Existing comment:
One of the most influential postwar American artists, Robert Irwin (American, b. Long Beach, California, 1928) is celebrated around the world for creating art that focuses our attention on the very nature of perception. This exhibition is the first to concentrate on Irwin's extraordinary trajectory between 1958 and 1970, a period in which he made works that answered questions he had about the conventions of art, such as: Is it possible to create a painting without a mark? Or, is it possible to produce an artwork that doesn't begin and end at the edge? Irwin ultimately would redefine what an artwork could be, proposing that art is not limited to objects, but rather is a way of seeing. Consequently, in 1970, he made the then-radical decision to abandon his studio in favor of making artworks solely in response to the given circumstances of a site, what he called "conditional art," a practice that he continues to this day.
The Hirshhorn's show traces Irwin's pioneering development through a selection of the artist's historical paintings and sculptures as well as a new large-scale installation created in response to the Museum's iconic architecture. Together, these works offer the rare opportunity to understand Irwin's methodical processes as he continues to pursue an in-depth inquiry into the limits and variability of perceptual experience. They also demonstrate his vital role in the broader cultural movement toward the "dematerialization of art" and a more fluid relationship between art and architecture.
With its spare, subtle character, Irwin's art reflects his unwavering commitment to the act of careful looking and, more specifically, experiencing an artwork firsthand. His paintings, sculptures, and installations invite us to take the time and effort to be active, engaged viewers. And the works reward us by offering the possibility of what has been described as "seeing ourselves see." Questioning assumptions is what Irwin has engaged in since the 1960s, and his inquiries have resulted in what is undoubtedly one of the critical chapters in twentieth- and twenty-first-century art. |