Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion and Sensory Poetics: Collecting Abstraction at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, through October 16, 2022

Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion

A focused exhibition devoted to influential and experimental artist Eva Hesse (b. 1936, Hamburg, Germany; d. 1970, New York) is on view July 8 through October 16 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion is both an examination of the artist’s studio practice and an invitation to explore the transformation and afterlife of a restored monumental work, displayed publicly for the first time in 35 years.” — Guggenheim Museum

“I remember always working with contradictions and contradictory forms, which is my idea also in life, the whole absurdity of life, everything for me has always been opposites, nothing has ever been in the middle. . . . it was always more interesting than making something average, normal, right-size.” — Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion is curated by Lena Stringari, Deputy Director and Andrew W. Mellon Chief Conservator, with the collaboration of Richard Armstrong, Director, and Esther Chao, Objects Conservator.

Installation view, Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, July 8, 2022–October 16, 2022. Photo: Midge Wattles and Ariel Ione Williams © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.
Installation view, Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, July 8, 2022–October 16, 2022. Photo: Midge Wattles and Ariel Ione Williams © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.
Installation view, Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, July 8, 2022–October 16, 2022. Photo: Midge Wattles and Ariel Ione Williams © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

Sensory Poetics: Collecting Abstraction

“The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents Sensory Poetics: Collecting Abstraction, an exhibition of works acquired over the past ten years that highlights the institution’s growing collection of contemporary art. On view for the first time at the Guggenheim, from July 8 through October 16, the show’s selection reflects developments in painting, sculpture, and video from the 1960s to today that manifest expressive and embodied gestures through the manipulation of color, form, and material and as a response to the constraints of Minimalism.

Representing a cross-section of diverse aesthetic approaches, the featured artists—originating from Europe and the Americas—are inspired by organic processes and natural phenomena, pursue paths of liberation through the abstraction of the corporeal form, or engage with other art forms, including jazz music, classical architecture, and poetry. Sensory Poetics reaffirms the Guggenheim’s commitment to document the expansive legacy of abstraction that is at the core of its history.” — Guggenheim Museum

Sensory Poetics: Collecting Abstraction is organized by Joan Young, Senior Director, Curatorial Affairs.

Installation view, Sensory Poetics: Collecting Abstraction, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, July 8, 2022–October 16, 2022. Photo: Midge Wattles and Ariel Ione Williams © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.
Installation view, Sensory Poetics: Collecting Abstraction, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, July 8, 2022–October 16, 2022. Photo: Midge Wattles and Ariel Ione Williams © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.
Installation view, Sensory Poetics: Collecting Abstraction, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, July 8, 2022–October 16, 2022. Photo: Midge Wattles and Ariel Ione Williams © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

Images courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.