John Hogan, Installations Director for the LeWitt Estate and Installations Director and Archivist for Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings at Yale University Art Gallery, reflects on four decades of installing LeWitt’s work in this talk facilitated by John Sparagana, Grace Christian Vietti Chair of Visual and Dramatic Arts and Professor of Painting and Drawing, Rice University.Event registration opens Oct. 8. Sign up for updates below.
“I will refer to the kind of art in which I am involved as conceptual art. In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work…The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” —Sol LeWitt2
Solomon “Sol” LeWitt (1928–2007) was an American artist renowned for his role as a founder of Minimalism and Conceptual art, a pioneer in elevating ideas as an art form. LeWitt’s abundant body of work includes more than 1,270 “wall drawings” and numerous “structures” (as he called his sculptures), as well as many drawings, paintings and other forms of art. His work explored “seriality” of ideas and forms, an approach LeWitt compared to musical variations and photography. LeWitt’s artwork is grounded in ideas and is visually powerful and engaging.
Rice University has a special connection to LeWitt and his wall drawings. LeWitt’s wall drawing, “Glossy and Flat Black Squares” was installed as Rice Gallery’s first site-specific work in 2007. This same work was re-installed as Rice Gallery’s final exhibition in 2017.
LeWitt has been described as: “one of the most influential American artists of the 20thcentury…”3, “a lodestar of modern American art…,”4 and “…as visionary as anyone who ever made art.”5
“The artist and the draftsman become collaborators in making the art.” —Sol LeWitt6
Like a musical score or architectural blueprints, LeWitt’s wall drawings are detailed instructions for artworks conceived by the artist and executed by others whom he or his studio trained. Since 1968, more than 1,270 LeWitt wall drawings have been installed worldwide. They include an enormously diverse range of styles, media, colors and shapes, and have been described as “plainly beautiful, gorgeously rendered, and exquisite in visual effect."7 These works are drawn or painted “directly on the wall with no intervention”8 so that “the art is intimately involved with the architecture. It is available to be seen by everyone.”9
LeWitt’s wall drawings are an ideal fit for a school and university dedicated to community learning and engagement, as they celebrate ideas and are “imbued with the spirit of collaboration and generosity.”10
Wall Drawing #1115
If you could represent the Glasscock School’s vibrant community in an abstract work of art, what would it look like? We like to imagine it would look something like Sol LeWitt’s “Wall Drawing #1115,” which graces the cover ofthis fall’s catalog. The hundreds of painted “bands” that comprise this artwork vary in shape, size and color. Together, they form interwoven circles, radiating powerful energy and a sense of joy. This work will be installed in late fall on a two-story wall in the Anderson-Clarke Center’s Dean’s Commons, the central convening space of our school.
Wall Drawing #869A
In fall 2019, a second wall drawing generously loaned by the Sol LeWitt Estate and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, will be installed on the second floor of the Glasscock School. Stay tuned to learn more about this “copied lines” drawing, which has never before been installed anywhere in the world.
Sign up for updates about our fall 2019 Sol LeWitt wall drawing installations, programs, events and other Glasscock School community art events, courses and programs
“Every person alive is an artist in some way… We’re all making art as we live.” —Sol LeWitt11
Join us for a series of special programs and events celebrating Sol LeWitt, conceptual art, experiencing and making art and big questions in art. Highlights will include:
Mondays, Oct.7- Nov. 11, 2019, 7-8:30 pm, Anderson-Clarke Center
This six-week course explores big questions such as “What is art?” and “Who is an artist?” using the field of conceptual art and the work of Sol LeWitt as a springboard. Featuring Rice scholars and other experts in the fields of art history, studio art, architecture, music and more, it also includes a behind-the-scenes look at the artwork and influences of LeWitt at the Menil Drawing Institute.Space is limited in this highly discounted series, so earlyregistrationis encouraged.
Who is An Artist? Sol LeWitt Master Installer Talk
John Hogan, Installations Director for the LeWitt Estate and Installations Director and Archivist for Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings at Yale University Art Gallery, reflects on four decades of installing LeWitt’s work in this talk facilitated by John Sparagana, Grace Christian Vietti Chair of Visual and Dramatic Arts and Professor of Painting and Drawing, Rice University.
Event registration opens Oct. 8. Sign up for updates below.
The Big Draw
Tuesday, Nov. 12th, 2019, 5-7 pm, Anderson-Clarke Center Dean’s Commons
Curious about what it’s like to make a wall drawing? Practice “making your mark” and following and generating creative instructions in a community workshop led by Glasscock studio art instructors. No artistic experience necessary.
Registration is not required for this free public program.
Solebration: Free Community Opening Reception
Monday, Nov. 18, 2019, 5:30-7 pm, Anderson-Clarke Center
Join us to celebrate the installation of Wall Drawing #1115 and Wall Drawing #869A in this free public exhibit opening and reception.
Event registration information will be shared at a later date. Sign up for updates below.
Saturday, Dec. 7th, 2019, 10 am-12 pm, Moody Center for the Arts
Nationally-acclaimed LeWitt scholars, curators, and artists engage in a critical discussion of LeWitt’s work in this event organized by the Moody Center for the Arts, Rice Public Art and the Department of Art History.
Registration is not required for this free public program.
Sign up for updates about our fall 2019 Sol LeWitt wall drawing installations, programs, events and other Glasscock School community art events, courses and programs.
We are grateful to the following partners for their collaboration on the Sol LeWitt Project:
This project is funded, in part, by a generous gift from H. Russell Pitman ’58. Programming is also supported with grants from the Rice University Arts Initiative and the Glasscock School Continuing Scholars Endowment.
Sign up for updates about our fall 2019 Sol LeWitt wall drawing installations, programs, events and other Glasscock School community art events, courses and programs.
Inquiries: For more information about the Sol LeWitt Project, including programming and event questions, media inquiries or to make a gift to support this or related projects at the Glasscock School, please emailgscsart@rice.edu.
References
Bochner, M. (2009). In S. Cross & D. Markonish (Eds.), Sol LeWitt 100 Views (p. 20). North Adams, MA: MASS MoCA in association with Yale University Press.
LeWitt, S. (1967, June). Paragraphs on conceptual art. Artforum, 5(10). Reprinted in Zevi, A. (Ed.) (1995), Sol LeWitt Critical Texts (Inclinazione all'arte ; 3) (pp. 78-82). Rome: Libri di AEIUO : Incontri Internazionali d'Arte.
Ingrid Sischy as quoted in Bloom, L. (2019). Sol LeWitt: A Life of Ideas. (pp. xi). Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
LeWitt, S. (1971). Doing wall drawings. Art Now, 3(2). Reprinted in Zevi, A. (Ed.) (1995), Sol LeWitt Critical Texts (pp. 95-96). Rome: Libri di AEIUO : Incontri Internazionali d'Arte.
Thompson, J. C. (2009). Two surprises that should not have been. In S. Cross & D. Markonish (Eds.), Sol LeWitt 100 Views (p. 115). North Adams, MA: MASS MoCA in association with Yale University Press.
Cross, S. & Markonish, D. (2009). Foreword. In S. Cross & D. Markonish (Eds.), Sol LeWitt 100 Views (p. 7). North Adams, MA: MASS MoCA in association with Yale University Press.
De Berg, H. (1977, March 27). Sol LeWitt interviewed by Hazel de Berg for the Hazel de Berg collection [Sound recording]. Sydney: National Library of Australia. Retrieved July 24, 2019 from https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-220853908
Join us on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019, 7-8:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE EVENT
John Hogan, Installations Director for the LeWitt Estate and Installations Director and Archivist for Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings at Yale University Art Gallery, reflects on four decades of installing LeWitt’s work in this talk facilitated by John Sparagana, Grace Christian Vietti Chair of Visual and Dramatic Arts and Professor of Painting and Drawing, Rice University. The 7-8 p.m. talk will be followed by a brief reception from 8-8:30 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 4, 2019, 7-8:30 p.m. Rice University’s Anderson-Clarke Center
This event is free, but RSVP is required. Space is limited.