January 2008, Philadelphia, PA – Locks Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by artist Lynda Benglis. Lynda Benglis: Shape Shifters will be on view March 7 through April 12, 2008. Ten works will be shown for the first time in this exhibition. There will be a reception for the artist Friday, March 7th, from 5:30 to 7:30pm.
Three series of works, each with three pieces, were made over the course of several months in 2007 at the Walla Walla Foundry, in Walla Walla, Washington. The King Pin series, cast in silver, and the Cloud Shadow series, cast in polyurethane were made from the same molds. The third series, Ghost Shadow, is made of rubberized foam and chicken wire. These works are inspired by natural occurances, such as ever-changing cloud formations. Benglis’ choice of dense, hard materials stand in direct contrast to the source of her inspiration. The new works in the exhibition speak to a changing sky as much as it does the casting of metal - translucent vs. solid, soft vs. stiff.
As Brenda Richardson states in her essay, “These are forms that shift and shimmer in light and space, very much like the ghosts, shadows, clouds, and other shape-shifters their titles evoke.”
Benglis’s work can also be seen through July 2008 at the Museum of Modern Art, NY in the exhibition, Multiplex: Direction in Art, 1970 to Now. The show features the bronze and silver sculpture, Modern Art Number I, (1970-74, cast 1973-74) and the video, No (1973). They are cited as examples of historically relevant works that established new sensibilites and practice. Both works are a part of the MoMA’s permanent collection.
Lynda Benglis has been creating challenging and influential work since the 1960s. As both a sculptor and performance artist, her constant experimentation with materials and processes has produced some of the most important and innovative contemporary art.
Benglis is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1975) and two NEA grants (1979, 1990). Her work is in numerous public collections including the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery, Washington, D.C.; the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; Dallas Museum of Art, TX; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; the Walker Art Center, MN; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; and the Guggenheim Museum, NY.
An illustrated catalog is available with an essay by critic and curator Brenda Richardson.
