Eva Hesse Drawing

Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1936, Eva Hesse emerged as one of the most exciting and innovative artists of the 1960s. Working primarily in New York, the artist was a leading protagonist of what has been termed Postminimalism, often relying on systems and geometric forms favored by Minimalist artists but infusing her work with a more unpredictable, organic, and ephemeral quality. Alongside her groundbreaking sculptures of latex, fiberglass, rubber, rope, papier-mache, and paint, Hesse was also a prolific draftsperson throughout her career. This exhibition examines the centrality of working on paper to her overall practice, both as a medium for imagining sculptural form and as a stand-alone artistic pursuit. Over 100 objects will be assembled to trace her work on paper from the torn paper collages she made as a student of Josef Albers in 1959 to the period of 1962-65 when a signature vocabulary of geometric forms, biomorphism, and quasi-mechanical figures emerged, and the coveted “circle drawings” of 1965. It will conclude with late works from 1968-70 where veil-like application of translucent colors predominated. The exhibition will also include a large number of working drawings, sketches, notebooks, and journals which further elucidate her working process and methods. A smaller selection of sculptures will likewise be included to illustrate the tangible connections between the act of drawing and her particular approach to three-dimensional form. The exhibition has been organized for MOCA by The Drawing Center in New York and The Menil Collection in Houston.

Gallery space: The exhibition will occupy 6,000 square feet in MOCA Grand Avenue’s D and E galleries.

Coordinating curator: MOCA Assistant Curator Michael Darling

Catalogue: The exhibition will be accompanied by a 300 page, fully illustrated publication co-published by Yale University Press. It will feature essays covering the entirety of her career by Mignon Nixon, Elisabeth Sussman, Anne Wagner, Catherine de Zegher, Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger, Benjamin Buchloh, Kathryn Tuma, and Briony Fer.

Exhibition tour: The Menil Collection, Houston. February-April 2006 The Drawing Center, New York. May-July, 2006

Eva Hesse Drawing is co-organized by The Drawing Center, New York and The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, and is generously supported in part by TK.

MOCA¹s presentation is supported by Susan and Larry Marx and Chara Schreyer.

Pressetext

Eva Hesse Drawing
Kuratoren: Catherine de Zegher, Elisabeth Sussman, Michael Darling

Stationen:
03.02.06 - 23.04.06 Menil Collection, Houston
06.05.06 - 15.07.06 The Drawing Center, New York
06.08.06 - 23.10.06 Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles