produced by artists from around the globe.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors will flock to these events; many more will encounter them through print and online publications, videos, and social media posts. As it has in the past, this conjunction of exhibitions will provide a reference point for discussions of contemporary art for years to come (and future issues of The Nasher will participate in this dialogue).

Prior to the opening of these shows, it is no doubt premature to offer an assessment. But even at this early point, several salient aspects are clear. The lists of artists included in each point to the ever-increasing internationalization of art. The “art world,” as we imagine it, is no longer limited to two or three major capitals, extending instead across numerous cities over five continents. Curators of these exhibitions have cast their nets widely, bringing attention less to established stars of institutions and the art market, instead highlighting artists whose work will constitute discoveries for many. Sculpture will have a particularly strong presence this year, and the range of sculptural forms, materials, and approaches will be considerable. For all of us at the Nasher, there will no doubt be important lessons to be drawn and ideas to be explored.

Through the summer, eight large-scale cylindrical sculptures

by Roni Horn will occupy the Nasher’s upper level. These cast-glass cylinders, each a different color, will glow, bathed in the hallmark natural light of the Nasher’s building. Seen from the side, these sculptures show a soft opacity. From above, we gaze into pools of liquid clarity. The massive presence of these sculptures, our awareness of their extraordinary weight, and the extreme physical forces that brought them into being heighten our awareness of the position of our bodies in the space of the gallery, and of the nature of our own physicality relative to the more ethereal qualities of light and color.

As much as the world and its events may cause us concern and alarm, and as much as many artists may draw our attention to those events and even call us to action, it is also a possibility for art—and art museums—to offer not escape, but rather a heightened sensual awareness, one that leads to tranquility and, ultimately, renewal. I hope you’ll join me in sharing this transformative experience.

Jeremy Strick Director

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THE NASHER S U M M ER 2017

The Exhibitions 7... Roni

Horn Sculpture 17...Tom Sachs Tea Ceremony 19... Paper Into Sculpture 15...2D/3D

The Collection 23...Collections

Focus Sculpture and Literature 29... Summer Reading List 25... Foundations:

The Places 33... Places

for Sculpture 37...The Trifecta 41... Nasher Prize Dialogues: Mexico City

The Experience 47...The

NEA Is Essential Graduates 53...10th Anniversary of Nasher Summer Institute 55...‘til Midnight 65... Patron Travel 67... Nasher Prize Recap 49...GROW

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Special Contributors

SAR AH RE YES & DA NIEL DRIENSK Y

ALISON HUGILL

Z ANNIE VOSS

Sarah Reyes and Daniel Driensky are the artists behind the powerhouse Exploredinary, a creative agency that specializes in various forms of media to support social and political change: ”We truly believe that the ordinary is extraordinary—it’s simply a matter of perspective.”

Alison Hugill is an editor, writer, and curator based in Berlin. She is managing editor of Berlin Art Link magazine, contributing editor at Momus, and contributor to Archinect, Sleek magazine, AQNB, uncube, Rhizome, and Artsy. Hugill has an MA in art theory from Goldsmiths College, University of London (2011). She is one half of the collective anti-forum and a host of Berlin Community Radio show Hystereo.

Dr. Zannie Voss is director of the National Center for Arts Research, and chair and professor of Arts Management in Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and Cox School of Business. She has led theater companies and worked as a research consultant, and is published in academic and practitioner journals.

JESSIE STEPHENS

K AREN WEINER

G AV I N M O R R I S O N

Jessie Stephens is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied chemistry and art history. An avid learner and art enthusiast, she is currently serving as a curatorial intern at the Nasher Sculpture Center and Dallas Contemporary.

Karen Weiner is the founder and director of The Reading Room, a project space in Dallas dedicated to investigating the relationships between text and image. She is also an independent curator, and in 2016 programmed 24 Hour Book Swap for Piero Golia’s Chalet Dallas at the Nasher.

Gavin Morrison lives near Marseille, France. Since 2015 he has been the artistic director of Skaftfell East Iceland Center for Visual Art in Seyðisfjörður.

He is also currently researching Donald Judd’s relationship with Iceland.

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The Exhibitions

Roni Horn 15...2D/3D 17...Tom Sachs 19...Paper Into Sculpture 7...

Roni Horn, Untitled (“Supervise things closely for seven years, with the help of your diving girl. Any time after that you may open your oyster, and you have about one chance in twenty of owning a marketable pearl, and a small but equally exciting chance of having cooked up something really valuable.”), 2013-14 Solid cast glass with as-cast surfaces 51” height x 56” diameter Installation: De Pont Museum, Tilburg, 2016 Photograph: Stefan Altenburger Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Roni Horn

Exhibition view of Roni Horn at the DePont Museum, Tilburg, Natherlands, January 23-May 29, 2016.

Photograph: Stefan Altenburger Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Š Roni Horn

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RONI

HORN MAY 20 / AUG 20

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Written by LEIGH ARNOLD, Ph.D. Nasher Sculpture Center Assistant Curator

My first encounter with the work of American artist Roni Horn (born 1955) was on the grounds of the former Fort D.A. Russell, now the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.

Situated in an army barracks-turned-gallery space, Horn’s two-piece sculpture Things That Happen Happen Again: For a Here and a There, 1986-1991, provides a quiet introduction to the artist’s expansive oeuvre, introducing Horn not only as a sculptor, but as an artist interested in form, doubling, installation, and experience. The pair of hand-lathed, solid copper forms that comprise Things That Happen Happen Again sit at opposite ends of the space. Viewers are invited inside—no more than four people at a time—through a side door at the center of the barracks and are immediately faced with a decision: look left or right to experience the work— from this vantage point it cannot be viewed in totality, but instead must be viewed one piece at a time. Walking around one part of the work, taking in its tapering conical form, its volume and dimensions, how it shifts from three dimensions to two dimensions when viewing it from the flat end of the cone, and the way it appears to glow in the naturally lit space, the experience of the first object informs viewing of the second. As Horn describes, the doubling aspect of her work—which appears throughout her career in sculpture, photographs, drawings, and artist books—is a way to engage people and to sustain a more contemplative experience.

This first encounter with Horn’s sculpture was significant to the development of my understanding of her work. The human tendency to hold fast to first impressions meant that

I have always considered Horn a sculptor, though her diverse practice—conceptual photography, sculptural objects, environmental installation, drawing, writing, and collage— suggests that my inclination to situate Horn as a sculptor precludes more complete understanding of her work. Horn herself deemphasizes simple classification, as she describes:

I don’t necessarily think of myself as a visual artist primarily.

A lot of my work is really very conceptual, and it has very little visual aspect to it, the sculpture especially. That work is more powerfully about experience and presence than it is about a powerful visual experience.

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Yet sculpture has always been an important area of inquiry for the artist: Her earliest work as an MFA student at Yale University in the 1970s was based in sculpture, which continued to inform her practice as she transitioned to working in two dimensions by shifting her focus to drawing, collage, and photography in the 1980s. When speaking about joining the Yale sculpture department, Horn says, “It’s not because I thought, ‘Oh, sculpture, great.’ I was always 8

Roni Horn, Untitled (“Two thick ropes of dark blood and two slender rose like snakes from the stump of his neck and arched hissing into the fire. The head rolled to the left and came to rest... The fire steamed and blackened and a gray cloud of smoke rose and the columnar arches of blood slowly subsided until just the neck bubbled gently like stew…”), 2013-15 Solid cast glass with as-cast surfaces 52” height x 56” diameter Installation: De Pont Museum, Tilburg, 2016 Photograph: Stefan Altenburger Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Roni Horn

much more interested in painting. […] One of the things that interested me was that sculpture wasn’t a medium, and so you have pretty much all the mediums available to you, unlike painting. Painting is paint.” 2 Sculpture remains an important aspect of Horn’s oeuvre, and the artist frequently includes three-dimensional works in her photography and drawing installations. For her exhibition at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Horn has chosen eight large-scale cylindrical cast glass sculptures of various colors that she will install in one of the Nasher’s main galleries. The exhibition is the artist’s first U.S. museum presentation of her work since 2010 and the first to focus specifically on her cast glass sculpture.

of the glass sculptures reveal aspects of the process of their making: They have a matte, frosted appearance where they’ve taken on the texture of the mold, while the top surfaces have been fire-polished, lending a glossy, almost liquid appearance to the top of the sculpture. With their abstract forms and industrial fabrication processes, her sculptures often borrow from the visual language of Minimalism, though Horn imbues her work with personal meaning and references that distance it from the strictly autonomous objecthood characteristic of Minimalist sculpture. Her work instead acts as a critical bridge connecting Minimalism and Post-Minimalism of the 1960s and 1970s to contemporary art-making practices today.

Horn began making cast glass sculptures in the early 1990s.

Created through a labor and time-intensive process, the works require three to four months to complete. The sides

With their sensuous surfaces, Horn’s sculptures often provoke instinctual interaction: Horn herself warned the Nasher staff that children have been known to lick her glass sculptures,

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Roni Horn, Untitled (“...the Aga Khan arrived in Indian costume covered in precious gems...

He has several dozen million...subjects and a fortune of untold millions in pounds sterling and, sitting next to Nijinsky with his jaw and vulgar face, was like a fat sack of real money next to a fantastic dream of wealth.”), 2014, solid cast glass, 50¾ x 56 inches (128.9 x 142.2 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth, New York. © Roni Horn.

Photo: Stefan Altenburger, courtesy of the artists and Hauser & Wirth

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convinced the works are actually Popsicles. While this type of behavior in museums is discouraged, the artist understands this kind of visceral reaction as one way of gaining a fuller experience of her work and the importance of engaging the body as well as the mind.

In all areas of her work, Horn draws inspiration from nature and language. American poets Emily Dickinson and Wallace Stevens and German writer Franz Kafka, among others, have all inspired Horn, who uses excerpts of their writings for titles of her works in various media. Horn has turned to literature throughout her career as a way to reveal these literary influences and to catalogue the work in a point in time in her career. In speaking about the importance of literature to her art, Horn says, “My relationship to my work is extremely verbal. I am probably more language based than I am visual and I move through language to arrive at the visual.” 3 The seven works (one work consists of a pair of glass sculptures) that Horn selected for her installation at the Nasher have subtitles that vary in literary genres as diverse as poetry, food writing, historical diary entries, and epic westerns. Untitled (“I deeply perceive that the infinity of matter is no dream.”), 2014—taken from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Power of Words” (1845)—contrasts both in brevity and style with another 2014 glass sculpture’s title: Untitled (“Supervise things closely for seven years, with the help of your diving girl. Any time after that you may open your oyster, and you have about one chance in twenty of owning a marketable pearl, and a small but equally exciting chance of having cooked up something really valuable.”), which Horn excerpted from the preeminent

American food writer M.F.K. Fisher’s 1941 book Consider the Oyster. While it may be tempting to search for a connection between title and object, Horn denies any descriptive function of the title and instead views the purpose of a title as just one step in the process of looking at a work of art, as she describes: “I don’t like titles that—if you don’t read them, you don’t get the piece. I want a title that can be an entrance to something but never an explanation. A title is more about staying away from certain things but sort of showing you an entrance without naming it.” 4 Within the Nasher galleries, Horn’s sculptures will be infused with light, calling attention not only to their volumetric forms, but also the reflective and translucent qualities of glass.

Roni Horn will celebrate the artist’s cast glass sculptures as unique and important examples of an artist defying traditional methods of glass art and expanding the genre into the realm of sculpture laden with weight and presence.

Roni Horn is made possible with support from Jennifer and John Eagle, Suzanne Deal Booth, and Hauser & Wirth.

Roni Horn in Julie L. Belcove, “Roni Horn, W Magazine, November 1, 2009, http:// www.wmagazine.com/story/ronihorn [accessed March 27, 2017} 1

Roni Horn in Julie L. Belcove, “Roni Horn, W Magazine, November 1, 2009, http:// www.wmagazine.com/story/ronihorn [accessed March 27, 2017} 2

Roni Horn, “Roni Horn in ‘Structures,’” Art21: Art in the Twenty-First Century, season 3, September 30, 2005.

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Roni Horn, “Words and Pictures,” originally published on PBS.org in 2005; republished on Art21.org in November 2011: https://art21.org/read/roni-horn-words-and-pictures/ [accessed March 27, 2017].

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Members’ Preview

RONI HORN

May 18 / 7 – 9 p.m.

Exhibition viewing and garden reception with the artist.

Roni Horn, Untitled (“It is curious to think of all the social, economic, psychological preconditions that are necessary in order for a Jewish actress to win a horse race.”), 2014 Solid cast glass with as-cast surfaces 50 1/2 in. (128 cm) high x 53–56 in.

(134.6–142.2 cm) in diameter (tapered) Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Roni Horn.

Photo: Genevieve Hanson, courtesy of Hauser & Wirth

RSVP to memberevents@nashersculpturecenter.org or 214.242.5154.

Not a Member?

Learn more about Nasher Membership at nashersculpturecenter.org/membership.

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RONI HORN

READING RECOMMENDATION: Another Water (The River Thames, for Example) p

Written by KAREN WEINER, director of The Reading Room, a project space dedicated to the intersection of word and image.

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Water brings the distant near, bits of sound—sighs, gurgles, sucks, almost voices— connecting you with some other place, some other time, an experience from far away or long ago.

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(The Thames is you.)

In 2000, Roni Horn published Another Water (The River Thames, for Example). In this book, the artist presents her photographs with extensive footnotes. The footnotes vary in mood and content: from Horn’s own words, to literature (Dickinson, Conrad, Dickens, Joyce), to music (Gershwin, Aretha), to film (Fassbinder, Hitchcock, Antonioni), etc. They accompany photographs of the water of the Thames River in London in different seasons and weather. The footnotes first appeared as a sort of predella to photographs of the Thames River in the 1999 work Still Water (The River Thames, for Example). They set up a kind of call and response between the water/image and the text, splintering into multiple voices and thoughts.

Language has always been a part of Horn’s practice­­—through literature, through the book format, and, primarily, through thought. Regardless of scale or form, her works are intimate and address the viewer in a particular way, similar to the way a book engages a reader. One-on-one and part to whole.

Water is frequently a theme in her work—as landscape, weather, or substance. With Another Water, water itself becomes language in all its ephemerality and malleability.

In my quest to puzzle out the complicated and never-ending relationship between words and images, Roni Horn’s work is deeply satisfying in the ways it connects the mundane and the metaphysical. And this moment in history, when everything seems decidedly fluid, could be an appropriate time to think about water.

ARTIST CIRCLE EVENT / JUNE 5

Members of the Artist Circle are invited to a reading of footnotes from Another Water (The River Thames, for Example).

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Roni Horn, Still Water (The River Thames, for Example), 1999 (detail) 15 offset lithographs of photographs and text on uncoated paper each 30½ x 41½ inches. Photographer: Ron Amstutz Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth. © Roni Horn.

SUMMER READING LIST INSPIRED BY RONI HORN

Nasher Sculpture Center summer exhibition artist Roni Horn is an avid reader and frequently includes excerpts from books in the subtitles of her work.

Take a moment this summer to get into the artist’s mindset by checking out a book or two that the artist quotes in the subtitles of her glass sculptures on view in Roni Horn.

THE SUM OF NO EQUATION

by Sabine Freyling Peter Lang, 2008 “In this plain landscape wealth itself had been just another simplicity, an event, like decay.”

FATHERS AND SONS

by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev Oxford University Press, 1998 “She was frightened of mice, snakes, frogs, sparrows, leeches, thunder, cold water, draughts, horses, goats, red-haired humans, and black cats...”

JOURNEY TO THE ABYSS: THE DIARIES OF COUNT HARRY KESSLER, 1880-1918 edited by Harry Kessler Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2013 “...the Aga Khan arrived in Indian costume covered in precious gems...He has several dozen million...subjects and a fortune of untold millions in pounds sterling and, sitting next to Nijinsky with his jaw and vulgar face, was like a fat sack of real money next to a fantastic dream of wealth.”

BLOOD MERIDIAN: OR THE EVENING REDNESS IN THE WEST

by Cormac McCarthy Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010 “Two thick ropes of dark blood and two slender rose like snakes from the stump of his neck and arched hissing into the fire. The head rolled to the left and came to rest...The fire steamed and blackened and a gray cloud of smoke rose and the columnar arches of blood slowly subsided until just the neck bubbled gently like stew…”

CONSIDER THE OYSTER

by M.F.K. Fisher Macmillan, 2008 “Supervise things closely for seven years, with the help of your diving girl. Any time after that you may open your oyster, and you have about one chance in twenty of owning a marketable pearl, and a small but equally exciting chance of having cooked up something really valuable.”

THE POWER OF WORDS

by Edgar Allan Poe Booklassic, 2015 “I deeply perceive that the infinity of matter is no dream.”

“It is curious to think of all the social, economic, psychological preconditions that are necessary in order for a Jewish actress to win a horse race.”

For additional summer reading recommendations, see page 29 for titles inspired by the works in the Nasher’s summer Collection exhibition Foundations: Sculpture and Literature.

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UPCOMING: JULY 29 – OCTOBER 1

2D/3D

A Selection of Sculptures, Paintings, and Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection p

Written by CATHERINE CRAFT, Ph.D. Nasher Sculpture Center Curator

The painter Ad Reinhard famously remarked, “Sculpture is something you bump into when you back up to look at a painting.” His quip depends on one of sculpture’s most characteristic qualities—its status as a three-dimensional object that shares our physical space. The creation of a sculpture that can be enjoyed from multiple viewpoints challenges artists to conceive works that can appear to change as the viewer moves around it. Artists known primarily as painters, such as Pablo Picasso and Willem de Kooning, have taken up sculpture to think through problems or seek alternative experiences, while sculptors frequently turn to drawing and other two-dimensional media to plan future projects, explore their perceptions of existing work, or let their imaginations wander. This selection from the Nasher’s permanent collection will present a conversation among sculptures, paintings, and works on paper by artists including Picasso and de Kooning, as well as Alberto Giacometti, Frank Stella, David Smith, Claes Oldenburg, and others.

CLOCKWISE: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) Vase of Flowers on a Table (Vase de fleurs sur une table), also called Bouquet, 1969 Oil on canvas, 45 1/4 x 35 in. (115.6 x 88.9 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center © 2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo: David Heald Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) Flowers in a Vase (Fleurs dans un vase), 1951–53 Painted plaster, terracotta, and iron, 30 1/8 x 20 1/4 x 17 1/4 in. (76.5 x 51.4 x 43.8 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center © 2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo: David Heald Frank Stella (American, born 1936) Pau, 1981 Mixed media on aluminum, 32 5/8 x 29 1/4 x 3 5/8 in. (89.2 x 74.3 x 9.2 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center © 2017 Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York David Smith (American, 1906–1965) Tower Eight, 1957 Silver, 46 1/2 x 13 x 10 5/8 in. (118.1 x 33 x 27 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Collection © 2017 Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Photo: David Heald

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UPCOMING: SEPTEMBER 16 – JANUARY 7

TOM SACHS

TEA CEREMONY p

Adapted by JED MORSE, Chief Curator, Nasher Sculpture Center From the words of DAKIN HART, Senior Curator, Noguchi Museum

Tom Sachs: Tea Ceremony presents Sachs’ distinctive reworking of chanoyu, or traditional Japanese tea ceremony— including the myriad elements essential to that intensely ritualistic universe. In the Nasher’s main galleries, Sachs will set a teahouse in a garden accessorized with variations on lanterns, gates, a washbasin, an airplane lavatory, a koi pond, an ultra HD video wall with the sublime hyper-presence of Mount Fuji, a bronze bonsai made of more than 3,600 individually welded parts, and other objects of use and contemplation, all made from commonplace materials easily procured at local art supply stores, or through the McMasterCarr hardware catalogue. Sachs has also produced a complete alternative material culture of tea—from bowls and ladles, scroll paintings and vases, to a motorized tea whisk, a shot clock, and an electronic brazier.

During the course of the exhibition, the Nasher will present a series of public demonstrations in which Sachs or a colleague will perform a tea ceremony for a few guests.

The walls of the teahouse will be removed for the occasion, enabling visitors to watch the ceremony as it unfolds.

Supplementing the tea garden are additional installations covering consummate examples of Sachs’ tea tools, a brief history of tea as it developed out of Sachs’ Space Program 2.0: MARS, and a selection of objects from the artist’s two-decade-long career as a cultural hybridizer and devotee of modernist essentialism.

Originally organized by The Noguchi Museum in New York, the exhibition there brought into high relief the relationship between the work of the modernist master Isamu Noguchi and that of the contemporary artist Sachs. Noguchi Senior Curator Dakin Hart explains his thinking:

Sachs, like Isamu Noguchi, is a cultural synthesizer committed to the traditional American dream of a pluralistic, crazy-quilt society. Both believe that our best futures have at least a foot in the past; that technology should affirm craft; that the most sustaining serenities are tinged with chaos; that polarities like East and West can exist harmoniously in productively ambiguous relationships; that the conceptual and the formal are not hand in glove but earth and atmosphere; and that the Balkanization of creativity into categories such as “art” and “design” is nonsense.

Traditional tea ceremony was refined over many years, reached a mature state, was codified, and then, like most cultural phenomena that survive an originating generation, more or less stopped developing. The fads that become full-fledged cultures are the ones that capture lasting values in universal experiences. Tea is one of those because it celebrates hospitality, reinforces the development of community through ritual, and creates a holistic but intimate sense of connection to the world in fundamental combinations of earth, air, fire, and water.

Sachs is not alone in regarding tea as strong enough to adapt to new worlds. In 1951, Noguchi and his then fiancée, the Japanese movie star Yoshiko (Shirley) Yamaguchi, hosted a tea ceremony in Ray and Charles Eames’ iconic midcentury modern Case Study house in Pacific Palisades, California.

The guest of honor was Charlie Chaplin. Tea was prepared with traditional utensils, but dinner was served on the Eames’ new Wire Base Low Tables (1950), with a selection of Noguchi’s also new Akari Light Sculptures (electrified paper lanterns) providing illumination. Yamaguchi likely wore one of the kimonos Noguchi designed for her featuring a side zip and a tight fit.

The premise of Noguchi’s life and work was the idea that the truest form of respect you can show another culture, traditional or otherwise, is participation: deep engagement, followed by creative adaptation. Mr. Noguchi, meet Tom Sachs.

SAVE THE DATE PATRON DINNER / SEPTEMBER 13 MEMBERS’ PREVIEW / SEPTEMBER 14

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Installation view, Tom Sachs: Tea Ceremony, on view March 23 through July 24, 2016 at The Noguchi Museum, Long Island City, NY. © Tom Sachs. Photo: Johnny Fogg.

UPCOMING: OCTOBER 14 – FEBRUARY 4

Paper into Sculpture p

Written by CATHERINE CRAFT, Ph.D. Nasher Sculpture Center Curator

Even as the shift to digitized images, virtual reality, and social media has been said to herald its obsolescence, paper nonetheless remains inescapable in our daily lives.

Accessible to all, paper endures as the site of notes, lists, price tags, reminders, sketches, ads—at once the most mundane and the most intimate of communication media, and the most readily discarded. As concerns about humanity’s impact on the environment intensify, paper is also one of the most persistent reminders of our connections to nature through the cyclical aspect of its creation, disposal, and regeneration through recycling.

Derived largely from plant fibers, paper also ages and degrades, its fragility inspiring metaphorical associations with human corporeality and vulnerability. The artists in Paper into Sculpture, including Marco Maggi, Joshua Neustein, Nancy Rubins, and others, play on tensions between commonly held understandings of sculpture and what paper can and cannot do, pushed to physical limits. Treating paper as a material with a palpable threedimensional presence rather than as a mere support for mark-making, they use processes ranging from tearing, crumpling, and cutting to scattering, binding, and adhering to create sculptural works that take a variety of forms, with a varied range of expressive and conceptual implications.

SAVE THE DATE MEMBERS’ PREVIEW / OCTOBER 13 FOR MEMBERS AT THE HEPWORTH CIRCLE AND ABOVE.

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Nancy Rubins, Drawing, 2010, graphite pencil on paper, 134 x 379 x 12 in. (340 x 963 x 30 cm). Š Nancy Rubins.

Photo by Erich Koyama.

Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery

The Collection

Collection Focus 25...Foundations: Sculpture and Literature 29...Summer Reading List 23...

Cy Twombly, American, 1928–2011 Untitled, 1987-2004 Bronze, 145 x 35 x 13 1/2 in.

(368.3 x 88.9 x 34.3 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center” © Cy Twombly Foundation Photo: courtesy Gagosian Gallery

Collection Focus

Antoine Pevsner: An Abstract Realist p

Written by JESSIE STEPHENS Curatorial Intern, Nasher Sculpture Center

Constructivism, an artistic movement born during the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution, embraced abstraction as a means to represent intangible attributes of the universe at large. Amid social and political upheaval, Russian artists like Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner interpreted abstraction as the highest form of creative expression, a bridge to a more genuine reality based on scientific aspiration and spiritual transcendence. Pevsner, in particular, sought to employ a formal language that examined the visual relationship between positive and negative space, as well as movement and time.

Like many modern artists, the founders of Constructivism were influenced by the discovery of invisible phenomena like X-rays and wireless telegraphy. Prompted by these developments, early 20th-century scientists began to envision the universe as being in a state of constant flux.

Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, for instance, confirmed the existence of a space-time continuum that bent and stretched in accordance with gravity, thereby manipulating the perception of events at different distances. Scientists also began developing instruments to measure the interactions of subatomic particles and observe the process of radioactive decay.

The discovery of this new, invisible reality encouraged artists to eschew all forms of replicative naturalism. In 1920 Gabo wrote “The Realistic Manifesto,” a seminal document that outlined the goals of Constructivism, which his brother Pevsner affirmed with his signature. He stated:

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Space and time are the only forms on which life is built and hence art must be constructed…

That is why we in creating things take away from them the labels of their owners… leaving only the reality of the constant rhythm of the forces in them.1

Gabo proclaimed that artists examine spatial presence alone, disagreeing with prominent Constructivists like Vladimir Tatlin, who thought artists should serve an egalitarian agenda.

Consequently, the brothers began incorporating voids of empty space in their sculptures, using linear contours to define volume without compiling additional mass.

Originally a painter, Pevsner began experimenting with sculpture as early as 1917 under his brother’s guidance.

He started small, creating bas-reliefs that combined planar geometries in overlapping layers, eventually progressing to free-standing sculpture by the 1920s. Like Gabo, he examined the visual effects of transparent plastics by creating abstract portraits and figures. But Pevsner abandoned these materials after a few years in favor of the solidity and permanence afforded by metal. Determined to revamp traditional casting methods, he invented a new sculptural process, which he hoped would reflect Constructivist aims.

This process dictated Pevsner’s best-known body of work, the Developable Surface Series, from 1939 until his death in 1962. The sculptures made of small brass rods carefully bent and soldered together, examine the relationship between surface and volume with forms reminiscent of mathematical models. According to scholar Beth Edelstein, Pevsner chose

Antoine Pevsner, (French, born Russia, 1886–1962) Dynamic Projection at Thirty Degrees (Projection Dynamique au 30e degré), 1950–51 (cast 1961), Bronze, 371/8 x 74¼ x 36 in. (94 x 189 x 91 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: David Heald.

brass for its industrial malleability, so he could build, rather than cast, his sculptures. Upon completion, Pevsner added a reflective coating to his works, made from metallic dust suspended in epoxy resin. From start to finish, each piece required hours of physical labor and intense concentration, solidifying Pevsner’s role as both an artist and a craftsman.2 One example, entitled Dynamic Projection at Thirty Degrees, illustrates Pevsner’s concern with light, movement, and spatial perception. Made of sweeping curves composed around a central diagonal, the design encourages viewers to evaluate the sculpture from various perspectives. The diagonal, angled at roughly 30 degrees, affirms the Constructivist objective of interpreting universal laws through the lens of human experience. When designing his sculptures, Pevsner refused to follow strict measurements or geometric proofs, stating, “When one wishes to grasp the sincerity of an art work, then intuition, the human spirit, and judgment are the only productive faculties available.”3 Pevsner also varied the striations across the planar surface, creating reflective patches that suggest the delicate fabric of space-time relativity.

Originally sculpted in 1950, Dynamic Projection at Thirty Degrees was then cast by Pevsner in a bronze edition of three. The final cast, produced in 1961 and purchased by Raymond and Patsy Nasher in 1983, resides at the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Although the Soviet government officially denounced Constructivism by the 1930s, the movement continued to influence Western artists in the decades to follow. After

World War I, László Moholy-Nagy revised the Bauhaus curriculum to endorse abstraction across multiple disciplines, while artists like Barbara Hepworth adapted the principles of Constructivism to the British avant-garde. Minimalist Dan Flavin, known for his use of fluorescent lights, created a series of the sculptures in the 1960s in honor of the Constructivist legacy, titled Monument to V. Tatlin. Building off the notion of the memorial, contemporary sculptor Bettina Pousttchi fashioned the series Double Monument for Flavin and Tatlin; the tenth work in the series was exhibited at the Nasher Sculpture Center in the summer of 2014 and subsequently was acquired by the Nasher.

In an effort to depict the invisible forces at work in the universe, Pevsner helped redefine the role of contemporary sculpture.

He encouraged artists to consider space as a material in its own right, thereby paving the way for successive generations who continued to ruminate on the flaws and virtues of Constructivist formalism. But Pevsner refused to eliminate the human element, stating:

In my work I regard space as an unending expanse…

In science one is engaged directly with objective

knowledge and logic. But in art this is not the case;

instead, it is a feeling of passion that moves an artist—

it is love, it is poetry.4 Chipp, Herschel B., and Peter Selz.Theories of modern art: a source book by artists and critics. (Berkeley: University of California Press,1968), 328.

2 Edelstein, Beth. “The materials and methods of Antoine Pevsner’s sculpture.” MA diss., New York University, Institute of Fine Arts, 2004.

3 Pevsner, Antoine. “Science Foils Poetry.” Leonardo 10, no. 4 (1977): 324.

4 Ibid.

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A Tour Through Foundations: Sculpture and Literature p

Written by ANNA SMITH, Curator of Education, Nasher Sculpture Center

The Foundations exhibition series focuses on works from the Nasher’s permanent collection that are in dialogue or have connections to the temporary exhibitions on view.

One of the many pleasures of working at the Nasher is the seasonal thrill of bidding farewell to one installation and greeting the next, finding new inroads to conversation and new connecting points with much-loved works from the Nasher Collection.

With the opening of Roni Horn, curator Leigh Arnold will assemble works from the collection that speak to Horn’s interest in literary themes, highlighting artists who, themselves, tapped into the rich dialogue between sculpture and literature. My team and I will spend our summer sharing these works with visitors of all ages; below are a few of my favorites to share with you on a would-be walk through the galleries.

Auguste Rodin

James Magee

Head of Balzac (Tête de Balzac), 1897

Mine Shaft, 1995-98

This modest study for a large-scale monument to the writer Honoré de Balzac is easily overlooked by distracted museum-goers. Commissioned by the Société des gens de lettres in 1891, this portrait is the near-final result of Auguste Rodin’s struggle to capture the genius of a writer who was sometimes lampooned for his portly physique and disheveled appearance. Rodin pushed through many concepts in an attempt to portray the man he described as “a creator who brings life to all that he sees,”1 (including a fully nude version with an exceedingly wide stance) before ultimately settling on the dramatic figure of Balzac draped in a long robe, as if rising in the night to walk “feverishly in his apartment in pursuit of his private visions.”2 The heavy brow, prominent nose, and exaggerated recesses of Balzac’s face seen in this study reflect Rodin’s intention to create a visage that, rather than photographically reproducing the author’s face, would read from a distance on an outdoor monument and, like the beautifully ambiguous gesture in his first major sculpture, The Age of Bronze, offer a changeable expression as light played over its features, evoking the larger-than-life personality of a spirited and multifaceted man.

James Magee’s hefty, wall-mounted relief Mine Shaft is physically one half of a complete artwork made up of the object and its full title, an extended poem that adds layers of meaning to the experience of viewing the work. Mine Shaft recalls a pivotal place and time in Magee’s life: the abandoned Piers on the Hudson River in 1970s New York and a club called The Mineshaft, both of which were sites of radical sexual and cultural experimentation. Among Magee’s experiences at the Piers was that of reading aloud his own poetic texts, marking the place as one where mind and body both found means of expression. The heavy, metal form of Mine Shaft coupled with the spiraling narrative of its long title echo that marriage of physical and emotional experience. I find the portion of the title excerpted here especially moving:

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Sometimes when I’m out here like this near the drain hole, and I’m drawn to holes no matter the day or night, or year, for that matter, especially if they’re whole sucking soul holes, I begin to see light exploding from trunks of trees, spark like stones struck together brighter than a sun uplifted, because you see I’ve been slithering around on this wet ground on all fours for so long now that the trees and me, we kind of understand one another in the gradualness of our less and less

Auguste Rodin French, 1840­–1917 Head of Balzac (Tête de Balzac), 1897 Plaster, 7 1/2 x 8 x 6 1/2 in.

(19.1 x 20.3 x 16.5 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center Photo: David Heald

James Magee American, born 1946 Mine Shaft, 1995–98 Steel, shatterproof glass, rubber, staples, salt and rust water, 48 x 64 x 6 1/2 in.

(121.9 x 162.6 x 16.5 cm) Peter and Carol York Promised gift to the Nasher Sculpture Center © James Magee Photo: Tom Jenkins

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Elliott Hundley, American, born 1975 Alas!, 2011 Metal, plastic, pins, glass, wire, and string 133 1/2 x 106 x 92 in. (339.1 x 269.2 x 233.7 cm) Nasher Sculpture Center Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor. © Elliott Hundley. Photo: Kevin Todora.

Elliott Hundley

Christopher Wilmarth

Alas!, 2011

My Divider, 1972–73

Elliot Hundley’s 2011 body of work The Bacchae responds to Euripides’ play of the same name, combining images, text, and sculpture into an environment that immerses viewers in the narrative. In Alas!, Hundley interprets the emotional climax of The Bacchae, during which Agave, mother of the King of Thebes, is tricked by Dionysus into believing that her son is a mountain lion before tearing him limb from limb in a frenzied bacchanal. She presents her son’s severed head to her father, Cadmus, before realizing with horror what she has done.

Artist and songwriter Christopher Wilmarth was powerfully affected by the experience of walking through New York City and encountering the play of light on the surfaces of the city’s skyscrapers and bridges. He saw his sculptures as places to generate experiences with light that could echo those moments in his own life when light became entwined with memory, hoping to “return them to the world as a physical poem” through his art. The glass in My Divider, etched with painterly strokes, captures the light that passes through it, softly glowing against the dark steel plates that make up the rest of its form. Wilmarth explored this quality of light in his lyrics: “I keep the shades down in the day/ The sun is just a square upon the wall/ Every day that square moves down/ Across the bed and out into the hall/ Just outside a dream will call my name/ And tomorrow’s in my room again today.”

CADMUS: Now does it look at all like a lion’s head?

AGAVE: No. It is Pentheus’s head—Alas!—I hold.

Most striking to me is the scale of Alas!, which takes an intimate moment of grief and renders it massive, looming, and by turns indecipherable, reifying the overwhelming experience of loss.

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Christopher Wilmarth, American, 1943–1987 My Divider, 1972–73 Glass and steel Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center © 2017 Estate of Christopher Wilmarth Photo: David Heald

Isamu Noguchi Gregory (Effigy), 1945 (cast 1969) The abstract, biomorphic form of Gregory, called Effigy when it was first exhibited, coalesces into the recognizable outline of an insect when paired with its title (likely a reference to Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis as indicated by Noguchi himself). In the opening sentence of Kafka’s story, Samsa awakens to find himself transformed into an “ungeheures Ungeziefer,” a monstrous vermin, whose physical incarnation acquires more and more grotesque detail as he negotiates encounters with the outside world. Noguchi’s sculpture, originally carved in purple slate, is composed of discrete, interlocking forms that fit together and balance without welded or cast joints.

To my eye, its smooth, undulating lines and unconnected parts suggest a body in flux, with antennae, eye, and legs fully formed, but murky, biological turmoil in between.

Isamu Noguchi, American, 1904–1988 Gregory (Effigy), 1945 (cast 1969) Bronze, 691/4 x 161/8 x 16 3/8 in. (175.9 x 41 x 41.6 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center © 2017 The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum/Artists Rights Society (ARS), Nerw York.

Photo: David Heald 1 2

“Chez Auguste Rodin.” La presse, July 11, 1891.

Gsell, Paul. “Chez Rodin.” L’art et les artistes, February 1907, 393-415.

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Summer Reading List Inspired by Foundations: Sculpture and Literature p

Written by LEIGH ARNOLD Assistant Curator, Nasher Sculpture Center

In keeping with the literary theme of this summer’s Foundations exhibition, below is an annotated list of six recommended books that reveal the wide-ranging connections between artists and writers throughout the 20th century. Whether it be poetry, folklore, memoir, or historical fiction, readers are sure to find something of interest.

Be sure to visit Foundations: Literature and Sculpture this summer to discover further connections between literature and artists in the permanent collection.

CLOCKWISE: Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901–1966) Diego in a Sweater (Diego au chandail), 1953 Painted bronze, 19 x 10 3/4 x 8 1/4 in.

(48.3 x 27.3 x 21 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center © 2017 The Estate of Alberto Giacometti / Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York Photo: David Heald Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) Head of a Woman (Fernande), 1909 Plaster, 18 1/2 x 14 1/8 x 13 3/4 in.

(47 x 35.9 x 34.9 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center © 2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo: David Heald Honoré Daumier (French, 1808–1879) Ratapoil, c. 1850 (cast 1925) Bronze, 17 x 6 x 7 1/2 in.

(43.2 x 15.2 x 19.1 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center Photo: Tom Jenkins Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917) Hanako, 1908 Plaster, 6 3/4 x 4 5/8 x 5 1/2 in.

(17.1 x 11.7 x 14 cm) Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center Photo: David Heald

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Collected Poems and Other Verse

The Blood of Others

by Stéphane Mallarmé

by Simone de Beauvoir

Oxford University Press, 2006

Penguin, 2002

The poetry of 19th-century French Symbolist Stéphane Mallarmé is often described as enigmatic, haunting, and ungraspable. But several artists took on the challenge of interpreting his work through illustrations and sculpture, including Henri Matisse and Christopher Wilmarth. In 1932 Matisse illustrated Mallarmé’s collection of 29 poems titled Poésies, in what would become the first of more than a dozen artist books or livres d’artistes (literary texts illustrated by important visual artists that became popular in France around the turn of the century) Matisse produced in his lifetime. Nearly 50 years later, Wilmarth likewise produced a suite of seven etchings in response to English translations of Mallarmé’s poetry. As a songwriter and poet himself, Wilmarth strongly identified with Mallarmé’s verses, as he described in a 1982 interview with The New York Times writer Grace Glueck: “[Mallarmé’s] imagination and reverie meant more to him than anything that was actually of this world. His work is about the anguish and longing of experience not fully realized, and I found something of myself in it.” Wilmarth would go on to produce a series of blown-glass sculptures titled Breath in the early 1980s that were inspired by the translated poems of Mallarmé.

Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti and French writer Simone de Beauvoir were close friends, each appearing in the work of the other: Giacometti drew and sculpted portraits after Beauvoir, and the writer modeled the character of sculptor Marcel in her 1945 novel The Blood of Others after Giacometti. A relatively minor character in a novel that follows the lives of several characters in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, Marcel nonetheless plays an important role as an artist who becomes aware of the political nature of his work following his imprisonment in a Nazi labor camp.

Picasso and Apollinaire: The Persistence of Memory

by Peter Read University of California Press, 2010

In his retelling of the friendship between artist Pablo Picasso and writer, poet, and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire, Peter Read reveals the deep and overlapping connections between modernist literature and the visual arts. The artist and writer first met in 1905 just as Picasso was transitioning from his Rose Period into a developing movement Apollinaire would define as Cubism. Picasso revered the writer as a catalyst and though their friendship was cut short by Apollinaire’s death in 1918, the artist would continue to honor his friend’s memory throughout his life—dabbling in poetry and envisioning monuments to the writer that would ultimately never come to fruition. Picasso described Apollinaire as a genius, who “lit up the darkness and showed us the way.” His plaster Head of a Woman (Fernande) of 1909, on view in the gallery adjacent to Roni Horn, dates to the early years of their friendship and represents the artist’s first attempt to translate into sculpture the faceted planes and multiple viewpoints developed in Cubist painting.

A Moveable Feast

by Ernest Hemingway Simon & Schuster, 2009

Ernest Hemingway’s autobiographical account of living in Paris in the 1920s provides an insider’s glimpse into Gertrude Stein’s salon, where the leading figures of art and literature intermingled, shared ideas, and—many claim—defined modernism. Several artists in the Nasher Collection were either collected by Stein or frequented her salon, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Honoré Daumier.

I’ll Tell You a Tale

by J. Frank Dobie University of Texas Press, 1981

In his 1985 essay “Marfa, Texas” published in House and Garden Magazine, American artist Donald Judd describes his reasons for establishing the Chinati Foundation in the remote village of Marfa, Texas. In the first paragraph, Judd writes about his desire for open space near Mexico, continuing in the second paragraph: “I lived in Dallas for two years as a child and knew, as everyone did, that the West, which is the Southwest there, began beyond Fort Worth. The land was pretty empty, defined only by the names in the stories about Texas by J. Frank Dobie…” The Texan author J. Frank Dobie made a name for himself writing folklore, fiction, and a newspaper column, all devoted to life in the Southwest.

Through Dobie, the West—and Texas, in particular—was mythologized in ways that captured the imagination of artists, in particular Judd, who established the Chinati Foundation in West Texas in 1986.

A Streetcar Named Desire

by Tennessee Williams New Directions Publishing, 2004

Tony Smith’s marble sculpture For Dolores, also called Flores para los muertos (Flowers for the Dead), ca. 1973-75 takes its title in part from Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prizewinning play A Streetcar Named Desire (first performed in 1947). Recounting the tumultuous life of Blanche Dubois as she attempts to reconcile with her sister and her brutish husband, A Streetcar Named Desire represents a turn in theater toward psychodrama and realism, and earned Williams a place among the foremost playwrights of the 20th century. Williams and Smith were close friends—having met in Provincetown in 1942, the playwright stood in as best man in Smith’s wedding to Jane Lawrence a year later. In A Streetcar Named Desire, a Mexican flower seller calls out the line “Flores para los muertos” during a penultimate scene in which Blanche performs a soliloquy discussing her regrets, including the memorable line “the opposite [of death] is desire.”

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The Places

Places for Sculpture 37...The Trifecta 41...Nasher Prize Dialogues 33...

Marta Minujín, El Partenón de libros (The Parthenon of Books, 1983), installation, Avenida 9 de Julio, Buenos Aires Photo: Marta Minujín Archive.

Places for Sculpture

Iceland p

Written by GAVIN MORRISON Artistic Director of Skaftfell East Iceland Center for Visual Arts

IMAGE 1 Hreinn Friðfinnsson: House Project, 1974 Mixed media Courtesy of the artist and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

There are no megalithic monuments in Iceland, no equivalents to Stonehenge or Carnac. The island was without a prehistoric population; no one—apart from an occasional Celtic monk—lived there until the island was settled by Scandinavians around 900 A.D. Those who arrived were restricted to the fertile costal fringe, their backs turned to the interior of volcanoes and glaciers. That inhospitable, internal unknown is the geological testament to Iceland’s formation through the cleaving apart of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. In Iceland the landscape is constantly being made: The island of Surtsey, near the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the south coast of Iceland, appeared out of the sea almost overnight in 1965. Everything can seem new in Iceland, the land and the people, and with a population of around 330,000 there is a proximity, familiarity, and immediacy to political engagement. The island’s distinctive sculptural history echoes these conditions. There is often an attention to the uncanny landscape, or a social imperative that informs the work—at times read through the 33

history and narrative found in the sagas—and this history and context have resulted in various international artists being drawn to the island.

Iceland’s art history begins with the modern; Einar Jónsson (1874–1954) is confidently referred to as Iceland’s first sculptor.

Although sculpted artifacts from the time of settlement have been discovered, Jónsson is the first to undertake an academic approach to the discipline. Given the absence of opportunities to study in Iceland, he moved to Copenhagen and then Rome.

With a basis in classical sculpture he sought to create his own allegorical visual language, which asserted Icelandic heritage.

This melding of traditions finds eloquent form in the museum he designed in Reykjavík, which opened in 1924.

The absence of advanced art education in Iceland necessitated periods of study abroad for most aspiring artists, and Copenhagen was often the obvious place to start, given Iceland being a Danish dependency at the time (only gaining

IMAGE 2 Samúel Jónsson’s sculpture garden at Selárdalur, Iceland Photo credit: Gerhard König

full independence in 1944). Notably, most artists would spend extended periods in continental Europe and then return to Iceland. This ebb and flow continues to this day, although now the reach is further and with greater reciprocity—artists from abroad have chosen to live, or spend extended periods, in Iceland, such as Dieter Roth, Roni Horn, and Christoph Büchel. This connectivity has developed a specific richness in the artistic community in Reykjavík, where the diversity of influences and approaches becomes filtered through the cultural and geographic specifics of Iceland.

Owing to the pragmatism of many of the inhabitants, whose remote existence necessitates a self-sufficiency, there is often a familiarity with materials and inventiveness. As a result, art often happens in places beyond Reykjavík and by those not reached by art education. In the valley of Selárdalur in the Vestfirðir, a farmer, Samúel Jónsson (1884-1969), lived an isolated existence, but from the 1950s created his own concrete world around his farmstead. The buildings and

sculptures relate to the wild life of Iceland as well its history, with sculptural quotations of more distant works. (Image 2) During the modern era, a steady stream of artists left Iceland to study in mainland Europe. Among those were Gunnfríður Jónsdóttir (1889–1968) and Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893– 1982), who were married in 1924, and had spent periods in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Paris. Both had studied with the Swedish sculptor Carl Milles (1875–1955) and their work is inflected, in different ways, from a filtering of figuration derived from Rodin. Yet in the later work of Ásmundur Sveinsson, the bodies in the sculptures became amorphous, on the edge of abstraction, and continued to relate to the literary history and landscape of Iceland. In 1983, his fantastical studio and home became part of the Reykjavík Museum. The structure—a combination of platonic forms and allusions to ancient Egypt—houses his work and is often used for exhibitions that connect his practice and concerns with contemporary artists. The 2016 exhibition Disruption 34

is a particularly resonant example of this, in which the artist Elín Hansdóttir (b. 1980), through the combination of her own work with that of Ásmundur’s, asserted a common sculptural root but one that became played through a type of fatalism, at once art historical and political. (Image 3) From the late 1950s a distinct avant-garde emerged in Iceland, antagonistic to the mainstream of Icelandic art. The artists involved also created more complex relationships with contemporaries in mainland Europe. Central to this was the Swiss-German artist Dieter Roth (1930-1998), who moved to Iceland in 1957 and brought with him his post-Fluxus approach to art-making, which resonated and stimulated new conceptual methods among Reykjavík artists, such as Magnús Pálsson (b. 1929) and Jóhann Eyfells (b. 1923, and who now lives outside of Fredericksburg, Texas), both of whom rejected the formalism of postwar Icelandic art. Magnús, who came from a theatrical background, was creating happenings and performances as well as objects and books, often of an absurdist nature. Magnús and Dieter Roth also collaborated directly in forming the shop Kúlan in Reykjavík in 1961, along with the architect Manfreð Vilhjálmsson (b. 1928), in which they sold their own designed furniture, as well as domestic products created by other artists. Being mass-produced, the furniture provided a contemporary alternative to the usual staid options to be found in Reykjavík stores, and it also articulated the social concerns of the artists to both provide inexpensive domestic alternatives and also help create new communal spaces for interaction.

From the 1960s on there was a period of heightened experimentation within art practices, which included the founding of the influential art movement SÚM, which organized exhibitions and later ran a gallery that afforded with work often related to a post-fluxus aesthetic, and included music and performance, yet during the 1970s an increased engagement with conceptual approaches became evident, but one which was often characterized by a dry wit. Such is evident in the work of artists like Hreinn Friðfinnsson (b.

1943) (Image 1) and Sigurður Guðmundsson (b. 1942) (Image 4). Even for these more conceptual artists, the landscape of Iceland remains a source and context. And for others like Ragna Róbertsdóttir (b. 1945) who uses the materials from which Iceland is created, particularly the volcanic rocks, there is a literal engagement with the landscape. Ragna creates wall works using shards of volcanic rock that she has collected from volcanic regions. The works are between sculpture and painting, their surfaces appearing to modulate dependent on the viewers’ position.

This use of the landscape as extended studio and workshop is also evident with the work of Icelandic Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967), who has recently opened a satellite studio in Reykjavík that will specifically be a place for experimentation, operating as an aid to access the more remote areas of Iceland. This allure of the emptiness and proximity to an almost primordial nature has resulted in Roni Horn (b. 1955) having had a studio there for a number of years and more recently, in 2007, opening Vatnasafn or The Library of Water, in the small town of Stykkishólmur. Housed in a former library on a hill above the town, its large windows provide views across the harbor and out to sea. The installation is a form of

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material archive that distills the inherent poetry to be found in the describing of nature. Twenty-four large glass columns containing water from different glaciers around Iceland punctuate the main space, and embedded in the floor are words, in Icelandic and English, that describe the weather.

In the 19th century the building was the initial location to scientifically record the meteorology of Iceland. Horn has collected a vernacular form of this reporting by accumulating oral accounts by locals describing the weather.

This appeal to make work of and about the landscape also led to the American sculptor Richard Serra (b. 1939) being invited to create a work for the island of Viðey off Reykjavík in 1990.

The installation, formed of 18 basalt columns, has a subtlety in which pairs of columns are set vertically in the ground to frame views and describe topographies rather than assert a form within nature. Across the island in Eiðar, near the eastern fjords, another American incursion—but of a rather different temperament—can be found. Set amid a dwarf birch forest is an approximation of a Macy’s department store—reduced in scale and empty—created in 2004 by the American artists Jason Rhoades (1965-2006) and Paul McCarthy (b. 1945). It is a totem and a relic of a rotting consumerism. That same year, the artists made an exhibition at the Kling & Bang gallery in Reykjavik titled Sheep Plug, which also involved a performative work in town. The Macy’s building is also a dislocated memory of those events, a hole punctured through the corrugated iron on the gable end.

Near this dislocated Macy’s, but across a high mountain pass, is Seyðisfjörður, a town of a few hundred people and where the ferry arrives from Denmark. It was also the occasional home for Dieter Roth during the last decade of his life. His presence resulted in the establishment of Skaftfell Arts Centre, which continues in the ethos of Roth of creating a social environment for exhibitions and artist residencies in which the restaurant and bar serve as a focal point for locals and visitors. The bar was built by Bjorn Roth, Dieter’s son, and was created using Dieter’s furniture designs and principles, as well as including his print series and a library of his own artist books. The town has become a vibrant community for artists with Skaftfell’s activities reaching beyond the gallery to realize projects such as the permanent artwork Tvisöngur by German artist Lukas Kühne (b. 1967) in 2012. Tvisöngur is a concrete building of five interconnected domes that sits on a hillside overlooking the fjord. With each dome being a different size to allow it to have an individual resonance that corresponds to the five-tone harmony of Icelandic music, the building is both a visual articulation of the structure of traditional music and a space that invites corresponding aural experimentation.

Swiss artist Roman Signer (b. 1938) is another frequent visitor to Seyðisfjörður. In 2010 he published a book, with the Icelandic artist Tumi Magnússon, titled When You Travel in Iceland You See a Lot of Water. The title contains more than a grain of truth about the island: What is not wet is often damp, and weather is a constant companion. Iceland’s dramatic landscape and climate heighten experiences and also provide an exceptional context in which art is placed.

The island, its people, and its history do not serve as mere backdrop but are rather written through the work that is made in this northern land.

TOP: IMAGE 3 Elín Hansdóttir: Installation view, Disruption – Ásmundur Sveinsson and Elín Hansdóttir, Reykjavik Art Museum – Ásmundarsafn, Reykjavik, 2016.

Photo: Pétur Thomsen Courtesy of the artist and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik LEFT: IMAGE 4 Sigurður Guðmundsson: Mountain, 1980 Silver print on fiberbased paper, 83 x 105 cm Courtesy of the artist and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

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Places for Sculpture

Venice Biennale Münster Sculpture Projects documenta 14 p

Written by ALISON HUGILL Managing editor, Berlin Art Link

This year is offering a particularly rare confluence of impressive international art events in Europe: documenta will make its quinquennial appearance, this year in both Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany; the Münster Sculpture Projects is returning for its decennial public art event; and the Venice Biennale prepares for its more frequent exhibition of contemporary art. Amid all the activity, find out what themes and strategies some of the top global art events are dreaming up this year.

LEFT: Mark Bradford, My Grandmother Felt the Color, 2016. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Purchased as the gift of Anonymous Donors, BMA R.17881. Photo: Joshua White, Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. RIGHT: Rio Terà dei Pensieri Social Cooperative participant working in the kiosk. Campo Santo Stefano, Venice, Italy. 30 July 2016. Photo: Agata Gravante.

Venice Biennale The 57th edition of the Venice Biennale of Art is opening this May, under the classical theme VIVA ARTE VIVA, curated by Centre Pompidou’s Christine Macel. Every second year— with alternating architecture biennials in the off-years—the grounds of the Giardini and Arsenale venues in the historic Italian lagoon city play host to exhibitions by established contemporary artists representing 87 countries in their national pavilions, as well as a series of collateral exhibitions, performances, and events.

This year’s central exhibition VIVA ARTE VIVA in the Arsenale is inspired by humanism, and celebrates mankind’s ability to avoid being dominated by world affairs. In a twist on the usual showing, this year 103 of the 120 artists invited to join the exhibition are newcomers to the Venice Biennale.

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As Biennale chairperson Paolo Barratta notes, “These courageous choices, too, are a concrete expression of our confidence in the world of art.”

The national pavilions are tackling pressing themes this year, with L.A.-based abstract painter Mark Bradford representing this year’s U.S. pavilion. Bradford’s work examines race, class-, and gender-based economies that inform urban society in America, and his exhibition Tomorrow is Another Day will reflect on everyday signifiers—the hair salon, Home Depot, and L.A. city streets—and how they become transformed through the lens of marginalized people, to engage urgent political conversation and action.

Venice Biennale runs from May 13 through November 26.

Rio Terà dei Pensieri Social Cooperative participants and artist Mark Bradford in Rio Terà dei Pensieri Social Cooperative’s produce garden inside the women’s prison.

Casa Reclusione per Donne Giudecca, Venice, Italy, November 2016.

Photo Agata Gravante.

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CLOCKWISE: Location Check, 2016. ©Munster Sculpture Projects Material Sample, 2016. Photo credit: Julia Jung. ©Munster Sculpture Projects Haven inspection and material sample, 2016. ©Munster Sculpture Projects Kasper König, photo by Arne Wesenberg

Münster Sculpture Projects The Münster Sculpture Projects, which began in 1977 and runs every 10 years, invites international artists to reflect on the relationship between art, public space, and the urban environment. This year, close to 30 new, site-specific artistic productions will be presented across the city of Münster, Germany from June until October.

Artistic Director Kasper König and Curator Britta Peters have selected artists whose work engages with contemporary concepts of sculpture and publicness, to represent this decade’s exhibition with a focus on interaction and participation. While the event takes place in a variety of public spaces, it is not straightforwardly optimistic about art’s relationship to the public, but is rather interested in exploring 39

the ambivalence therein. To what extent can sculpture and public art activate communities through engagement, critique, provocation, or even disruption?

The 25 participating artists for this year’s event hail from 19 different countries, and their work ranges from sculpture to performance art. While most are from Europe, American artists John Knight, Justin Matherly, Michael Smith, and Oscar Tuazon will be presenting new works in Münster this year, as well as established artists from Argentina, Hong Kong, Japan, Iran, Turkey, and Kenya.

Münster Sculpture Projects runs from June 10 through October 1.

Fridericianum, Kassel. Photo by Mathias Voelzke. Courtesy Documenta.

documenta 14 Founded in 1955, the now 62-year-old documenta is celebrating its 14th edition by partnering with the city of Athens and Greece’s National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST). This year marks the first time that the documenta exhibition will be held in a second city, in addition to Kassel, Germany.

The collaboration, titled Learning from Athens, focuses on a shared concern: How are art and its institutions made public and part of the common good? documenta 14 is hosted in the Greek modernist building of the EMST in Athens this year, while the Fridericianum in Kassel is housing a selection of EMST’s permanent collection, marking its first ever presentation in Germany.

Nasher Artists in Venice, Münster, Kassel/Athens this summer Nairy Baghramian Upcoming exhibition in 2018 Münster Sculpture Projects and documenta 14

Artistic Director Adam Szymczyk initiated the collaboration to reverse the long-standing role of Kassel’s institutions as hosts of documenta, instead placing the major art event in the position of guest. The exhibition features an extensive public program, including a central discursive program called “Parliament of Bodies,” a performative structure challenging the traditional exhibition/public program divide. The program asks: “Can an exhibition be thought of as a Parliament of Bodies, as an ensemble of relationships between animate and inanimate beings producing agency through cooperation?” documenta 14 began in April and runs through September 17.

Phyllida Barlow Phyllida Barlow, 2015 Venice Biennale

Pierre Huyghe Nasher Prize Laureate, 2017 Münster Sculpture Projects

Ernesto Neto Cuddle on the Tightrope, 2012 Venice Biennale

Rick Lowe Nasher XChange, 2014 documenta 14

Michael Dean Sightings: Michael Dean, 2017 Münster Sculpture Projects

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Nasher Prize Dialogues

Mexico City: The Public Place of Sculpture p

Edited by LUCIA SIMEK, Manager of Communications and International Programs

The series Nasher Prize Dialogues—a program made in conjunction with the Nasher Prize—is intended to foster international awareness of sculpture and to stimulate discussion and debate. Hosted in cities around the world, as well as in Dallas, the Dialogues series aims to engage with places and communities where conversations about sculpture and the future of artistic practice are particularly active. Held in partnership with art institutions and organizations, the Dialogues series highlights the most pressing and dynamic issues being addressed by artists and curators working today, from how digital technology influences sculptural practice, which was discussed at the Akademie der Künste during Berlin Art Week 2016, to the strong presence of sculpture within the art market, discussed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London during Frieze art fair in 2015.

On March 16, the Nasher Sculpture Center presented a talk in partnership with Museo Jumex in Mexico City called “The Public Place of Sculpture.” The talk considered socially engaged sculpture in various modes, from social practice outright to objects that employ themes of monument and document and included artists Sanford Biggers (U.S.), Amalia Pica (Argentina), Damian Ortega (Mexico), and Pedro Reyes (Mexico), and was moderated by Nasher Prize juror and curator of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, Pablo León de la Barra. The discussion centered on the historical role sculpture has played in public spaces and the dynamic and evolving ways it is currently presented, especially in light of the global political climate. Each artist presented a brief talk on his or her work that addresses these themes, and some excerpts from those presentations are featured here.

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Pedro Reyes: [In his presentation, Reyes talked about a land artwork, Espacio Escultórico (Sculptural Space)—made by six Mexican artists in 1979 outside of Mexico City—that features a ring of enormous concrete slabs encircling an ancient lava bed and that, until recently, offered an uninterrupted 360-degree view of the sky and nature. Last year, the nearby University of Mexico (UNAM) built a tall building on its campus—the H building—which sullies the view that was the very intention of Espacio Escultórico. Pedro Reyes galvanized a group of artists to protest the destruction of the land around the work, and requested that the building be dismantled to afford Espacio Escultórico the space intended for it.]

The Espacio Escultórico is perhaps the biggest sculpture in the world or one of the biggest in the world, and when you’re in the middle of it, you feel you are away from the city, you have 360 degrees of a view that’s a natural reserve, and before the H building was built it was the only place within the city where you could have that “to be in the middle of nothing” experience, even though you’re in the city’s center.

Espacio Escultórico is an incredibly vanguard work, and it ends up being a lot more, well, visionary, of many current disciplines. The six sculptors [who made the piece] wrote a manifesto saying they wanted to make art for everyone and forever. These days, public space, or rather natural space, seems like now is for a privileged few. I mean a free, natural space, open to the public, etc. is a human right. And culture is a human right. So I think it’s a question of continuing to talk about it, continuing to push. I tried doing things the right way, like “Let’s do an auction, raise the necessary funds,” trying to do everything the right way and… complete silence. So what we decided to do was make a documentary to try to explain the art’s importance, and of course eventually we’ll have to share it, so if anyone knows anyone at UNAM… pull those strings.

Photo courtesy of Damian Ortega, Š Damian Ortega.

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Sanford Biggers: This piece is called Lotus. The lotus is a Buddhist symbol of wholeness, purity, completeness, peace.

This particular lotus is made out of glass, is hand etched, and is around 2½ meters in diameter, and it weighs close to 600 or 700 pounds. The closer you get to this object, you realize that all of those petals that make the lotus blossom, they’re actually slave ships. These were diagrams that were used by slavers to take captured Africans to the New World. This was originally used as a diagram to best maximize your money and your cargo. Then it was later used by abolitionists in the UK to show the horrors of slavery, and to start the abolitionist movement that ultimately helped to end—well, partially end— slavery. This object right here took, you know, I can’t tell you how many hours. We had to hand-carve every single figure.

We couldn’t do this with digital technology at the time, so this was literally sandblasted. The idea of this piece struck a chord with a group in New York, and I was later commissioned to do a public work [that is] approximately 9 meters in diameter.

This one is steel on the side of a school, a high school for young men—African-American and Latino—in the Bronx. The interesting thing is that I had to talk to the city many, many times to make this happen. There was a woman from Puerto Rico who was very upset with the piece. She said this had nothing to do with her culture. [laughter] Exactly. So I had to obviously cite a couple of important historical works and say, well, it actually is very much part of your culture, but more importantly, it’s part of the culture of America and it’s part of the culture of these boys who go to this school. And it’s just sort of an opportunity to teach that you can never forget these things because they can happen again. Here we are in 2017.

Amalia Pica: This is a cement podium sculpture that I made called Now Speak!, which was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and in the contract, when they bought the piece, it says that they have to activate it at least once a year. Activating the piece involves inviting members of the community to choose a historical political speech. The condition is that there has to be a change in the sex or race from the person who originally gave that speech, and one of the things that happens a lot with this piece and the reason I wanted to bring it is that sometimes I do an Internet search and find out that, for example… the ex-ambassador to Nigeria is reading Lincoln’s [Gettyburg Address]. And in that sense, I was interested in bringing the public responsibility of a museum like the MFA in collecting a piece that has this instruction, and I don’t even know who the community leaders are that are invited or the speeches that are read.

There are some guidelines to prevent it from turning into a platform for certain speeches that may go against what I would like, but apart from that, it’s a piece that has a public life, which is quite separate from my decisions, thanks to the institution also fulfilling that public function—the activation.

Damian Ortega: I want to talk about a piece I made in Rio de Janeiro, which I started a long time ago—around 2002, 2003 when I lived in Rio de Janeiro, and one day found myself in the train station where they had sculptures scattered on the floor between the tracks. In an unused space that went along the tracks, and in that space there were Egyptian and Greek statues and some really eccentric things. So I went to ask what they were because I thought it could be interesting to rescue them and make an installation—a piece later. It turned out they were garbage from Carnaval, and at the end of Carnaval there are hundreds of statues made of Styrofoam left over as trash, and it’s difficult to find a new place for them or recycle them because depending on the material it could be toxic. So in general they keep them in the huge warehouses where they make them, and every year they reuse and change the figures—a Buddha turns into a Hulk or they can turn the Hulk into a girl with superpowers or whatever is necessary in the program of activities or the plan they have for that year’s Carnaval.

Sometime later I was invited to the modern art museum in Rio… and I decided I wanted to do a piece with Styrofoam so I asked to buy a huge block of it. I think it was 6 meters by 6 by 6—a giant block so it was like a quarry or mine of raw material, and I invited a group of people who worked in those warehouses—who were sculptors without an academic education and that have an impressive ability to do the job— to quarry and work on it there in a studio we built right there in the exhibit hall. So we have for example the cube, and the process would be a breaking down, a deconstruction of this space, this pure or clean figure and start to deconstruct it.

We chose images that I acquired, and I started investigating statues that interested me and I wanted to re-create. In Brazil they have this idea of piracy like in Mexico—the genius of transforming logos, adapting materials and making a cheap, local reinterpretation of all those shoes, clothes, practically anything. So I thought it would be interesting to start to appropriate the whole history of art and start to make figures, a self-made history of art, homemade.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the Presenting Sponsor of Nasher Prize.

The Eugene McDermott Foundation and Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger are the Founding Partners.

WATCH VIDEOS OF ALL THE NASHER PRIZE: DIALOGUES AT YOUTUBE.COM/C/NASHERSCULPTURECENTER

PREVIOUS PAGE, ABOVE: Courtesy of Pedro Reyes.

PREVIOUS PAGE, BELOW: Sanford Biggers, Lotus, 2007 Steel, etched glass, and colored LED’s. 96 x 96 x 2 inches 243.8 x 243.8 x 5.1 cm Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, Aspen. © Sanford Biggers ABOVE: Amalia Pica, Now Speak!, 2014. Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston BELOW: Photo courtesy of Damian Ortega, © Damian Ortega

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The Experience

The NEA Is Essential 49...GROW Graduates th 53...10 Anniversary of Summer Institute 53...’til Midnight 65...Patron Travel 67...Nasher Prize

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Arts and Culture Aren’t an Elitist Extravagance, They’re Essential to American Life p

Written by ZANNIE VOSS, Director, SMU National Center for Arts Researcher and GLENN B. VOSS, Research Director, SMU National Center for Arts Research

In the March 2013 budget resolution for FY 2014, the House Budget Committee threatened to cut the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) budget by 49%, arguing that NEA-funded activities constitute “a wealth transfer from poorer to wealthier citizens.” To understand the relationship between NEA funding and community wealth, the SMU National Center for Arts Research (NCAR) turned to data to answer the following question: Does NEA grant-making show bias toward arts organizations in wealthier communities, constituting an intercommunity transfer of wealth? We compared the community wealth characteristics of all arts organizations receiving NEA grants to those of all arts organizations that did not receive NEA grants. We found that NEA grants do not favor arts organizations in wealthier communities. We found no bias in NEA grant-making either toward or against organizations on the basis of the median household income of the surrounding community.

Fast-forward four years and the NEA’s future is again in jeopardy. In March 2017, the White House released its proposed budget to Congress, recommending termination of funding for the nation’s federal cultural agencies. Elimination of federal support is not about the money: The NEA budget comes to 45 cents per capita or .003% of the federal budget.

The decimation of federal support is the coup de grâce of a long campaign that has been carefully crafted to perpetuate the myth that arts and culture are irrelevant to most Americans.

Over the past 25 years, rhetoric has intensified, framing arts and culture as elitist and available and of interest only to those with concentrated power, wealth, or an address on the West Coast or Northeast corridor. This rhetoric not only succeeds in diminishing perceptions of the relevancy of arts and culture to American life, it dishonors and invalidates the real experiences with arts and culture that people make part of their lives throughout the country.

Arts and culture aren’t just for an elite part of the population.

They are closer and more personal than most people give them credit for being. A comparative mapping of the location of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the U.S. with that of the U.S. population distribution reveals that these organizations are where people live, not just in big cities or on the coasts. They are well-distributed across the country, serving communities both poor and affluent, rural and urban, and they offer experiences that engage a large share of Americans.

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A closer look at arts and cultural organizations that file IRS 990 forms reveals these key figures: 39,292: The number of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the U.S. with total annual budgets of $50,000 or more. $31.7 billion: The total amount that the 39,292 organizations collectively added to the U.S. economy in the form of direct payments for labor, goods, and services.

908,175: The estimated number of people employed by the 39,292 organizations. We report here only on paid workers, not the armies of volunteers who contribute their time and talents in artistic and administrative roles.

467,218,109: Estimated attendance at the 39,292 organizations (total attendance, not unique attendees). The U.S. population was just above 322 million in 2015, which might make the 467.2 million attendance figure seem high until we consider the landscape and makeup of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. In addition to being located across the country, the majority of organizations can be found in four sectors that are highly accessible and relevant to neighborhood life: community-based, music, museums, and theater.

In addition to illuminating the magnitude, dispersion, and touchpoints of arts and cultural organizations, the IRS 990 data reveal that the arts and culture field is enhanced by federal funding. Aside from the direct dollars that support community programming and the required matching funds that organizations raise from the private sector, federal funding has a significant, positive impact that extends beyond dollars.

It is a catalyst for employment and engagement. All else being equal, when an organization receives federal arts funding, those dollars increase employment by 1.5% and attendance by 2.7%. More national funding for the arts would mean that more Americans could benefit from the jobs and participation stimulated by the federal funding boost.

TO READ THE FULL STUDY, VISIT SMU.EDU/ARTSRESEARCH.

The impact of National Endowment for the Arts and Texas Commission on the Arts for national and local institutions cannot be understated.

Since 2011, these entities have sponsored the following Nasher Sculpture Center exhibitions and programs: The Nature of Arp: Sculptures, Reliefs, Works on Paper (NEA, 2018) Assistive listening devices for Nasher tours and programs (TCA, 2017) Nasher Gallery Teacher program (TCA, 2015-16) HopeKids Art Experiences Days at the Nasher (TCA, 2014-16) ‘til Midnight at the Nasher (TCA, 2014, 2016-17) Operating Expenses (TCA, 2011-16) Giuseppe Penone: Being the River, Repeating the Forest (TCA, 2015) Melvin Edwards: Five Decades (NEA, 2014) Nasher 3:01 Club (TCA, 2014) GROW at the Nasher (TCA, 2013) Nasher XChange (NEA & TCA, 2013)

profile: GROW at the Nasher

First Class of GROW Graduates

This year, 5th-grade students from Rosemont Elementary will complete their final year of GROW at the Nasher, a multi-visit program that uses the museum setting as a forum for students to engage with artworks while developing language skills.

Here is a snapshot of the students’ experience over time: • • • •

The Nasher’s partnership with Rosemont Elementary began in 2013.

The 5th-graders traveled 4.7 miles, 14 times over four years.

Students viewed and discussed more than 60 works of art during their visits.

Each field trip is made possible by four Rosemont teachers, three education staff members, two chaperones, and one gallery teacher.

Support for GROW at the Nasher is generously provided by Dr. Bryon Adinoff and Ms. Trish.

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SUPPORT PROGRAMS LIKE THIS DONATE AT NASHERSCULPTURECENTER.ORG/SUPPORT OR CALL 214.242.5169.

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Best wishes for the graduates: I am so very proud of each and every one of you! From 2nd grade through 5th, your commitment to growing as students of modern and contemporary sculpture has been admirable, your growth impressive, your unwavering enthusiasm inspiring. May it propel you into a lifelong love of museums and the magical pieces within!

Stacy Cianciulli Art Teacher, Grades K – 2 Rosemont Primary

Dear GROW Graduates!

I can’t believe your four years in GROW are coming to a close! I’m so proud of you guys for carrying the torch and leading the GROW program.

You are true leaders! I hope that you have enjoyed your journey, but more important, grown in your knowledge and appreciation for art, sculpture, and the special places that hold them… like the Nasher. I know it may not be clear to you right now, but I believe you will look back on this gift of a journey, and it is a special gift, with cool memories and gratitude for many years to come.

Most sincerely, Kellie Lawson Art Teacher, Grades 3 – 8 Rosemont Elementary

What did our graduates learn?

I asked my son Coleman about his experiences and we had a nice chat about the Ann Veronica Janssens fog room and room with piano benches (Chalet Dallas) being his favorites. I value the high-quality teaching, like the time the teacher brought in blues music to talk about the African American experience that shaped artist Melvin Edwards’ life and perspective. I also love that the children create a beautiful art journal over time. Thanks for this special opportunity; we are grateful.

Courtney Pinkerton GROW Chaperone and Parent

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LUCERO

GROW students have spent four years chronicling their experiences at the Nasher.

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XAVIER

Here is a peek at the poetry, vocabulary, and sketches inside their journals.

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profile: students then and now

10th Anniversary of Nasher Summer Institute for Teens

In 2008, the Nasher launched the Summer Institute for Teens, an immersive program for high school students considering a future in arts careers. Students spend the week meeting arts and museum professionals, studying works in the Nasher Galleries, and creating art with professional artists. This summer will mark the 10th anniversary of the program, which will have served 300 North Texas students over the past decade. We caught up with some of our past participants to find out what they took away from the experience.

My favorite memories from the program would have to be the Phyllida Barlow exhibition that was up at the time because it totally blew my mind, and being able to spend a week just being surrounded by it—especially by the work that encompassed the atrium of the Nasher—was amazing.

My favorite memory of the program was making plaster casts of shoes, and I have taken that memory and developed it into a love for mold-making in my personal art.

Ashleigh Luke, Art Educator, Anna High School 2010 Summer Institute

Logan Larsen, Freshman, University of Texas: Studio Art 2015 Summer Institute

The knowledge your program gave me has become invaluable. Before attending, I was strictly a 2D artist with no real interest in sculptural works. You taught me how to think about art in the round. I’m still a Member with the Nasher and go to all of your events.

The biggest lesson from the experience was to be open to meeting new people and be willing to have new experiences. This mentality opened me up to many of the opportunities that have propelled me through my undergraduate career.

Katie Fehrer, Junior, University of North Texas: Studio Art, Painting and Drawing 2015 Summer Institute

Ramses Martinez, Senior, University of North Texas: Art History 2013 Summer Institute

SUPPORT PROGRAMS LIKE THIS AT NASHERSCULPTURECENTER.ORG/SUPPORT OR CALL 214.242.5169.

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One of my favorite moments from the Nasher was getting to see how the pieces were installed and the whole behind the scenes. I would say that something I learned from this program was not to be afraid to express yourself and be creative!!

Romina Martinez, Architectural Designer 2008 Summer Institute

I think just seeing everyone’s talent and meeting real artists was something I would have never been able to do without the program and I appreciated the opportunity so much.

Nicholas Moulder, Rowlett High School 2014 Summer Institute

I learned that art is a process that should be enjoyed and cherished! You can love the finished product and so can others—but the experience you had making it is all yours!

Alex Orokotan, Freelance Illustrator and Designer / Visitor Services Associate, Nasher Sculpture Center 2011 Summer Institute

My favorite memory from the program was the visiting artist lectures and gallery visits, which is something that really made an impression on me as I’ve gone on to reach out to and actually work with Talley Dunn Gallery and the Dallas Contemporary in recent years!

Grace Zhang, Junior, University of Texas: Art History 2013 Summer Institute

Discussing contemporary art, consistently making work, and meeting the artists and art educators during the program have prepared me for the challenging career path I have chosen and am so passionate about.

Julia Monte, Junior, Kansas City Art Institute: Painting and Creative Writing 2013 Summer Institute

The one thing I took from that program that has really stuck with me was to take time to admire art and be patient when I am creating something. The program really allowed me to dig deep for those artistic ideas. They don’t come easy, but if you wait patiently you will come up with something great!

Ashleigh Price, Junior, Abilene Christian University: Business Management 2012 Summer Institute

Support for Nasher Summer Institute for Teens is generously provided by Jackie and Peter Stewart.

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PHOTOGR A PH Y Presented by Central Market / H-E-B

A N D L AYO U T D E S I G N

BY S A R A H R E Y E S & Cultural Affairs, DA NIEL DRIENSK Y

Additional support provided by City of Dallas Office of the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Eugene McDermott Endowment Fund, and KXT. nashersculpturecenter.org/tilmidnight

MAY 19

OPENER: Vanessa Peters CONCERT: Medicine Man Revival FILM: The Sandlot, 1993 (PG) PAIRS WELL WITH: Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Prince, Erykah Badu, Al Green

JUNE 16

DALLAS ARTS DISTRICT SUMMER BLOCK PARTY OPENER: Doug Burr CONCERT: Sarah Jaffe FILM: La La Land, 2016 (PG-13) PAIRS WELL WITH: Laura Viers, Beth Orton, Aimee Mann

JULY 21

OPENER: Sudie CONCERT: Bryce FILM: Sing Street, 2016 (PG-13) PAIRS WELL WITH: The Cardigans, Robyn, Lykke Li

AUGUST 18

OPENER: Becky Middleton CONCERT: Reinventing Jude FILM: Soapdish, 1991 (PG-13) PAIRS WELL WITH: Fiona Apple, Feist, Regina Spektor

SEPTEMBER 15

OPENER: Chris Norwood CONCERT: Walker Lukens FILM: Catch Me If You Can, 2002 (PG-13) PAIRS WELL WITH: Spoon, Robert Palmer, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

OCTOBER 20

OPENER: Bri Bagwell CONCERT: Special headliner to be announced FILM: Super 8, 2011 (PG-13) PHOTOGR A PH Y & DESIGN BY DA NIEL DRIENSK Y & SA R A H RE Y ES Opposite page: Sarah Jaffe photo by Melanie Little Gomez Smith; Walker Lukens photo by Chris Corona; Reinventing Jude photo by Zoie Vandal.

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Travel to the Hudson River Valley Plan your trip to the Hudson River Valley this fall to experience some of the best scenery—and sculpture—in the country.

Spend a few nights at the scenic Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz and day-trip to the former Nabisco factory turned art museum, Dia: Beacon. See the childhood home of Edward Hopper and the environmental sculpture Opus 40, by artist and quarryman Harvey Fite. Don’t worry about finding a delicious place to eat—stop by the highly rated, farm-to-table oasis at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Or as a Patron-level Member at Brancusi and above, travel with Nasher Director Jeremy Strick to experience this, and much more, with exclusive insider access.

Patron Travel: Hudson River Valley November 2-5, 2017 Open to Members at the Brancusi Circle and above.

Contact AHenry@nashersculpturecenter.org or 214.242.5103 for more details.

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Artwork by Colleen Borsh

Huma Bhabha Studio Poughkeepsie studio of Nasher Prize juror and artist.

DIA: Beacon View works by Walter de Maria, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, John Chamberlain, Donald Judd, Robert Irwin, and other modern and contemporary masters.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns Enjoy a delicious meal where the ingredients for each meal are grown on the premises or sourced locally.

Storm King Art Center See works by Nasher collection artists Mark di Suvero, Henry Moore, Richard Serra, Alyson Shotz, and more.

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Nasher Prize Month

1. Nasher Prize Student-Centered Festival.

2. Nasher Prize Student-Centered Festival.

3. Nasher Prize Spring Break Week.

4. Nasher Prize Spring Break Week.

5. Nasher Prize Dialogues: Juror Conversation.

6. Nasher Prize Dialogues: Laureate Lecture.

In celebration of the 2017 Nasher Prize Laureate Pierre Huyghe, the Nasher hosted a number of engaging education programs for adults, students, and families throughout the month of March.

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The Dallas Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of Nasher Prize Month, with additional support generously provided by The Donna Wilhelm Family Fund.

The Heart of Neiman Marcus Foundation is the Arts Youth Education Sponsor of Celebration Month. Sotheby’s is the Juror Conversation Sponsor.

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Nasher Prize Gala

1. Nasher Prize Chair Sharon Young, Pierre Huyghe, Nasher Prize Chair Deedie Rose, and Nasher Sculpture Center Director Jeremy Strick.

2. Piero Golia, Pierre Huyghe, Kevin Fink, and Valentina Altamirano.

3. 2016 Nasher Prize Laureate Doris Salcedo.

4. The atmosphere at the event.

5. Elaine Agather and Jeremy Strick.

6. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Pierre Huyghe.

7. Margaret McDermott and Nancy A. Nasher.

On April 1, the Nasher hosted a gala in celebration of Pierre Huyghe, with more than 300 guests filling an otherworldly environment in Nasher Garden inspired by the works of the 2017 Nasher Prize Laureate. .

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the Presenting Sponsor of Nasher Prize.

The Eugene McDermott Foundation and Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger are the Founding Partners. Nancy C. and Richard R. Rogers are the Laureate Sponsor.

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Nasher Happenings MAY MEMBER EVENT May 18 / 7 – 9 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center Members’ Preview: Roni Horn Join us for a Members-only exhibition preview and reception. Open to all Members.

> RSVP May 19 / 6 p.m. – midnight ‘TIL MIDNIGHT AT THE NASHER Opener: Vanessa Peters Concert: Medicine Man Revival Film: The Sandlot, 1993 (PG) Pre-reserve picnic dining and full season lineup at nashersculpturecenter.org/tilmidnight FREE, no RSVP required.

> Learn More May 20 / 2 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center 360: SPEAKER SERIES Lynne Tillman, Novelist, in conjunction with Roni Horn FREE with admission.

FREE for for Members and Students.

> RSVP May 21 / 2 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center ULTRA-SEEING The Mandala Pattern Presented in partnership with SOLUNA International Music & Arts Festival FREE with RSVP.

> Learn More May 25 / 6 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center NASHER GALLERY LAB Monoliths and Voids featuring Pierre Krause Join us for an interactive look at sculpture through a framework of poetry and found objects with Pierre Krause, a self-described “post-lol multimedia thing-maker.“ FREE with admission. FREE for Members.

> RSVP

JUNE June 3 / 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center TARGET FIRST SATURDAYS Bring the kids and enjoy free admission and fun family programming on the first Saturday of every month. Presented by Target. FREE.

> Learn More June 3 – August 12 Mayor’s Summer Reading Challenge Both reading and art can take your imagination on wonderful journeys. This summer, the Nasher invites you to create a work of art that you can keep with you while you read.

Pick up an entry form at the Nasher or your local Dallas Public Library Branch.

Learn more at nashersculpturecenter.org/learn June 5 – 9 / 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center NASHER KIDS CAMP Explore the world around you. Discover how artists can be inspired by nature and use natural materials in their artwork. Take an art walk each morning and create your own sculpture garden.

Members $125. Non-Members $150. SOLD OUT

> Learn More MEMBER EVENT June 5 / 6 p.m.

ARTIST CIRCLE: Roni Horn Programmed by Karen Weiner

> Learn More MEMBER EVENT June 8 / 6 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center Members Behind the Scenes: Manuel Neri Join Chief Curator Jed Morse for an in-depth exploration of the exhibition Manuel Neri: Recent Acquisitions from the Artist’s Trust, featuring works of sculpture and drawing recently gifted from the trust of this important American sculptor and draftsman.

Open to Members at the Calder Circle and above.

> RSVP

June 10 / 9 – 11 a.m. / Dallas Zoo KIDS CLUB Kids Club is a partnership among the Nasher and other local museums and institutions providing free admission and kid-friendly activities throughout the year.

FREE for Members at the Moore Circle and above.

No RSVP required.

> Learn More June 16 / 6 p.m. – midnight ‘TIL MIDNIGHT AT THE NASHER Dallas Arts District Summer Block Party Opener: Doug Burr Concert: Sarah Jaffe / Film: La La Land, 2016 Pre-reserve picnic dining and full season lineup at nashersculpturecenter.org/tilmidnight FREE, no RSVP required.

June 19 – 23 / 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Nasher Sculpture Center NASHER SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR TEENS The Nasher Summer Institute for Teens is a weeklong program that exposes students to many aspects of museums and the art world.

Tuition for accepted participants is free of charge, and includes art supplies, meals, and a transportation stipend.

> Learn More June 22 / 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Whole Foods Market at Highland Village Whole Foods Market Community Giving Day 4100 Lomo Alto, Dallas Shop at Whole Foods Market at Highland Village, where 5% of the day’s proceeds will be donated to the Nasher Sculpture Center’s important education and community engagement programs.

JULY July 1 / 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center TARGET FIRST SATURDAYS Bring the kids and enjoy free admission and fun family programming on the first Saturday of every month. Presented by Target. FREE.

> Learn More July 10 – 14 / 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Museum Forum for Teachers: Modern and Contemporary Art Museum Forum is an immersive weeklong summer program for educators presented by The Warehouse, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum, and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. SOLD OUT

> Learn More

July 15 / 9 – 11 a.m.

Perot Museum of Nature and Science KIDS CLUB Kids Club is a partnership among the Nasher and other local museums and institutions providing free admission and kid-friendly activities throughout the year. FREE for Members at the Moore Circle and above. No RSVP required.

> Learn More MEMBER EVENT July 15 / 2 – 3 p.m. / Fairmont Hotel Gallery Avant-Garde Society: Dan Lam Studio Visit Join us for a private tour of Dan Lam’s summer studio in the Fairmont Hotel’s gallery as part of her residency with the hotel.

Open to Members at the Calder Circle and above.

> Learn More July 19, 20 or 21 / 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Nasher Sculpture Center Destination Dallas Summer Architecture Workshop Join architect and educator Peter Goldstein, AIA for a one day, in-depth look at the intersection of natural and built environments in the Dallas Arts District. Students with a strong interest in architecture, art, and design are encouraged to sign up for the workshop. Registration deadline: May 26.

FREE . Please contact Colleen Borsh at cborsh@nashersculpturecenter.org July 21 / 6 p.m. – midnight ‘TIL MIDNIGHT AT THE NASHER Opener: Sudie Concert: Bryce / Film: Sing Street, 2016 (PG-13) Pre-reserve picnic dining and full season lineup at nashersculpturecenter.org/tilmidnight FREE, no RSVP required.

> Learn More

AUG August 5 / 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center TARGET FIRST SATURDAYS Bring the kids and enjoy free admission and fun family programming on the first Saturday of every month. Presented by Target.

> Learn More August 18 / 6 p.m. – midnight ‘TIL MIDNIGHT AT THE NASHER Opener: Becky Middleton Concert: Reinventing Jude Film: Soapdish, 1991 (PG-13) Pre-reserve picnic dining and full season lineup at nashersculpturecenter.org/tilmidnight FREE, no RSVP required.

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SEP September 2 / 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Nasher Sculpture Center TARGET FIRST SATURDAYS Bring the kids and enjoy free admission and fun family programming on the first Saturday of every month. Presented by Target. FREE.

> Learn More MEMBER EVENT September 13 / Nasher Sculpture Center Tom Sachs: Tea Garden Patron Dinner and Preview Save the date for the annual Patron Dinner and exclusive exhibition preview.

Open to Members at the Brancusi Circle and above. Invitations to follow.

> Learn More MEMBER EVENT September 14 / Nasher Sculpture Center Members’ Preview: Tom Sachs: Tea Garden Save the date for the Members-only exhibition preview and reception. Open to all Members.

Invitations to follow.

> Learn More September 15 / 6 p.m. – midnight ‘TIL MIDNIGHT AT THE NASHER Opener: Chris Norwood Concert: Walker Lukens Film: Catch Me If You Can, 2002 (PG-13) Pre-reserve picnic dining and full season lineup at nashersculpturecenter.org/tilmidnight FREE, no RSVP required.

> Learn More September 23 / 9-11 a.m. / Nasher Sculpture Center KIDS CLUB Celebrate friendship at the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Check out art created by friends and make a sculpture to share.

Members at the Moore Circle and above.

> Learn More

OCT October 7 / 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Nasher Sculpture Center TARGET FIRST SATURDAYS Bring the kids and enjoy free admission and fun family programming on the first Saturday of every month. Presented by Target. FREE.

> Learn More MEMBER EVENT October 13 / Nasher Sculpture Center Members’ Preivew: Paper into Sculpture Save the date for the Members-only exhibition preview and reception. Open to Members at the Hepworth Circle and above. Invitations to follow.

> Learn More October 20 / 6 p.m. – midnight ‘TIL MIDNIGHT AT THE NASHER Opener: Bri Bagwell Concert: Special headliner to be announced Film: Super 8, 2011 (PG-13) Pre-reserve picnic dining and full season lineup at nashersculpturecenter.org/tilmidnight FREE, no RSVP required.

> Learn More

NOV MEMBER EVENT November 2-5 Patron Travel: Hudson River Valley Explore museums, galleries, private collections, and favorite local restaurants on this weekend tour, created and led by Director Jeremy Strick, of New York’s beautiful Hudson River Valley.

Open to Members at the Brancusi Circle and above.

For more information, contact 214.242.5103 contact AHenry@nashersculpturecenter.org.

November 4 / 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Nasher Sculpture Center TARGET FIRST SATURDAYS Bring the kids and enjoy free admission and fun family programming on the first Saturday of every month. Presented by Target. FREE.

> Learn More

360: Speaker Series Presenting Sponsor: Martha and Max Wells. The 360 videography project is supported by Ansel and Suzanne Aberly.

Additional support provided by Sylvia Hougland. Target First Saturdays is generously sponsored by Target. ‘til Midnight at the Nasher is Presented by Central Market/H-E-B. Additional support is provided by The Eugene McDermott Endowment Fund, Texas Commission on the Arts, and KXT. Roni Horn is made possible with support from Jennifer and John Eagle, Suzanne Deal Booth, and Hauser & Wirth.

Roni Horn, Untitled (“I deeply perceive that the infinity of matter is no dream.”), 2014, solid cast glass with as-cast surfaces, height: 50¾ inches (129 cm), diameter at bottom of sculpture: 52¾ inches (134 cm); diameter at top of sculpture: 55 inches (140 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth, New York.

“I don’t want realism.

I want magic!”

– TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

2001 Flora Street, Dallas, TX 75201 USA Tel +1 214.242.5100 Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. nashersculpturecenter.org

The Nasher magazine, as well as the many community programs, special exhibitions, and learning opportunities described within, are made possible by the generous support of Members, Patrons, and donors to the Nasher.

Cover: Roni Horn, Untitled (“I deeply perceive that the infinity of matter is no dream.”), 2013-14 Solid cast glass with as-cast surfaces 51” height x 56” diameter Installation: Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, Arles, 2015 Photograph: Stefan Altenburger Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Roni Horn

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