DISPATCH - MARCH 20, 2014
WATER MILL, NY
The Parrish Art Museum will soon look a little different. Next week, two monumental sculptures by Roy Lichtenstein will be installed near the front entrance to the museum grounds. The works are on long-term loan from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, courtesy of Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman and the Fuhrman Family Foundation.
Tokyo Brushstroke I & II are the first long-term, outdoor installation to be added since the Parrish moved into its Herzog & de Meuron-designed building in Water Mill, N.Y. The sculptures will be installed on March 27 and 28 and will be sited on the front lawn, west of the driveway entrance, alongside Montauk Highway. (Update: Predicted weather delayed the original installation dates. The works are expected to be installed in the upcoming weeks).
"We are tremendously grateful to the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Fuhrman Family Foundation for their generosity," stated Parrish Art Museum director Terrie Sultan in a press release. "This awe-inspiring work promises to become a cultural landmark and a beacon, drawing visitors to the Parrish.”
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A rendering of "Tokyo Brushstroke I & II" by Roy Lichtenstein installed at the entrance to the Parrish Art Museum. Courtesy Parrish Art Museum
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Tokyo Brushstroke I & II is made of painted and fabricated aluminum. Tokyo Brushstroke I is around 33 feet high and weighs over 12,000 pounds. The sculpture is taller than the museum itself. Tokyo Brushstroke II is around 19 feet high and weighs 5,000 pounds.
The pair is part of a series of Lichtenstein's "brushstroke" sculptures that were mainly constructed in the 1990s, according to the museum. Similar works in the series can be found in Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Washington, D.C., and other cities.
Lichtenstein said of the work, “It’s a symbol of something it isn’t and that is part of the irony I’m interested in."
The sculpture raises questions on the contradictions between the ephemeral nature of the artist's brushstroke and the monumentality and permanence of art, according to the Parrish.
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was an American pop art painter active in New York City from the 1960s until his death in 1997. He is best known for his iconic large-scale paintings based on comic books. Lichtenstein and his wife, Dorothy, moved to Southampton in 1970 to live year-round.
Dorothy Lichtenstein continues to be a strong supporter of arts and culture on the East End. She serves on the Board of Trustees for the Parrish Art Museum and the Stony Brook Foundation and on the International Advisory Board of LongHouse Reserve. She is president of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, based in New York City.
In 1982, the Parrish organized an exhibition of 48 Lichtenstein paintings from 1951 to the early 1980s. The show was the first to include rarely seen early works such as the iconic Look Mickey (1961). Other Lichtenstein exhibitions at the Parrish include "The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein" (1995) and "Roy Lichtenstein: American Indian Encounters" (2006). In 1995, the Parrish Art Museum installed the monumental stainless steel sculpture Modern Head (1989) at Agawam Park in Southampton Village.
BASIC FACTS: Tokyo Brushstroke I & II by Roy Lichtenstein will be installed on March 27 and 28, 2014 near the Montauk Highwy entrance to the Parrish Art Museum grounds. The museum is located at 279 Montauk Hwy, Water Mill, NY 11976. www.parrishart.org.
UPDATE 03/27/14: The predicted snow storm and high winds delayed the installation. The works are expected to be installed shortly.
UPDATED 06/11/14: The sculptures were installed on the Parrish campus on April 18, 2014.
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