EXPO Chicago 2012 Booth 407
Special exhibition with artists and artworks directly connected to the city of Chicago Galerie Gmurzynska is pleased to announce its participation in EXPO Chicago 2012. Commemorating its participation for the inaugural edition of the fair, the gallery will present an exhibition of masterpieces by the most prominent artists of the 20th century, each with a direct connection to Chicago. Many of the works on view have a relationship with the city’s legendary collectors, museum exhibitions and are directly related to major works on view currently and in the collections of the city’s most important public museums.
INCLUDING:
Robert Indiana:
Robert Indiana attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1949 until 1953, along with Claes Oldenburg. Chicago would become one of the most important and formative locations for him. Indiana has said that his ties to Chicago run deep. He did an iconic series entitled, Decade: Autopotraits, of symbolic self-portraits. One of these works with the title Decade: Autoportrait 1961, 1977, was dedicated to the city of Chicago (in the collection of the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas) because in Indiana’s words, “it was an important city in my life,” one that would have a profound influence on him. In 1995 he was exhibited alongside works by Marsden Hartley at the Terra Museum of Art in an exhibition titled Dictated by Life: Marsden Hartley’s German paintings and Robert Indiana’s Hartley Elegies.
Robert Klippel:
The Australian, Robert Klippel, one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century, had strong connections with the Midwest, having taught at the Minneapolis Institute of Art for several years, where he formed intense creative friendships with Christo and Roberto Matta. Klippel refused to exhibit his work outside Australia after a shipment for an important American exhibition of his was damaged at sea. Galerie Gmurzynska’s presentation of important works from throughout his life, including an extremely rare grouping of unique sculptures made from solid gold, marks the return of his work to this region.
Wifredo Lam:
Lam had a very close relationship with several of the most important Chicago collectors including Edwin and Lindy Bergman and Joseph and Jory Shapiro, each of whom owned several pieces of his that were subsequently included in exhibitions, and eventually donated to, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art. His ties to the city run deep, even spending his honeymoon with Lou Laurin Lam in Chicago. He was first exhibited here in 1944 at the Arts Club of Chicago in a solo show of works from the collection of the Chicago architect, Samuel A. Marx. Since then he has been included in almost twenty exhibitions at Chicago museums during every decade of his life. His works are in the collections of both the Art Institute and the Museum of Contemporary Art, with major works currently on view.
Fernand Léger:
Les plongeurs rouges (Étude pour les Saltimbanques) (Red Divers, Study for the Saltimbanques),1943, is from the same series as Les plongeurs sur fond jaune (Divers on a yellow background), 1941, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, currently on view at the museum.
Joan Miró:
Joan Miró has a longstanding relationship with the city of Chicago with his first exhibitions being held here in the 1930s at the Art Institute of Chicago and at Katherine Kuh’s gallery. There have been subsequent shows including works by Miró in every decade since. His sculpture, Chicago, was installed at the Daley Center Plaza in 1981 on the occasion of the artist’s 88th birthday and still remains there today. He has an incredible selection of works in the permanent collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, the Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, The Arts Club of Chicago, Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art, many of which were donated by Chicago’s most important private collectors.
László Moholy-Nagy:
Chicago was one of the most important cities for László Moholy-Nagy’s career. In 1937, at the invitation of Walter Gropius, he moved to Chicago to become the director of the New Bauhaus. After the school closed in 1939, he would open the School of Design (now part of the Illinois Institute of Technology) where he created one of the most influential design curriculums in the United States. He would remain in Chicago until his death in 1946. Untitled, 1939, was created while Moholy-Nagy was living in Chicago and his use of the experimental medium of felt reflect the exploratory courses and workshops he established at the School of Design including one in textile, weaving and fashion. Untitled, 1939 is incredibly unique and the only work Moholy-Nagy ever completed on felt. His work has been included in many Chicago exhibitions and has works in the permanent collections of four of the major Chicago museums. One of the most important early exhibitions held in Chicago on Moholy-Nagy was at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1947.
Louise Nevelson:
Louise Nevelson first exhibited in Chicago at the 62nd American Exhibition held at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1957. In 1959 she won the Logan Award for her work included in the 63rd American Exhibition. In 1982, her sculpture Dawn Shadows was installed at Madison Plaza and in 1986 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Further integrating her into the fabric of the city, she designed the opera stage set installed in the lobby of the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Music and Dance Theater at 205 East Randolph Street. Her works feature in the collections of the major art museums of Chicago, including Reflections on a Waterfall II(1972) which she personally donated to the Art Institute of Chicago.
Kurt Schwitters:
Kurt Schwitters was first exhibited in Chicago in 1952 in a solo exhibition at the Arts Club of Chicago. His works feature in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Most of the works included in these collections are early works. Untitled (Flower with Triangular Blossoms or Three Triangles) is a remarkable example of a late work by Schwitters.
David Smith:
David Smith designed the Logan Award Medal for The Art Institute of Chicago in 1957. His works have been included in exhibitions in Chicago beginning in 1942 in an exhibition titled Fifteen American Sculptors held at the University of Chicago and organized by the Museum of Modern Art.
Galerie Gmurzynska at EXPO Chicago 2012 | Booth 407
Navy Pier, Chicago, USA
September 20 – 23, 2012