LeWitt, Nevelson, Pendleton

Adopting an institutional approach, LeWitt, Nevelson, Pendleton Part II establishes parallels between intergenerational artists revealing three different artistic approaches that arrive at similar conclusions on colour, shape, materials and meaning. Prompting a trialogue between artists, the presentation will explore themes of language, abstraction, geometry and appropriation.

Physical reconfiguration remains central subject matters to Nevelson’s works. Inspired by Cubism, Nevelson took scraps of wood and other materials found on the street near her studio and assembled them into free-standing and wall-mounted sculpture that she would paint a solid colour—most famously, black, white and gold. Nevelson’s sculptures on view range from small assemblages to free-standing columns and monumental wall-based works consisting of multiple assembled elements. Although the physical form of the scraps remains unchanged in her work, Nevelson physically subsumes them in an entire system, creating a unified whole from disparate parts. Highlights of the exhibition include a rare untitled gold painted wood sculpture from 1960-61, and “Small Cities” which explores her rapport with architecture and cities. Nevelson even ventured into poetry for the exhibition catalogue of her exhibition at Claude Bernard Galerie in 1986 for which she wrote a poem about the city of Paris with Diana Mackown. The exhibition will also focus on Nevelson’s acclaimed wall relief assemblages, composed of carboard, paint, and wood collage ranging from 1957 to 1985. A rare documentary titled the “Clés du regard, Louise Nevelson : Ma vie comme un collage (61)”, by French Director Pierre Koralnik will be screened in the gallery. Lastly, initiated by Laurent Bouvier, Director of MAMCO, the Sculpture Garden Biennale will feature Nevelson’s majestic “Maquette for Transparent Horizon” from 9 June to 16 September in the Parc des Eaux-Vives, in Geneva.

The ideas of ‘Conceptual Art’ introduced by Sol LeWitt in the 1960s sought to set art free from the shackles of formalism, and his radical practice had a profound and widespread influence on the artists of his generation and beyond including Pendleton. Experimenting with the cube as a “grammatical device,” LeWitt’s work is characterised by serialisation, repetition, and progression, exemplified by his iconic open-grid structures, that echo Nevelson’s myriad of variations. Studying systems of line and colour, his prolific output solidifies his engagement with two-dimensional practices spanning painting, drawing, photography, and printmaking.For this exhibition, Pace will exhibit several never-before-seen gouaches on paper (A Square Within a Square with Colors Superimposed, 1988), as well as Pyramid #10, a sublime triangular white sculpture.