Brice Marden

This retrospective of the artist Brice Marden will be an unprecedented gathering of his work. With more than 50 paintings and an equal number of drawings, the exhibition is organized chronologically and drawn from all phases of the artist’s career, beginning with works from the 1960s and ending with two new large-scale paintings exhibited for the first time. The gradual, deliberate evolution of the artist’s work will become evident, as will his constant exploration of light, color, and surface at every turn. The work of the first 20 years, characterized by luminous monochrome panels that first won the artist acclaim, will now be seen in balance with the celebrated work of the past twenty years. In the mid-1980s, Marden shifted to calligraphic gestures embedded in shimmering grounds before moving to heightened color in the past decade.

The exhibition will be on view in The Joan and Preston Robert Tisch Gallery on the sixth floor and The Paul J. Sachs Drawings Galleries on the third floor.

ABOUT THE CURATOR: Gary Garrels has been Senior Curator at the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles since June of 2005. Before joining the UCLA Hammer, he was The Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of the Department of Drawings and Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA (2000 to 2005); the Elise S. Haas Chief Curator and Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1993 to 2000); Senior Curator at the Walker Art Center (1991 to 1993); and the Director of Programs at the Dia Center for the Arts in New York (1987 to 1991).

PUBLICATION: The accompanying publication, Plane Image: A Brice Marden Retrospective, will feature an introduction by Mr. Garrels on the issues, development, and historical place of Marden’s work, as well as scholarly essays by Richard Shiff, Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Art, The University of Texas at Austin; Brenda Richardson, independent scholar and former Deputy Director and Curator at The Baltimore Museum of Art; and Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, Associate Director of Conservation and Research at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Founding Director of the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art at Harvard University Art Museums, focusing on the artist’s work and influences throughout his career, and on his materials and processes. The book also contains an interview with the artist by Michael Duffy, Paintings Conservator at MoMA. With a color plate section, comprehensive chronology, exhibition history, and bibliography, this monograph is the most complete book to date on Marden’s career. The book is published by The Museum of Modern Art and will be sold in MoMA stores beginning in October. It will be available to the trade through Distributed Art Publishers (D.A.P.) in the United States and Canada and through Thames & Hudson outside the United States and Canada.

Pressetext

Brice Marden
A Retrospective of Paintings and Drawings
Kurator: Gary Garrels