e l i z a b e t h
t u r k
S
e l i z a b e t h
t u r k
Written in Stone
October 20 – December 15, 2023
Hirschl & Adler Modern The Fuller Building
41 East 57th Street
New York, New York 10022 212.535.8810
www.HirschlAndAdler.com
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Over twenty-three years working with Elizabeth Turk, we have experienced firsthand the evolution of her dialogue with stone, growing from the respect she held for the medium as the daughter of a geologist, and developing into a tenacious, courageous, and accomplished master carver. In a contemporary art world that all
p r e face
too frequently rewards the novel and superficial, Turk uses this natural material, ever associated with human history and classicism, to explore modern-day concepts and issues that are meaningful to her. Written in Stone addresses the radical transformation our society is undergoing with the disappearance of cursive writing in school curricula and in our everyday lives, due to developing technology, shifting priorities, and changing habits. While some view this as a tragic loss both of mind-body connection and our own connection to history, others view it as inevitable, even liberating, as new technologies replace the old. One is easily seduced by the sheer beauty and splendor of Turk’s sculptures, but within their voids and sinuous lines are weighty concepts that call for contemplation. Just as handwriting leaves behind a unique signature, Turk once again leaves her own mark, both delicately and emphatically, written in stone. We thank and congratulate Elizabeth Turk on this compelling and elegant body of work, her sixth series in marble with Hirschl & Adler Modern. The artist wishes to thank The Chiarini Family, Joe Del Rio, Memo Memovich, Jose Pedroza, Erik Risser, and Eric Stoner for their support and invaluable contributions to the preparations for this exhibition. At Hirschl & Adler, thanks are due Bill Blatz, Carlos Gonzalez, Eric Baumgartner, and Tom Parker.
shelley
farmer
elizabeth
feld
Passage 4, 2023 Marble and gold leaf 9 1 ⁄ 2 x 41 ⁄ 2 x 41 ⁄ 2 in.
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written e liz a b e t h
in stone
t u r k
“Script is the grace of a line that conveys meaning in a single stroke,” declared my grandmother, Rita Rue Robbins, a first-grade teacher of 35 years. As children, my sister and I would spend hours writing in cursive within the structure of lined notebooks to guide our curves and loops. To me, script has always been mysterious; an elegant code that not only holds secrets of the past, but also, to use my grandmother’s words, “a chance to communicate directly with the future.” Elegant and understated, the beauty of calligraphic scripts has resonated across cultures and time. Deciphering family letters or reading the original draft for books and other documents can change historical interpretations dramatically. Penned passages caught in time reveal the true intentions of their authors. Written in Stone marks the change caused by technological communication — the ubiquitous keyboard and AI — and seeks to question the transformation of everyday handwriting. What happens when the curved lines of a scripted passage no longer hold meaning, or even exist? Or when the generations of tomorrow merely glance at a handwritten letter, fail to understand it, cannot Favorite, Grateful, Forever, 2023 Collaged photograph, with vellum and paperclips 14 x 11 in.
decipher it, and simply move on, losing its nuances to history? To me, this change is a fundamental shift and one with no return. Marble, a memorial stone, is my chosen material to convey this shift. For me, an aimless curved line with its own tenuous link to a greater geological
Passage 11, 2021 – 23 Marble and gold leaf 8 3 ⁄ 4 x 4 3 ⁄ 8 x 3 1 ⁄ 4 in.
story is the ideal metaphor. I sculpt an endless line that leads nowhere, fractured but fortified through repairs, defying the conventional notion of stone as a solid, everlasting monument. Its strength lies in a delicate balance, a fragile marble line realized only because its environment, the mass of stone, has been removed and its context left invisible. Without context, narratives transform. Without direct
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Passage 8, 2016 – 23 Marble and gold leaf 8 3 ⁄ 8 x 23 x 21 ⁄ 2 in.
interpretation, meaning mutates. These sculptures have been works in progress for over ten years, during which time fewer and fewer children have learned how to read or write script. It is a quiet extinction, one that is happening every day. Recent MRI evidence reveals the power in practicing script to expand neurological pathways. These pathways benefit the understanding of broader and more complex visual shape information and promote our ability to develop abstract thought. What happens when these neural pathways never grow? Will we be able to comprehend abstract information? Will it matter? The Japanese philosophy of kintsugi inspired me to mend imperfections found in the stone itself or created during the carving. Kintsugi is the concept of embracing the flawed or imperfect; in practice, it is the art of repairing broken
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Passage 5, 2023 Marble and gold leaf 9 1 ⁄ 2 x 41 ⁄ 2 x 41 ⁄ 2 in.
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Passage 16, 2021 – 22 Marble and gold leaf 111 ⁄ 4 x 6 1 ⁄ 2 x 2 3 ⁄ 4 in.
pottery and artifacts. The gold leaf highlights these areas. It identifies the imperfect and invites the metamorphosis of the perception of weakness into a rich narrative of acceptance and thus, strength. Throughout history, gold leaf has also served as the material employed in significant calligraphic manuscripts. It has
Passage 2, 2015 – 22 Marble and gold leaf 7 1 ⁄ 2 x 14 1 ⁄ 4 x 2 in.
been the material of the spiritual, the everlasting, the wealthy. And yet, it is often found deep within the earth. It is universally a material intrinsic in redirecting conversations of both healing and the sublime.
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There is an obvious paradox in a memorial of something as ephemPassage 14, 2018 Marble and gold leaf 12 x 23 x 21 ⁄ 2 in.
eral and anthropocentric as script created with a solid, seemingly permanent rock gilded with a mineral. The contrast underscores the impossibility of each sculpture’s fragility. They exist in a space filled by our yearnings for permanence in the face of eternal flux and our own earthly physicality. This space acknowledging truth is lost to the ambiguity of ideas, history and blurred memories, a mirage, per fect for a moment. This impermanent instance finds an exquisite longevity in marble’s voice.
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Passage 20, 2021 Marble and gold leaf 7 1 ⁄ 4 x 111 ⁄ 2 x 2 5 ⁄ 8 in.
Passage 18, 2021–22 Marble and gold leaf 7 x 10 3 ⁄ 4 x 31 ⁄ 4 in.
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elizabeth
turk
Born 1961
California
Education 1994
M.F.A., Rinehart School of Sculpture, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1983
B.A., International Relations, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
Solo Exhibitions 2023 –24 Elizabeth Turk’s The Tipping Point: Echoes of Extinction, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX 2022 – 23 Elizabeth Turk: The Collars, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA 2022
Tipping Point: Echoes of Extinction, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
2020
Elizabeth Turk: Tipping Point— Echoes of Extinction, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
2019
Tipping Point, Catalina Island Museum for Art & History, Avalon, CA
2018 –19
Elizabeth Turk: Heaven, Earth, Home, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, VT
2017
Think Lab Live, SCAPE, Corona del Mar, CA Dialogue in Stone, ADAA Art Fair, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
Elizabeth Turk, 2023
2015
Elizabeth Turk: Tensions, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
2014
Elizabeth Turk: Sentient Forms, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA Script, Masterpiece London, Hirschl & Adler Modern, London, England Convergence; X-ray Mandalas, SCAPE, Corona del Mar, CA
2013
Elizabeth Turk: Wings, The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
2012
Art Kabinett, Art Basel Miami Beach, Hirschl & Adler Modern, Miami, FL Elizabeth Turk: Cages, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
2008
Elizabeth Turk: Ribbons and Pinwheels, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY Traces, Bandini Art, Culver City, CA
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2007
The Lotos Club, New York, NY
2006
Elizabeth Turk: The Collars, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
Passage 6, 2014 –22 Marble and gold leaf 9 1 ⁄ 2 x 16 3 ⁄ 4 x 4 in.
Drawings, Joie Lassiter Gallery, Charlotte, NC
New Acquisitions, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery,
Domestic Settings, Galerie Lareuse, Washington, D.C.
Scripps College, Claremont, CA
VantagePoint III Elizabeth Turk The Collars: Tracings of Thought, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
Celebrating Women Artists, Hirschl & Adler Galleries,
2003
(Know) Fly Zone, Installation, Santa Ana, CA
Poetry & Works on Paper, Joie Lassiter Gallery,
2001
A Memorial to Nature I, An Installation by Elizabeth Turk, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
Charlotte, NC
2004
1998
2021
Elizabeth Turk, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA 2003
Matter and Matrix, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery,
Double Take: Mel Chin & Elizabeth Turk, Frederik Meijer
Going Public, American Institute of Architecture,
Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI
New York, NY
Birds of the Northeast – Gulls to Great Auks,
Social Sculpture 2022
Ridgeline, ETProjects.Foundation, Upperville, VA
New York, NY
(in collaboration with Oak Spring Garden Foundation
COVID Diaries, SCAPE Gallery, Corona del Mar, CA
and The Piedmont Environmental Council)
Wrestling The Angel: Artists in Conversation,
2020–22 Look Up, ETProjects.Foundation, Pomona, CA
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte, NC
2018
Installation, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA Vis-à-Vis, Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, NY
Shoreline Project, ETProjects.Foundation, Laguna Art Museum, Main Beach, Laguna, CA
Centennial Celebration, Shoreline Project Video
2017
3 Solo Projects: Jane Mulfinger, Ross Rudel,
Scripps College, Claremont, CA
Our Secret Fire, Hirschl & Adler Modern,
2018
Draw, Paper, Sciccors, Jeanne Patterson, Los Angeles, CA 2004
Jewish Museum, New York, NY
Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT
2020
Complicit, University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA
After “The Wild”: Contemporary Art from The Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Collection,
2022
2006
Elizabeth Turk, Hemphill Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Recent Group Exhibitions 2023
New York, NY
Awards / Grants / Residencies
License to Deceive, Hirschl & Adler Modern,
2020
CODAworx 25 Creative Revolutionaries of the Year
New York, NY
2013
Lotos Award of Distinction, The Lotos Club, New York, NY
2014
Six Women, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
2012
Helena Modjeska Award, Arts Orange County, CA
2013
Duets: Art in Conversation, Hirschl & Adler Galleries,
2011
Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship
2010
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
New York, NY Alive: Moving Nature|Art and Nature Laguna Art Museum Collaborative, LCAD Gallery, CA 2012
Meticulosity, Ben Maltz Gallery,
Barnett & Annalee Newman Foundation Fellowship 2009
Pilchuck, Artist in Residence, Seattle, WA
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA 2011
Night Scented Stock, Curated by Todd Levin,
2003 2002
Kyojima Artist in Residency Program, Tokyo, Japan
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY
Ensemble Studio Theater, Artist in Residence (Summer),
Loose Canon, LA Louver, Venice, CA
New York, NY
2010
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
2008
Modern Love: Gifts to the Collection from Heather and Tony Podesta, National Museum of
2001
California State Fullerton, Artist in Residence, Santa Ana, CA
2000
Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant
Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
NYC Art Commission Award for Excellence in Design
Looky See, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis School of Art,
John Michael Kohler Arts & Industry Program,
Los Angeles, CA
Artist in Residence, Sheboygan, Wisconsin 1994
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McColl Center for Visual Art, Artist in Residence, Charlotte, NC
Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY Masterworks: The Best of Hirschl & Adler,
Lux Art Institute, Artist in Residence, Encinitas, CA
Amalie Rothschild Award
Passage 17, 2021 Marble and gold leaf 10 3 ⁄ 4 x 4 3 ⁄ 4 x 31 ⁄ 8 in.
Passage 7, 2023 Marble and gold leaf 11 x 21 ⁄ 2 x 3 in.
Passage 13, 2015 – 23 Marble and gold leaf 10 1 ⁄ 2 x 22 1 ⁄ 2 x 2 3 ⁄ 4 in.
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Public Collections
Mid-South Sculpture Alliance; Elizabeth Turk, Knoxville, TN
Jewish Museum; Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation, New York, NY
MacArthur Foundation Conference, Chicago, IL
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The Getty Center; Wonders of Art & Science: A Day of Discovery, Los Angeles, CA
National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. Cheekwood Estate and Gardens, Nashville, TN
2017
Weatherspoon Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC
Stanford University; The Red & The Black, Palo Alto, CA Spencer Museum of Art; Research Integrated Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC Scripps College, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Claremont, CA
2016
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte, NC 2015
Coastline Community College, Newport Beach, CA Santa Ana Community College, Santa Ana, CA
Chapman University, Orange, CA The Fidelty Collection, Boston, MA
Laguna College of Art & Design; Commencement Address, Laguna Beach, CA MacArthur Foundation Conference, Chicago, IL
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA The United States Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq
The Getty Center; The Getty 360 & MacArthur Fellows, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
Jacobs Medical Center, University of California, San Diego, CA
Scripps College, Claremont, CA
Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN
Harbor Day School, Carona Del Mar, CA
Catalina Museum for Art & History, Catalina Island, CA
2013
The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH Lotos Club, New York, NY
Artists Presentations / Lectures / Panels
2012
MacArthur Fellowship, The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, Racine, WI
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
2011
Featured speaker, TEDxAtlanta “Creativ!ty”
The Frost Museum; Breakfast in the Park, Featured Speaker, Miami, FL
2004
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
2022
CODAsummit, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2019 2018
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Family Letters, 2023 Collaged photograph, with ink 14 x 11 in.
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Declaration, 2023 Collaged photograph, with ink 14 x 11 in.
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Passage 21, 2021 – 22 Marble and gold leaf 5 3 ⁄ 4 x 111 ⁄ 4 x 2 3 ⁄ 8 in.
Passage 15, 2021 – 23 Marble and gold leaf 7 x 8 1 ⁄ 4 x 3 3 ⁄ 8 in.
design
Elizabeth Finger printing
The Studley Press photography
All photography by Eric Stoner, except for Eric Baumgartner, pp. 12 – 13, 17, 18 (no. 17), 20 (installation view) cover
Passage 22, 2021 Marble and gold leaf 11 x 4 3 ⁄ 4 x 21 ⁄ 2 in . inside front and back covers
Conceptual Evolution, Sketchbook Studies, 2020 – 23 © 2023 Hirschl & Adler Modern ISBN 978-1-937941-24-6
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chl ISN #978-1-937941-22-2
H&A
