Today I had the pleasure of attending a preview of the Guggenheim’s latest exhibition, the Agnes Martin Retrospective that opens tomorrow. Here is the museum’s quick bite about the artist and exhibition.
From October 7, 2016 through January 11, 2017, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will present a major retrospective of the work of American painter Agnes Martin (1912–2004), the first since her death. One of the preeminent painters of the twentieth century, Martin created subtle and evocative paintings composed of grids and stripes and frequently inscribed with penciled lines. Her canvases significantly influenced artists of her time and subsequent generations. Often associated with Minimalism yet kindred with the Abstract Expressionists, Martin was one of the few prominent female artists to emerge from these prevailingly masculine art movements of the late 1950s and ’60s. This historic survey, the most comprehensive ever mounted, features more than 115 works and traces Martin’s career from her lesser-known paintings of the 1950s to her final canvases of the early 2000s.
I’m no art critic but I really enjoyed this exhibition and thought the geometry of Agnes Martin’s pieces were a perfect complement to the rotunda space of the Frank Lloyd Wright building. As we progressed later in her work and more pastels were introduced with softer boundaries, there was a soft lightness to her work that instantly made me feel like cuddling in cashmere. I don’t know how else to say it! Speaking of… the added bonus, one of the sponsors of the exhibition is Cos and the Cos x Agnes Martin capsule collection that you can find in the museum gift show is tops! Amazing knits.
My favorite bits of the exhibition though was getting to know about Agnes and the thoughts and feelings behind the work. Like the art community she was apart of down by the South Street Seaport, her bouts with schizophrenia, and my favorite her “Advice to Young Women Artists” below. If you’re in New York some time between now and January, definitely make time to see this exhibition.
Exhibition: Agnes Martin
Venue: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York
Location: Rotunda
Dates: October 7, 2016–January 11, 2017