This catalogue is produced in conjuction with the exhibition Nancy Graves | inspired vision, April 14th to June 28th 2009. Funding for this project is made possible through the Kohn/Joseloff Foundation.
JOSELOFF GALLERY | HARTFORD ART SCHOOL | UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD
FOR| ward
It is a great honor for the Joseloff Gallery to present this exhibition of pai nt i ngs, sculpture an d drawings by Nancy Graves, whose contribution to the art of our time is immeasurable. As an art gallery within an art school and university, it is particularly important to share her vision, since she represents the epitome of how art interfaces with all aspects of the humanities and natural sciences. I would like to extend sincere thanks to L i n d a Kramer, director of the Nancy Graves Foundation in New York for her time, expertise, and enthusiastic response to this exhibition. As an
integral part of the Hartford Art School, the Joseloff Gallery appreciates the support of its dean, Power Boothe who is dedicated to its mission, and the continued support of the Kohn/ Joseloff Foundation. My thanks as well to Associate Professor, Mark Snyder for his design of this publication, and Lisa Gaumond, gallery manager who is crucial to the gallery’s daily operation. Finally, we have Nancy Graves to thank. Her artistic legacy so appropriately belongs to the future generations.
— Zina Davis Director, Joseloff Gallery
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THE LIGHTNESS| of being In 1969 Nancy Graves created an unanticipated sensation in the art world with life-size, life-like, handmade sculptures of camels—audacious in their construction, scale, and choice of materials. Working outside the boundaries of process and conceptual art—the prevailing artistic theory and practice of the time—she created her own intellectual framework, extending the possibilities inherent in those movements. By the early 1980s, Manhattan’s SoHo was the center of the art world and Nancy Graves was among the foremost sculptors in America. Born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts into an established New England family, her inquisitive
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nature, intellect, and desire to become an artist blossomed early. Much has been written about her childhood visits to the Pittsfield Museum and her fascination with natural history and art. But it was in Paris and Florence, after graduating from Vassar and earning an M.F.A. in painting from Yale that she combined her artistic determination with her preoccupation with archeology, paleontology, and anthropology. Just as her camel sculptures captured the imagination of a new generation of artists at the time, her entire body of work remains as inventive and powerful today as it did in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. From enormous monolithic camels she moved on to explore their internal skeletal structure. Bones and Their
Containers, 1971 [page 6] is sculptured wax formed over a steel-rod armature and colored with marble dust and paint. Each bone, cradled in its own container with faux scientific detail, comments on the paleontologist’s meticulous process of recovery, conservation, and classification. The piece calls into question the notion of illusion and reality, process and meaning, time and space. Yet her concerns were always formal and contextual: By going inside and using the bones as a point of departure or illusion, I was questioning a post-Brancusi, post-Andre,late ’60s notion of armature.[1]
Concerns with armature, weight and gravity persisted as she explored the logic of how the viewer perceives an object in time and space through multiple vantage points. Her large-scale pieces were draped, hung, suspended and scattered. Works such as Shaman, Hanging Skins, Bones, Membranes; Shadows Reflecting and Sun Disks; Variability and Repetition of Variable Forms relate to fossils, prehistoric cave painting, shamanistic forms and primitive cultures. Her visual vocabulary expanded to include replicas of beetles, berries, bones, butterflies, twigs, vines, feathers and cloth combined with industrial materials. She created this visual paradox of hard and soft, heavy and light, primitive and modern that would become characteristic of her process. In the early 1970s Graves concentrated on drawings, watercolors, and paintings. Unititled Folder, 1970-71 presents a rare glimpse into her thought process with diagrammatic drawings
for sculpture and her ongoing interest in natural history and scientific illustration. Decorative camouflage patterns of animals and sea creatures were the subject of gouache drawings and a series of paint ings in 1972. Her techni que involved covering the surface of the paper with brightly colored dots, thereby rendering the animals barely visible. She continued to chart new territory with drawings and paintings based on mapping, geological discoveries about the surface of the moon and the ocean floor, the lunar landing and satellite-relayed weather forecasts. [page 17] Her rationale was closely linked to her on-goi ng concerns w i t h p r e h i s t o r i c fo r m s a n d t h e mysteries of outer space, all of which became a resource through emerging technologies. As she put it: The extraordinary visual properties resulting from spatial exploration in the late ’60s and ’70s are a source of references: photographs, charts, graphs in my work. Techniques of communication and the visual language of cartography, oceanography, seismology, etc. afford a pictorial means of combining the realities of nature, science and art. [2]
B y 1 9 7 6 s h e h a d a b a n d on e d camouflage patterning. Pastel drawings, Sabine D. and Olet, both from 1976 [pp 19 and 20] are examples of how her
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technique radically changed in relation to the subject as her drawings took on an expressive, more spontaneous application of color and form. Toward the end of the decade Nancy Graves was on the brink of yet another astonishing direction in sculpture—assemblages of objects cast in bronze. Working with artisans at the Tallix Foundry in Beacon, New York, she explored the method of direct casting in which no mold was used and the cast object was destroyed in the process. Common objects such as fans, rope and tools, were welded to a structure along with artifacts collected during her world travels, and organic materials of every description. Her method and technique consciously subverted the weighty and rigid characteristics of bronze creating the illusion of fragility and lightness. This was an end product of the direct casting process that allowed the retention in bronze of the object’s original surface texture, folds, and curves, and the application of intensely colored patinas. Part of the mystery is things that look heavy are light, things that look light are heavy. Things that are known can get transformed. [3] I make a patina gradually, and as I walk around the piece I develop the patination and its color relationships. I don’t come in there with a drawing;
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I let the piece work on me. It is risky and difficult, but the risk is why I enjoy doing it. [4] Throughout the 1980s Graves developed an unparalleled body of work — open, free standing constructions related to the history of assemblage sculpture yet consistently surprising in their inventiveness and technique. Her process acknowledged a path through Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism, combined with the color sensibility of Matisse. Zag, 1983 is titled as homage to David Smith’s Zig (fig 3) series begun in 1961. While both artists were concerned with balance, weight, and counterbalance, in the Zig series Smith welded together bold forms and created solid color planes. Graves, in effect, dematerialized and transformed her materials: recognizable objects and fragments of abstract forms and geometric shapes bend, turn, and spiral, resulting in a visual experience where every vantage point invites a new perspective. Alexander Calder’s work also taught Graves about balance and the engineering of shapes into new forms and structures.[5] In Grande Nature Morte, 1987 [page 6], looping metal rods drawn in space curve back on themselves; open forms suggesting leaves and figurative motifs contrast with brilliantly painted patterns and forms. Across the base, a cast rope creates the illusion of holding the whole piece in place. The sculpture’s overall composition could be compared to choreography as forms swirl, dance, and move throughout space. Graves’s sculpture is a direct expression, spontaneous in its execution yet conceived though a lifetime of investigation and thought.
Her method was simultaneously random and studied. She allowed her intuition, her brilliant color sense, and adventurous spirit to dictate the process. There’s a provocative eccentricity and quirkiness in its decorative side. Only the most disciplined, cerebral artist and risktaker could master this level of humor and playfulness with such intensity and constraint. At the turn of the 20th century the Art Nouveau movement — defined by its elaborate filigree, rich embellishments intertwined with geometric angles and modern industrial techniques — was searching for a new way to see. While conceptually worlds apart, in Rustle in Ripe Corn, 1992 [page 14], Graves creates a similar fantastical world turned upside down.
freely contrasted material objects from everyday life with those from the natural world; recognized the importance of combining technology and science with art; and as a painter, printmaker, sculptor, stage set designer, and filmmaker, rejected boundaries related to specific media yet embraced their interaction. We can be certain that if she were here today she would explore and challenge the aesthetic limits of every new technology of the 21st century. What we have instead is a legacy of what art can be — adventurous, visually thrilling, and always aspiring to the next level.
Nancy Graves moved freely between painting and sculpture with images and forms translated into two dimensions or transferred from her paintings into metal. Her idea of recontextualizing and recombining objects, questioning the very nature of the art object, deciding that art could be made out of anything, and seeking appropriate technology to serve her ends bring to mind a diverse group of artists such as Jeff Koons, Judy Pfaff, Robert Longo, Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, and Jessica Stockholder as examples.
— Zina Davis Director, Joseloff Gallery
So much of what Nancy Graves stood for is at the forefront of art today. Her individuality, global and environmental initiatives, and desire to incorporate into her work a sense of humanity, underscores the belief that art is not a fixed, immutable form but an expressive language that can be redefined and transformed. She borrowed images from cultures and time periods, recreating rather than approrpriating;
Endnotes: 1. Nancy Graves: A survey 1969/1980 Albright-Knox Art Gallery Interview with Linda Cathcart (New York, March 23, 1980) page 14. 2. Nancy Graves 1970–1980, Ameringer and Yohe Fine Art, exhibition catalogue pages 28–29. 3. The Sculpture of Nancy Graves, A Catalogue Raisonne (Hudson Hills Press, Inc., New York, NY and Fort Worth, TX 1987) Interview with Robert Hughes p.21 4. Ibid. 5. Ibid. |7
GROWING PROXIMITY | 1994 pencil, gouache, watercolor, pastel, acrylic and oil stick on paper
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SET DESIGN FOR LATERAL PASS FOR THE TRISHA BROWN COMPANY | 1985 gouache on paper
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SPAN LINK CROSS | 1985 bronze and steel with polyurethane paint, baked enamel, and polychrome patina
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KLITE | 1981 watercolor and acrylic on paper
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DASYPROCTA | 1993 watercolor and gouache on paper
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MAP OF MERCURY AFTER CHAPMAN | 1973 gouache on paper
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HERSELF MOST DRAWN | 1990 bronze with polychrome patina
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Klin | 1983 oil on canvas
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STRAIGHT INTO DEPTH | 1990 gouache and watercolor on paper
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RUSTLE IN RIPE CORN | 1992 cast bronze, patina, sealed with Incralac, Nazdar 59-000 enamel, cast paper, polyester and polyurethance clear cast resin
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REMORSES WITH WINGS | 1991 watercolor and guache on Hanji paper
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GROWING PROXIMITY | 1994 pencil, gouache, watercolor, pastel, acrylic and oil stick on paper
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UNTITLED 8/18/87 | 1987 colored pencils on paper
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CHECK | SCULPTURES Bones and Their Containers | 1971 Steel, gauze, acrylic, plaster, burlap and wax 8 x 132 x 60 inches Span Link Cross | 1985 Bronze and steel with polyurethane paint, baked enamel, and polychrome patina 61 x 38 x 29 inches Grande Nature Morte | 1987 Bronze, stainless steel, polychrome patina, baked enamel 58 x 98 x 81 inches Splendid Mental Isolation | 1989 Aluminum with polyurethane paint 81 x 100 x 57 inches Esthetic Dominance | 1989 Anodized aluminum 85 x 84 x 56 inches
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list Canoptic Legerdemain | 1990 Lithograph mounted on aluminum Hexel panel, brushed stainless steel, resin, epoxy, sand and marble dust 85 x 95 x 37 inches Rustle in Ripe Corn | 1992 Cast bronze, patina, sealed with Incralac, Nazdar 59-000 enamel, cast paper, polyester and polyurethane clear cast resin 34 x 18 x 34 inches
DRAWINGS Untitled Folder, 50 HairBones and Sun Disk | 1971 Gouache on green graph paper 16 x 11 inches
Ubi Supra | 1989 Iron, stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, bronze with polychrome patina 55 x 28 x 43 inches
Map of Mercury After Chapman | 1973 Gouache on paper 22 x 30 inches
Herself Most Drawn | 1990 Bronze with polychrome patina 51 x 60 x 43 inches
Sabine D. | 1976 Pastel on paper 36 x 42 inches
Untitled (Heat Density Measurement of a Cyclone) | 1974 Watercolor, gold leaf, and graphite on paper 22H x 30 inches
Alternatives Not Derivatives | 1988 Gouache and watercolor with gold leaf on paper 30 x 30 inches
Olet | 1976 Pastel on paper 38 x 50 inches
Imaginary Time | 1988 Gold leaf, gouache, acrylic, and watercolor on paper 45 x 45 inches
Relocate | 1979 Acrylic and watercolor on paper 25 x 39 inches
Straight into Depth | 1990 Gouache and watercolor on paper 29 x 65 inches
Dasyprocta | 1993 Watercolor and gouache on paper 14 x 29 inches
Remorses with Wings | 1991 Watercolor and gouache on Hanji paper 52 x 64 inches
Growing Proximity | 1994 Pencil, gouache, watercolor, pastel, acrylic, and oil stick on paper 30 x 30 inches
Cobwebbed Corners of the Sky | 1992 Watercolor and gouache on paper 36 x 44 inches
Klite | 1981 Watercolor and acrylic on paper 63 x 44 inches
Dasyprocta | 1993 Watercolor and gouache on paper 14 x 29 inches
Dieri | 1985 Gouache, pencil, and acrylic on paper 30 x 40 inches
PAINTINGS
Set Design for Lateral Pass for the Trisha Brown Company | 1985 Gouache on paper 30 x 40 inches
Equivalent | 1978 Oil and encaustic on canvas 64 x 100 inches
Untitled 5/18/87 | 1987 Pastel, acrylic, oil pastel, glitter, and pencil on paper 45 x 45 inches Untitled 8/18/87 | 1987 Colored pencils on paper 30 x 40 inches
Kiln | 1983 Oil on canvas 96 x 96 inches Sceadu | 1983 Oil on canvas with masking tape and aluminum element 96 x 96 x 21 inches
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NANCY GRAVES| 1939 1961
Born, December 23, Pittsfield, MA.
1970 Filmed Goulimine in Morocco in January and Isy Boukir in B.A., Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY. Moroccoan June.
1964 M.F.A., School of Art and Architecture, 1971 Received Vassar College Yale University, New Haven, CT. Fellowship. Received Fulbright-Hayes Grant in Taught at the San Francisco Painting to study in Paris. Art Institute. 1965
Lived in Florence, Italy.
Assemblages incorporating live and stuffed animals. 1965– 1970 Marriage to Richard Serra. 1966 Moved to New York in September. Completed first camel sculptures. Taught for three years at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ. 1969 Solo exhibition of three camels at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY.
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Solo exhibition at Neue Galerie im Alten Kurhaus, Aachen, Germany. 1972
Received National Endowment for the Arts Grant.
Ordered NASA moon maps from Geologic Survey, Washington D.C. Returned to painting and made Lunar Print Portfolio at Landfall Press, Chicago, IL. Worked on film, Aves 1973
Solo exhibition Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA.
1974
Received CAPS Grant.
1986 Received Vassar College Distinguished Visitor Award. Moved to 69 Wooster Street, New York, NY. Received Bessie Award for the set design for Trisha 1977 Joined Knoedler Gallery, New Brown’s Lateral Pass. York, NY. Visiting artist at School of 1979
Resident, American Academy in Rome.
1980
Traveling exhibition organized by Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY surveying her drawings, paintings and sculpture to date.
1981
Traveled to Egypt, India, Nepal 1988 Second trip to Egypt. and Kashmir. Traveled to Stockholm, Sweden on occasion of her exhibition at Traveled to Berlin, Moscow, Wetterling Gallery. Leningrad, Warsaw and
Design, Altos de Chavon, Dominican Republic.
1987 Received American Art Award from The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
Traveling retrospective exhibition of her sculpture, organized by Fort Worth Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX, Received Skowhegan Medal accompanied by a catalogue raisonné for Drawing/Graphics. of her sculpture.
1983 Amsterdam.
1985 Received Yale Arts Award for Distinguished Artistic Achievement.
Visited Japan on occasion of her show at Gallery Mukai, Tokyo. Appointed Trustee of the Berkshire Museum.
Taught Master watercolor course at Designed sets and costumes Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts in for Trisha Brown’s Lateral Pass. Albuquerque, NM and visited Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, and Two-week teaching Monument Valley. appointment at Victorian
College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia.
Harvester KC installed at United Missouri Bank, Kansas City, MO.
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1989 Traveled to the Philippines. Awarded Honorary Degree, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY. Elected to membership in The Century Association. 1990 Elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY. 1991
Married Dr. Avery Smith.
Made prints at 2RC in Rome with Walter Rossi.
Left Tallix for Walla Walla Foundry in Walla Walla, WA.
1992
Awarded Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD and Yale University, New Haven, CT.
Artist-in-residence at the Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA.
Nancy Graves’s work has been the subject of over 150 solo shows and is included in countless public and private collections throughout the U.S. and abroad.
1994
For a comprehensive bibliography Made scale drawing for a mosaic commissioned by Caesar Pelli for the and further information, visit the floor of the National Airport (Ronald foundation’s website at nancygravesfoundation.org Reagan Airport), Washington, D.C.
1995
May, diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Received chemotherapy treatments at New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY..
October 21, Nancy Graves died.
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