Three new works constructed from Slinky® toys by American artist Tara Donovan, known for her ability to amplify the innate physical characteristics of everyday objects by transforming them into large-scale works of art, will be presented in the fourth Platform—the Parrish Art Museum’s exhibition series in which artists are invited to create new work in response to the space, context, and environment of the Museum—on view from July 4 through October 18, 2015.
“Tara Donovan’s approach to material is like no other artist’s,” says Andrea Grover, the Century Arts Foundation Curator of Special Projects at the Parrish Art Museum, who organized the exhibition. “Her vision and sense of play allows her to transform the most mundane objects into breathtaking installations.”
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Detail of "Untitled" by Tara Donovan, 2015. Slinkys®, Overall dimensions variable. Photograph by Kerry Ryan McFate, courtesy Pace Gallery. © Tara Donovan.
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Donovan creates compelling sculptures and wall works that appear to be self-replicating, living structures made from accumulations of everyday, mass-produced items such as drinking straws, pins, toothpicks, buttons, pencils, and index cards. Through experimentation and repetitive labor, Donovan pushes the boundaries of what the material can be made to do. She is committed to process
For "Platform: Tara Donovan", the artist transforms hundreds of Slinkys® into three new works that will be integrated into architectural spaces and permanent collection galleries throughout the Museum. The works, all Untitled, 2015, assume a generative, organic quality—as if cultivated rather than built.
The first work, a free-standing sculpture, will be installed in the Permanent Collection gallery’s “Material World” exhibition, which explores the use of found and common materials in art. Donovan determined the sculpture’s size (approximately 7 x 7 x 7 feet) and form in response to the space, which features work by artists Donald Lipski, Louise Nevelson, and Alfonso Ossorio, among others.
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"Untitled" by Tara Donovan, 2015. Slinkys®, Overall dimensions variable. Photograph by Kerry Ryan McFate, courtesy Pace Gallery. © Tara Donovan.
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The second work is a wall piece composed of Slinkys ® that have been taken apart and then reassembled into a two-dimensional “drawing” of intricate, curvilinear patterns. Approximately 30 feet wide and installed contiguously from the east to the south wall of the Parrish’s lobby, the work seems to crawl from one plane to the next.
The third work is a mono print, part of a new series the artist created in tandem with her ongoing investigation of the Slinky® as a sculptural material. With a rich, black background and the tonal qualities of a photographic process, it provides a densely visual contrast to the open filigree effect of Donovan’s sculpture.
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"Untitled" by Tara Donovan, 2015. Monoprint, 57 x 97 inches. Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Parrish Art Museum Collector's Circle, and Sherry Brous and Douglas Oliver. Photograph by Kerry Ryan McFate, courtesy Pace Gallery. © 2015 Tara Donovan, courtesy Pace Gallery.
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Platform Series
The installation by Tara Donovan is part of The Parrish's Platform program. Organized by Andrea Grover, Century Arts Foundation Curator of Special Projects, Platform extends an open-ended invitation to a single artist each year to present a project within the building and grounds of the Parrish Art Museum.
Artists to consider the entire museum as a potential site for works that transcend disciplinary boundaries and encourage new ways to experience art, architecture and the landscape. The program began when the Parrish moved to its Water Mill campus in 2012.
Tara Donovan
Tara Donovan (b. 1969, New York) has an extensive exhibiting career with multiple solo museum exhibitions. Her work is held in important private and museum collections across the United States. She has been represented by Pace Gallery since 2005. Her ninth exhibition with Pace was presented May 9 to June 27, 2015 at the 57th gallery with a concurrent show of her prints at Pace Prints.
Solo exhibitions have been held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a national traveling show that included The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) (Boston), the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (Cincinnati); Des Moines Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
In 2013, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, mounted the artist’s first European survey exhibition. In 2015, she will present monumental works at Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh, and site-specific works at the Parrish Art Museum.
Donovan's work is held by numerous public and private collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn Museum, Dallas Museum of Art; The Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston); The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; Museum of Fine Arts (Boston); Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (Hartford, CT) and others.
Tara Donovan is based in Brooklyn and has a studio in Long Island City.
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BASIC FACTS: "Platform: Tara Donovan" opens on July 4, 2015 and remains on view through October 18, 2015.
“Brain Food: Andrea Grover on Tara Donovan” takes place on August 20, 2015 at noon.
The Parrish Art Museum is located at 279 Montauk Highway Water Mill, NY 11976. www.parrishart.org.
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