Currents 98: Tara Donovan

Currents 98: Tara Donovan features two site-specific installations: Untitled (Plastic Cups), 2006, made from more than 600 thousand cups, and Haze, 2005, a pixilated wall of drinking straws. “A transformative moment occurs for me when the material ceases to reference itself and begins to take on a formal structure that relates to the natural or built environment,” Donovan explains. “This moment occurred when I realized that the cups could create an undulating plane that crested at various heights and remained a singular object, despite being composed of millions of parts.”

Donovan’s sculptural installations each comprise accumulations of a single, familiar material such as adding machine paper, roofing felt, straight pins, paper plates, and toothpicks. Donovan gives particular attention to patterning and configuration, as well as light absorption and reflection when deciding how to unify the elements from which she creates her work. Installed specifically for each exhibition space, these forms function as fields of visual activity that reveal distinctive characteristics with each shifting viewpoint.

Currents 98: Tara Donovan is part of a series of exhibitions featuring the work of contemporary artists at the Saint Louis Art Museum. This exhibition is curated by Robin Clark, associate curator of contemporary art.

Conversation with the Artist and Exhibition Preview Thursday, September 14, 7:00 pm

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Currents 98: Tara Donovan