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The Human Body in Contemporary American Sculpture

February 1–March 2, 1996
980 Madison Avenue, New York

Duane Hanson, Bodybuilder, 1989–95 Autobody filler, polychromed in oil, mixed media, with accessories, 47 × 38 × 39 inches (119.4 × 96.5 × 99.1 cm), edition of 2

Duane Hanson, Bodybuilder, 1989–95

Autobody filler, polychromed in oil, mixed media, with accessories, 47 × 38 × 39 inches (119.4 × 96.5 × 99.1 cm), edition of 2

About

There has always been tremendous interest in the human form and its influence on contemporary art. Whether highly representational or abstracted almost beyond recognition, the human form serves as the subject, the object, and, at times, the vehicle through which the final work is realized. The human body is particularly evident in sculpture because of the direct spatial relationship to the object, where the viewer’s own body is one of the primary means through which the work is interpreted and compared.

Spanning four decades and including the work of twenty-two artists, Gagosian’s exhibition The Human Body in Contemporary American Sculpture unites a diverse group of artists, some of whose primary medium is sculpture, and some who have used sculpture to further explore issues of form found in their painting.

Dorothy Lichtenstein and Irving Blum stand next to each other in front of Roy Lichtenstein's studio in Southampton, New York

In Conversation
Irving Blum and Dorothy Lichtenstein

In celebration of the centenary of Roy Lichtenstein’s birth, Irving Blum and Dorothy Lichtenstein sat down to discuss the artist’s life and legacy, and the exhibition Lichtenstein Remembered curated by Blum at Gagosian, New York.

Alison McDonald, Daniel Belasco, and Scott Rothkopf next to each other in front of a live audience

In Conversation
Daniel Belasco and Scott Rothkopf on Roy Lichtenstein

Gagosian and the Art Students League of New York hosted a conversation on Roy Lichtenstein with Daniel Belasco, executive director of the Al Held Foundation, and Scott Rothkopf, senior deputy director and chief curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Organized in celebration of the centenary of the artist’s birth and moderated by Alison McDonald, chief creative officer at Gagosian, the discussion highlights multiple perspectives on Lichtenstein’s decades-long career, during which he helped originate the Pop art movement. The talk coincides with Lichtenstein Remembered, curated by Irving Blum and on view at Gagosian, New York, through October 21.

Steve Martin playing a banjo

Roy and Irving

Actor and art collector Steve Martin reflects on the friendship and professional partnership between Roy Lichtenstein and art dealer Irving Blum.

Installation view, Jubiläumsausstellung—Special Guest Duane Hanson, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, October 30, 2022–January 8, 2023. Artwork, front to back: © 2023 Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Henri Rousseau. Photo: Lucia Hunziker/LL Productions

Duane Hanson at Fondation Beyeler

To celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, staged an exhibition entitled Jubiläumsausstellung—Special Guest Duane Hanson. The presentation featured several sculptures by Duane Hanson alongside more than one hundred works from the foundation’s collection. Alice Godwin considers the fertile dialogues produced by these juxtapositions.

Image of American Artist, Yayoi Shionoiri, Sydney Stutterheim

In Conversation
American Artist, Yayoi Shionoiri, and Sydney Stutterheim on Poetic Practical: The Unrealized Work of Chris Burden

Join Gagosian to celebrate the publication of Poetic Practical: The Unrealized Work of Chris Burden with a conversation between American Artist, Yayoi Shionoiri, and Sydney Stutterheim presented at the Kitchen, New York. Considering the book’s sustained examination of sixty-seven projects that remained incomplete at the time of Burden’s death in 2015, the trio discuss the various ways that an artist’s work and legacy live on beyond their lifetime.

Photograph of the installation process of an unrealized performance by Chris Burden at the Newport Harbor Art Museum, California, 1974. Photo: Brian Forrest, courtesy Michael Auping

At the Edge
Chris Burden: Prelude to a Lost Performance

Michael Auping tells the Quarterly’s Alison McDonald about the preparations for a performance by Chris Burden at the Newport Harbor Art Museum in Southern California in 1974—and the event’s abrupt cancellation—providing a glimpse into the mindset of a young, aggressive, and ambitious artist in the early stages of his career.