SAN ANTONIO, TX.- The McNay Art Museum presents Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, a survey exhibition organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The McNay is the only other venue in the nation to host this critically acclaimed exhibition, on view February 5 through May 25, 2014.
Beyond LOVE presents the work of Robert Indiana, which is characterized by bold, simple, and brightly colored numbers, letters, symbols, and short words. Indiana is also widely known for his iconic LOVE sculptures and paintings. However, in Beyond LOVE, more than 100 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from public and private collections from around the world place Indiana's work into a broader perspective by presenting the artist's full range of work over the course of five decades.
Described as "shockingly exciting" by the New York Times when it opened in September at the Whitney, Beyond LOVE has received critical acclaim from the Wall Street Journal, Art Newspaper, Vogue magazine, and the BBC, as well as Good Morning America.
The McNay is one of the important lending institutions to Beyond LOVE. Included from the McNay's collection are 12 costume designs from the opera, The Mother of Us All, which chronicles the life of suffragette Susan B. Anthony; a painting featuring Marilyn Monroe titled, The Metamorphosis of Norma Jean Mortenson, 1967; and Decade: Autoportrait, 1961.
Director of the McNay, William J. Chiego comments, "These works highlight a major theme of the exhibition: Indiana's work as a commentary on the social and political issues of the 1960s, as well as the concept of the American Dream. Each was given to the McNay by the late Robert L. B. Tobin, one of San Antonio's greatest arts patrons, and a major supporter and friend of Indiana."
In addition to Beyond LOVE, the McNay honors Robert Indiana and his work with two complementary exhibitions. Robert Indiana: The Mother of Us All, focuses on Indiana's costumes for Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson's opera about Susan B. Anthony, and Robert Indiana's Hartley Elegies, features 10 monumental screenprints by the artist, exploring the relationship between Marsden Hartley and Karl von Freyburg.
Born Robert E. Clark in New Castle, Indiana, renowned American artist Robert Indiana adopted the name of his native state early in his career. One of the preeminent figures in American art since the 1960s, Indiana has been a pioneer of assemblage art, hard-edge painting, and Pop art.Inspired by his first grade teacher to become an artist, he later enrolled in Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis. Indiana spent three years in the U.S. Air Force, then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting in Maine, and Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. In 1956, he took up residence in Coenties Slip in lower Manhattan and joined a community of artists that would come to include Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, and Jack Youngerman. In 1961, the Museum of Modern Art acquired The American Dream, I (1961), establishing Indiana as one of the most important members of the new generation of Pop artists. He is best known for his iconic 1966 LOVE painting. Indiana has lived and worked in Vinalhaven, Maine since 1978.
