Storm King Art Center Announces Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration

Written by Francine Hendricks Tuesday, 30 March 2010 20:45

MOUNTAINVILLE, NY.- Storm King Art Center, widely recognized as one of the world’s greatest sculpture parks, celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with a diversity of offerings throughout its 2010 and 2011 seasons. Highlights include 5+5: New Perspectives, a special exhibition comprising twelve new and recent works, which will be loaned and sited in Storm King’s expansive landscape by ten artists. Six of the sculptures were specially created for the occasion. Inside the museum building, Storm King presents The View from Here: Storm King at Fifty, an exhibition that explores many aspects of Storm King’s rich and varied history. Among other anniversary events are a gala dinner and auction at Sotheby’s in New York City, and a variety of programs.

Located in Mountainville, New York, approximately one hour north of New York City, Storm King encompasses 500 pristine acres of rolling hills, woodlands, and fields in the historic Hudson River Valley.

Storm King President John P. Stern notes, “Storm King is thrilled to mark its fiftieth anniversary, both celebrating its past and continuing its tradition of presenting new works, including sculptures by artists whose work has never been on view here. In 2009, when Maya Lin’s Storm King Wavefield opened to widespread critical and public acclaim, Storm King welcomed a record number of visitors. We once again invite both old friends and first-time visitors to experience this singular haven for modern and contemporary sculpture.”

On the occasion of its anniversary, Storm King asked ten artists to create a new work or select a recent one to loan to the sculpture park. Five of the artists are already represented in Storm King’s collection: Alice Aycock, Chakaia Booker, Andy Goldsworthy, Mark di Suvero, and Ursula von Rydingsvard. Five are new to Storm King: John Bisbee, Maria Elena González, Darrell Petit, Alyson Shotz, and Stephen Talasnik.

For this special presentation, Storm King Director and Curator David R. Collens worked with the artists to select locations in which to site the sculptures, which will be dispersed throughout Storm King’s verdant hills and fields. The sculptures can thus be appreciated for their intrinsic value, as well as in relation to nearby works with which they are in dialogue, offering new perspectives on Storm King’s celebrated collection. Mr. Collens states, “We are honored that these artists, whose works represent such a diversity of styles and mediums, have agreed to help us celebrate our anniversary in this meaningful way.”

The works in the exhibition will remain on view for the 2010 season and, in many cases, also through the 2011 season.

The View from Here: Storm King at Fifty
The View from Here: Storm King at Fifty explores Storm King’s history, including the development of its collection and the creation of its carefully cultivated landscape. Thanks to Storm King’s wealth of archival documents and photographs, the exhibition will evolve and change over the course of two seasons, as new materials are added in place of others and the artists whose works are highlighted change. These documentary materials, along with videos and digital content produced for the exhibition, offer a dynamic narrative of Storm King’s first fifty years, illuminating its unique place in the contemporary art world and looking toward its future.

The exhibition opens on the first floor of the museum building, with a gallery devoted to the early years of the Storm King collection and the siting of individual works; the acquisition and development of the property; the creation of temporary exhibitions in the museum building; and the relationship of Storm King to cultural institutions in New York City and elsewhere in the Hudson Valley. A mapping feature, located in Gallery 1, presents the physical evolution of Storm King through time.

Also on the first floor, a gallery concentrates on Claes Oldenburg’s Wayside Drainpipe (1979), installed at Storm King by the artist in October 2009, thanks to a longterm loan from a private collector. Included here are a maquette, drawings, and sketches for the work. This gallery is emblematic of Storm King’s enduring relationships with artists.

Two second-floor galleries also focus on single artists. One is devoted to Alexander Calder—whose work was first presented at Storm King in 1973—and the history of siting his large-scale sculpture in the landscape. Maquettes for works that may be seen from the gallery windows are accompanied here by an overview of the artist’s major outdoor sculptures, both those that have been a part of the Storm King landscape since 1973 and those made by the artist for urban spaces. A second gallery looks at the crucial role of David Smith in the creation of the Storm King collection. This gallery contains an ongoing installation of work by Smith, including Tanktotem VII, of 1960; The Iron Woman, dating from 1954–58; and Five Units Equal, of 1956. Also explored in the exhibition is the conservation of sculptures that are sited in the outdoors—an ongoing and complex task. Such topics as the occasional need to re-fabricate works, undertaken in consultation with artists, and the effects of weather on materials like steel, aluminum, stone, and wood are examined. Work by Alexander Liberman, Ms. Aycock, and Louise Bourgeois provide examples of these multifaceted issues. Land- and viewshed preservation—essential to Storm King’s mission—are also considered.

Finally, a section on landscape architecture and preservation leads to an examination of the process of creating and installing site-specific work. Included here will be historic photographs of Storm King works sited in the landscape visible from the gallery, demonstrating the ways in which that area has been used over the years.

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