About the work
The angular planes and curvilinear shapes of Louise Nevelson’s Model for Celebration II, painted in her signature black, are hallmarks of her acclaimed practice. Inspired by the cubist innovations of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, Nevelson reimagines painterly cubism as a sculptural opportunity. Her oeuvre is dominated by monochromatic sculptures, first executed in black and later white, beginning in 1959. While her white sculptures metaphorically employ the light of dawn, Nevelson’s black sculptures absorb light and enfold their key elements in mystery. Nevelson said of her black sculptures: ‘If you paint a thing black … it takes on a whole different dimension ... black invites different forms. For me, the black contains the silhouette, the essence of the universe.’ Celebration II (1976), the realization of the present work, resides in The Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens at PepsiCo World Headquarters in Harrison, New York, a monumental testament to Nevelson’s mastery of the luminescence of darkness.
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About the artist
Louise Nevelson (b. 1899, Kiev; d. 1988, New York), a leading sculptor of the twentieth century, pioneered site-specific and installation art. She is recognized for her sculptures comprised of discarded furniture and other wood elements found in the area surrounding her studio. Composing these elements into nested, box-like structures, she would paint them in monochromatic black, white or gold—transforming disparate elements into a unified structure. She also experimented with bronze, terracotta and Plexiglas, moving into collage, works on paper and the realm of public art. With her compositions, Nevelson explores the relational possibilities of sculpture, summing up the objectification of the external world into a personal landscape. Although her practice is situated in lineage with cubism and constructivism, her sense of space and interest in the transcendence of the object reveal an affinity with abstract expressionism.
For more information, please visit the gallery website: Pace Gallery
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