April Regular Meeting – Hauser Wirth & Schimmel

A record number of PAA members turned out in April to tour “Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947-2016”  at the new Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in the DTLA Arts District.  Before seeing the nearly 100 works made by 34 artists, we met in the airy courtyard for a discussion with Paul Schimmel.  Revolution in the Making, curated by Schimmel and the art historian Jenni Sorkin, looks at developments in sculpture from the last 70 years, and makes a convincing case that the classic story of art after modernism – in which minimal and pop art paves the way for conceptualism, performance and other “dematerialized” practices – is at best incomplete and at worst sexist.  Not only did the materials of wood, metal, wire, and fabric never disappear from advanced art, but, especially for women, work with such materials had an expressive, political character that was ignored by critics of the day.  For many of these women, from Louise Bourgeois and Eva Hesse to the Venezuelan sculptor Gego, sculpture in the 1950s and 1960s was the medium that was most primed to exceed pure formalist abstraction, and to be inflected with personal, psychological, and social concerns. After exploring the amazing collection, occupying three large galleries in the stunning space, we gathered at Cervteca for una deliciosa comida and camaraderie!

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