POTOMAC, MD.- Glenstone Museum today announced that its first new art installations since opening the Pavilions in 2018 will feature two works by Ellsworth Kelly, on view starting today, and three works by Kerry James Marshall, debuting on April 18. The museum also will install a new outdoor sculpture by Charles Ray in late spring.
Works by Ellsworth Kelly (b. 1923, d. 2015) to be installed in Room 1 of the Pavilions are the sculpture Untitled, 1996, and the large-scale painting Spectrum IX, 2014. Both are examples of the artist’s practice of using shapes and motifs drawn from lived experience which he frequently revisited throughout his decades-long career. Known for his contributions to American abstraction, Kelly had a singular pared-down style that at times allied him with Color Field Painting and Minimal Art, although he always asserted that his inspiration came from nature and the world around him. Untitled, 1996, is a nearly 15-foot tall redwood sculpture and part of a larger series of wood sculptures that the artist began making in the late 1950s. Spectrum IX, 2014, part of the artist’s Spectrum series, is composed of twelve joined monochromatic panels. The painting is among the last works completed by the artist before his death in 2015. The installation will be on view in Room 1 through the end of 2019.
Starting April 18, Room 9 of the Pavilions will feature three paintings by Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955) that are representative of the artist’s practice and his focus on telling black stories. Over the course of his 40-year career, Marshall has relentlessly challenged the omission of black figures within the art historical canon. When Frustration Threatens Desire, 1990; Black Painting, 2003–2006; and Untitled (Underpainting), 2018 are characteristic of the artist’s large-scale figurative paintings and his use of carbon, ivory, and mars black paint. In particular, Black Painting, 2003–2006, showcases Marshall’s mastery of the limitless expression available using a single artistic medium: black acrylic paint. On view together for the first time, the three works are prime examples of his intent to develop a black aesthetic, each painting infused with explicit and discreet historical references ranging from Haitian religious iconography to the Black Panther Party to modern museum engagement. The installation will be on view in Room 9 through early 2020.
In late spring, Glenstone will install an outdoor sculpture by Charles Ray (b. 1953), Horse and Rider, 2014, along the main path to the Pavilions, which will complement the four other works by Ray on view in Room 8. The stainless-steel sculpture is more than nine feet tall and features a self-portrait of the artist on horseback. It has been exhibited once before at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2014.
Glenstone also will continue its annual spring tradition of planting Split-Rocker, 2000, the outdoor sculpture by Jeff Koons (b. 1955) that overlooks the Pavilions and main path. The nearly 40-foot sculpture is comprised of tens of thousands of flowers and combines the heads of a dinosaur and a child’s pony toy.
Underscoring its commitment to sustainable practices, Glenstone will open its Environmental Center later this spring with a series of hands-on presentations and exhibitions. The Center advances the environmental stewardship that is central to the mission of Glenstone, where the landscape has been designed to complement and frame the architecture and artworks, and the architecture has been designed in response to the natural landscape.
Additional installation changes will be announced later this year.
