Louise Fishman: My City

Locks Art Publications

<p>"During the eighties, the metal reliefs grew in both complexity and scale.Starting as relatively simple bunched and folded forms, they became significantly larger over the years, extending out in several directions on the wall, often from a central knot or bow. Despite the rigidity and sheer weight of the material, the metal sculptures miraculously seem to retain the lightness and flexibility of the original mesh understructure, appearing to float like billowing cloth. A key work from this period, Kearny Street Bows and Fans (1985), is composed of five separate forms that seem to fly across the wall, defying gravity. Titles from this series, such as Hydra (1982) and Megisti II (1984), have Greek references including ancient or mythological figures, celestial constellations, and place names.4 Considering Benglis’s Greek family background (on her father’s side), one cannot help but associate these dramatic pleated forms with the draped garments of classical statues or patterns on ancient columns. In fact, Benglis made several trips to Greece with her paternal grandmother, who was born on the island of Kastellorizo (also known as Megisti) and took the artist-to-be to see the Acropolis in Athens for the first time when she was only eleven. The six larger-than-life size Caryatids on the Erechtheion must have impressed the young Benglis, with their dignified postures and drapery carved so it simultaneously covers the female figures and still reveals the shapes of their bodies. Whereas the Greek sculptor carved away or subtracted material from a block of stone, Benglis extends sculptural traditions as she works with pliable materials over an armature to build up form. But like the ancients, Benglis’s pleated or draped surfaces become synonymous with their forms." - from Lynda Moving Forward, Circling Back by Judith Tannenbaum</p>

Lynda Benglis

Judith Tannenbaum

Reflections: Painting Memory

Judith E. Stein

Joan Snyder: New paintings, May 5-June 17, 1995

Carol Diehl

Jennifer Bartlett

Larson, Kay

Arts & Photography

Donald Baechler: November 5-December 11, 1999, Locks Gallery

Baechler, Donald

Eileen Neff: Movingstill : November 16-December 22, 2001

Neff, Eileen

Benglis, who was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1941, began her career as a painter. Moving to New York in 1964, she quickly became immersed in that city's art community at a critical moment in its development. Deeply influenced by the seemingly contradictory work of Jackson Pollock, Claes Oldenburg, and Carl Andre, Benglis began making lushly-colored wax paintings on wood. At a time when most critically-acclaimed work was either dryly conceptual or overwhelmingly expressionistic, Benglis was making work that was concerned with the body, in particular the female body, and toed the thin line between beauty and repulsion.In the late 1960s, Benglis began a series of paintings made directly on the floor. Mimicking the poured paintings of Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler, these works (two of which are included in this exhibition) subverted the dry formalism of the time and led to instant celebrity. Between 1969 and 1974, Benglis was given fifteen solo shows and included in dozens of international group exhibitions. The artist, not yet thirty, was featured in Life magazine and the New York Times Magazine. Feminism became one of the competing discourses of the time and Benglis was one of a small group of female artists, including Jennifer Bartlett and Elizabeth Murray, who achieved international acclaim.Benglis's work continued to evolve during the 1970s leading to large-scale sculptures and installations made from polyurethane foam. Some of these works were cast in metal, including Eat Meat, a large pile of oozing bronze and Wing, a cantilevered aluminum piece that effortlessly flies from the wall. These works were followed by a series of wall-mounted constructions that resembled knotted arms or eruptions of pleated fabric. Most recently she has made knotted masses of bronze and glass suggesting brains or microscopic specimens. This publication surveys major pieces from her artistic history with an essay by critic Carter Ratcliff.

Lynda Benglis: Soft Off : April 8-May 31, 2002

Carter Ratcliff

John Moore: Shades of Gray

Paul Galvez

John Moore (Paintings: 1967-2005)

Debra Bricker Balken

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