Luxembourg and Dayan presents The Shaped Canvas, Revisited
In the early 1960s, the shaped canvas emerged as a new form of abstract painting which reflected the postwar spirit of speed and dynamism. Described as a hybrid of sculpture and painting, parallelogram, trapezoid, triangle, diamond and other canvas shapes were used to represent artists’ desire to break past painting’s traditional “behind the frame” illusion. The defining moment for this movement was the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s show The Shaped Canvas, curated by renowned critic Richard Alloway. The show exemplified the participating artists’ focus on overcoming existing aesthetic hierarchies, and also defined a key feature of abstraction.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Guggenheim’s historic show, Luxembourg and Dayan will present The Shaped Canvas, Revisited, a cross-generational exhibition that looks at the endurance of the painted shaped canvas in modern and contemporary art. In exploration of paradigm’s place in modern art, the show will also introduce parallel movements such as Pop Art and Arte Povera. The Shaped Canvas, Revisited will include more than two dozen works, which connect the postwar history of the shaped canvas to present day practices. The works present tensions between pictorial and three dimensional concerns, the literal and the illusory, and ultimately raise thought-provoking questions about aesthetics and the relevance of painting.
Nate Lowman
White Escalade, 2005-‐2008
Private Collection, photo:Luxembourg & Dayan.
Lynda Benglis PSI, 1973 Courtesy Cheim and Read, New York.
© Lynda Benglis/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Richard Prince Untitled (protest painting), 1994
Collection of the artist
Frank Stella Creede II, 1961
Private Collection, © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York
James Rosenquist Head on Another Shape: Study for Big Bo, 1966
Hall Collection, photo: Katherine Newbegin. © James Rosenquist/ Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Kenneth Noland Midnight, 1979
Photo: Genevieve Hanson,© Licensed by VAGA,New York, NY
by Louise Lui
The Shaped Canvas, Revisisted will run from May 8 – July 3, 2014.