Robert Irwin (artist): Difference between revisions

'''Robert W.Walter Irwin''' (September 12, 1928 – October 25, 2023) was an American [[installation artist]] who explored perception and the conditional in art, often through [[Site-specific art|site-specific]], architectural interventions that alter the physical, sensory and temporal experience of space.

Robert W.Walter Irwin was born on September 12, 1928, in [[Long Beach, California]], to Robert Irwin and Goldie Anderberg Irwin.<ref name="NYT Obit" /> He grew up in the [[Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles|Baldwin Hills]] area of [[Los Angeles]], and graduated from [[Susan Miller Dorsey High School|Dorsey High School]].<ref name="NYT Obit" /> After serving in the [[United States Army]] from 1946 to 1947, he attended several art institutes: [[Otis Art Institute]] in Los Angeles from 1948 to 1950, [[Jepson Art Institute]] in 1951, and [[Chouinard Art Institute]] in Los Angeles from 1952 to 1954. He spent the next two years living in Europe and North Africa. Between the years 1957–1958, he taught at the [[Chouinard Art Institute]].

:"In May 1980, Robert Irwin returned to Market Street in [[Venice, California]] to the block where he had kept a studio until 1970, the year he abandoned studio work altogether. [[Melinda Wyatt]] was opening a gallery in the building next door to his former work space and invited Irwin to create an installation."

Because of the ephemeral or subtle nature of his work, this book became not just an introduction but, for many artists and art students, the primary way that Robert Irwin's work was experienced. He told [[Jori Finkel]] of the ''[[New York Times]]'' in 2007 that people still came up to him at lectures for book autographs. In that article, [[Michael Govan]], the director of [[LACMA]] who had previously commissioned Irwin to "design our experience" of [[Dia:Beacon]] said he believes the book "has convinced more young people to become artists than the [[Velvet Underground]] has created rockers."<ref>Jori Finkel (October 24, 2007), [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/arts/design/14fink.html "Artist of Space, Light, and Now Trees"] ''New York Times.</ref>

Between 1966 and 1967, he began painting aluminum discs. He was invited back as an individual exhibitor to The [[Pace Gallery]] in New York City. In 1968, he began teaching at the [[University of California, Irvine]]. For the next two years, he started his work with clear acrylic discs, white convex structures fixed to the wall and illuminated by lamps.<ref>[http://www.moca.org/pc/viewArtWork.php?id=26 Robert Irwin: ''Untitled'', 1968–69] Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles.</ref> In 1970, he began his work on "Columns", a series of clear acrylic columns. In 1972, he began his study on "sightlines" and "places" in the Southwest.

Irwin first used [[fluorescent light]] in the 1970s.<ref name="pacegallery.com">[http://www.pacegallery.com/newyork/exhibitions/12736/cacophonous Robert Irwin: Cacophonous, April 10, 2015 – May 9, 2015] [[Pace Gallery]], New York.</ref> His site-conditioned installation ''Excursus: Homage to the Square3'', a meditation on the painter [[Josef Albers]] and his explorations of color relationships,<ref name="nytimes.com">Grace Glueck (November 13, 1998), [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/13/arts/art-review-on-a-journey-through-a-maze-contemplating-light-and-color.html On a Journey Through a Maze, Contemplating Light and Color] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> was presented at [[Dia Art Foundation|Dia:Chelsea]] between 1998 and 2000. It consists of 18 small rooms, divided by walls of tautly stretched scrim; the light in each room, its value depending on the distance from the windows, is enhanced by four white-and-colored double fluorescent bulbs, each hung vertically at the center of each wall.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> In 2015, it was reinstalled at [[Dia:Beacon]] where it will remainwas on view through 2017.<ref name="pacegallery.com"/> For a 2015 exhibition at [[Pace Gallery]] in New York City, heIrwin installed rows of columnar lights, coating the different tubes with colored gels that alter the transmission of light.<ref name="pacegallery.com"/>

His later exhibitions included: ''Unlights'' at [[Kayne Griffin Corcoran|Kayne Griffin]] in Los Angeles, January 9 – February 27, 2021 and ''Light and Space'' commissioned by [[Light Art Space (LAS)]] and displayed at Kraftwerk Berlin, from December 5, 2021 -to January 30, 2022.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-06 |title=Stop Making Sense |url=https://www.spikeartmagazine.com/?q=articles/light-art-space-robert-irwin |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=Spike Art Magazine |language=en}}</ref> <blockquote>"Irwin's new works are composed from unlit six-foot fluorescent lights mounted to fixtures and installed in vertical rows directly on the wall. The glass tubes are covered in layers of opulently colored translucent gels and thin strips of [[electrical tape]], allowing the reflective surfaces of unlit glass and [[anodized aluminum]] to interact with ambient illumination in the surrounding space and produce shifting patterns of shadow and chromatic tonality. Reflecting his recent turn toward the perceptual possibilities of unlit bulbs, Irwin's new body of work expands the range of possibilities for how we experience sensations of rhythm, pulsation, expansion and intensity, while continuing the artist's long-standing interest in registering the immediacy of our own presence in space."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Robert Irwin – Unlights – Exhibitions – Kayne Griffin|url=https://www.kaynegriffin.com/exhibitions/robert-irwin/press-release|access-date=2021-04-09|website=www.kaynegriffin.com}}</ref></blockquote>

From 1968<ref>[http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=2828 Robert Irwin] MoMA Collection, New York.</ref> Irwin focused on the site itself by creating installations in rooms, gardens, parks, museums, and various urban locales.<ref>[http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/singular_forms/highlights_7a.html "Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated): Art from 1951 to the Present", March 5 – May 19, 2004] [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum]], New York.</ref> Influenced, in particular, by the paintings of [[John McLaughlin (artist)|John McLaughlin]], Irwin and other [[Light and Space]] artists became curious about pushing the boundaries of art and perception, in the 1970s Robert Irwin left studio work to pursue [[installation art]] that dealt directly with light and space: the basis of [[visual perception]], in both outdoor and modified interior sites. These installations allowed for an open exploration for artist and viewer of an altered experience created by manipulating the context of environment rather than remaining with the confines of an individual work of art. Other artists involved in the Light and Space movement include [[John McCracken (artist)|John McCracken]], [[James Turrell]], [[Peter Alexander (artist)|Peter Alexander]], [[Larry Bell (artist)|Larry Bell]], [[Craig Kauffman]], Doug Wheeler, and [[Maria Nordman]], and others.

In 1970, the [[Museum of Modern Art]] invited Irwin to create an installation. Using the entire project space, Irwin suspended a white scrim 10 feet from the ground and attached shimmering [[stainless steel]] wires to the wall. In 1971 the [[Walker Art Center]] commissioned the artist to create ''Untitled (Slant/Light/Volume)'' for the inaugural exhibition of its [[Edward Larrabee Barnes]]-designed building.<ref>[http://visualarts.walkerart.org/detail.wac?id=4671&title=past%20exhibitions Robert Irwin: Slant/Light/Value, August 6, 2009 – February 28, 2010] [[Walker Art Center]].</ref> Suspended between the floor and ceiling, his ''Full Room Skylight - Scrim V'' (1972/2022) comprises two sheets of translucent fabric stretched in a “V” shape across two connected galleries; from overhead, the fabric is illuminated by abundant natural light beaming through the skylights, both concealing and revealing the surrounding architecture depending on variables such as brightness, time of day, and the viewer's vantage point.<ref name="theartnewspaper.com">Henri Neuendorf (2 September 2022), [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/09/02/robert-irwin-fogg-museum-installation-revived-dia-beacon Robert Irwin’s 1972 Fogg Museum scrim installation revived in its 'ideal location' at Dia Beacon] ''[[The Art Newspaper]]''.</ref> For ''Soft Wall'', a 1974 installation at Pace Gallery in New York City, Irwin simply cleaned and painted a rectangular gallery and hung a thin, translucent white theater scrim eighteen inches in front of one of the long walls, creating the effect of an empty room in which one wall seemed permanently out of focus.<ref>[http://www.diabeacon.org/exhibitions/introduction/84 Robert Irwin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510061441/http://www.diabeacon.org/exhibitions/introduction/84 |date=May 10, 2012 }} [[Dia:Beacon]].</ref>

A permanent wall installation in the entrance corridor of the [[Allen Memorial Art Museum]], the dimensions of ''Untitled'' (1980) exactly repeat those of the deep-set windows just opposite.<ref>[http://www.oberlin.edu/amam/Irwin_Untitled.htm Robert Irwin: ''Untitled'', 1980] [[Allen Memorial Art Museum]], Oberlin.</ref> In the early 1980s, Irwin was invited to participate as a collaborating artist in designs for the rejuvenation and improvement of the [[Miami International Airport]]. In 1997 he transformed a room that overlooks the Pacific at the La Jolla branch of the [[Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego]].<ref>Jori Finkel (October 14, 2007), [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/arts/design/14fink.html Artist of Light, Space and, Now, Trees] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> To celebrate its 125th anniversary, the [[Indianapolis Museum of Art]] commissioned Irwin to create ''Light and Space III'' (2008), thereby becoming the first AmericanU.S. museum to have a permanent indoor installation of the artist. For the piece, Irwin arranged fluorescent light bulbs in an irregular grid pattern across the walls surrounding the escalators, with a veil of scrim framing each side; as museum visitors go up and down between floors, they move through the piece.<ref>[http://www.imamuseum.org/art/collections/artwork/light-and-space-iii-irwin-robert Robert Irwin: ''Light and Space III'', 2008] [[Indianapolis Museum of Art]].</ref> ''Trifecta (Joe's Bar & Grill)'', a three-story permanent light installation at [[Swiss Re]]'s corporate headquarters in [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]], was inaugurated in 2012.

In late 2013, a 33-foot-tall acrylic column by Irwin was unveiled at the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of California|San Diego Federal Courthouse]], where the artist worked with his longtime friends and collaborators, architect Martin Poirer and landscape architect Andrew Spurlock, on the courthouse's outdoor plaza. The three-story-tall acrylic column, built decades ago but never given a proper home due to a series of unforeseen circumstances, refracts light and cast colors as the sun moves through the lobby.<ref>[http://www.pacegallery.com/newyork/exhibitions/11146/robert-irwin-dotting-the-i-s-crossing-the-t-s-part-ii Robert Irwin – Dotting the i's & Crossing the t's: Part II, September 6 – October 20, 2012] [[Pace Gallery]], New York.</ref> The fabrication of the columns and the technical issues related to the material, were all executed by [[Jack Brogan]], a central character in the evolution of the techniques in the Light and Space Movement. The challenge and technique of polishing the columns to the required transparency was invented by Brogan and remains a high water mark in the field.

After having been working and reworking his ideas to create a giant installation for the [[Chinati Foundation]] since the early 2000s, Irwin's installation in [[Marfa, Texas]] — a U-shape construction about 10,000 square feet — willbegan beginin early 2015 and be completed and openopened to the public in 2016.<ref>Carol Vogel (September 18, 2014), [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/arts/design/christies-to-sell-works-from-twomblys-collection.html Christie's to Sell Works From Twombly's Collection] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> The installation, situated at the building that had housed the former Army barracks' hospital,<ref name="latimes.com">Jessica Gelt (September 18, 2014), [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-robert-irwin-to-create-major-new-installation-in-marfa-texas-20140918-story.html Robert Irwin to create a major installation in Marfa, Texas] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.</ref> will be the first major installation added to the Chinati Foundation since 2004<ref name="pacegallery.com"/> as well as the first freestanding structure designed by Irwin that is devoted solely to his work.<ref name="latimes.com"/>

Other installations include:by Irwin included; ''Fractured Light – Partial Scrim – Eye Level'' at the [[Museum of Modern Art]], New York (1970–1971); ''Black Line Room Division + Extended Forms'' at the [[Whitney Museum]], New York (1977); ''48 Shadow Planes'' at the [[Old Post Office Pavilion]], Washington, D.C. (1983); ''Ascending'' at the [[Musee d' Art Moderne de Ville]], Paris, France (1994); and ''Double Diamond'' at the [[Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon|Musée d'Art Contemporain]], Lyon, France (1997–1998).<ref>[http://quintgallery.com/robert-irwin Robert Irwin] Quint Gallery, San Diego.</ref>

Irwin moved on to landscape projects after developing a stylistic move towards experiential space, projecting what he learned about line, color, and most of all, light onto the built environment. SinceFrom 1975 Irwinforward, hasIrwin conceived of fifty-five site projects. ''9 Spaces 9 Trees'' (1980–3) originally was commissioned in 1980 for the rooftop of the Public Safety Building by the Seattle Arts Commission; it was re-imagined in 2007 and sitedsituated on campus at the [[University of Washington]]. Irwin's ''Filigreed Line'' (1979) made for [[Wellesley College,]] in [[Massachusetts]], consists of a stainless steel line, running along a ridge of grass near a lake, in which a pattern of leaflike forms is cut. His 1983 work ''[http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artist/irwin.html Two Running Violet V Forms]'', two crossing blue-violet, plastic coated wire fences fixed with high poles, is featured as part of the [[Stuart Collection]] of public artwork on the campus of the [[University of California, San Diego]]. For ''Sentinel Plaza'' (1990) in the [[Pasadena Civic Center District]], Irwin chose small desert plants and [[cacti]]. He later consulted on the master plan for [[Dia:Beacon]], creating, in particular, the design and landscaping of the outdoor spaces, and the entrance building and the window design.<ref>[http://www.diacenter.org/exhibitions/artistbio/84 Robert Irwin] Dia Art Foundation.</ref>

Irwin later designed and developed the Central Garden at the [[Getty Center]] in Los Angeles, built in 1997. In the Central Garden, Irwin's concept of integrating experiential relationships to the built environment is abundantly clear. Those experiential elements fill the space. This project is widely praised for its design and flow. The {{convert|134000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} design features a natural [[ravine]] and tree-lined walkway that leads the visitor through an experience of sights, sounds, and scents. He selected everything in the garden to accentuate the interplay of light, color, and reflection. Planning began in 1992, as a key part of the Getty Center project. Since the Center opened in 1997, the Central Garden has evolved as its plants have grown. Irwin's statement, "Always changing, never twice the same," is carved into the plaza floor, reminding visitors of the ever-changing nature of this living work of art. To the artist's dismay, a 1950s [[Fernand Léger]] sculpture was placed on the garden's plaza.<ref>Paula Panich (July 24, 2008), [http://www.latimes.com/features/la-hm-irwin24-2008jul24,0,4278104.story Robert Irwin still marvels at Getty gardens 10 years later] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.</ref>

Irwin later completed the second phase of the installation of a primordial Palm Garden at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art which began in 2007.<ref>[http://www.artinfo.com/galleryguide/11546/31/126619/the-pace-gallery-57th-street/exhibition/robert-irwin-way-out-west/press_release/ Robert Irwin: Way Out West, November 12, 2010—January 29, 2011] ARTINFO.</ref> The Palm Garden is arranged in a "T" shape with the east–west axis running between and around, both the [[Broad Contemporary Art Museum]] and the Resnick Pavilion. The north–south axis terminates with a grid of date palms serving as a counterpoint to artist [[Chris Burden]]'s ''[[Urban Light]]'' installation. Irwin haswas long been intrigued with how palm trees capture and reflect Southern California light; designing the Palm Garden provided Irwin with an opportunity to work with both the phenomenal and cultural perceptions of palms. Individual species of palms are planted in [[Cor-Ten]] boxes, modern and formalized versions of common wood nursery boxes. The sculptural containers make reference to the pedestal bases traditionally signifying art objects. Irwin's use of palm trees considers the ubiquitous and iconic connection between the palm tree and images of Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Zell|first=Jennifer|title=Between Fronds|journal=Landscape Architecture|date=January 2011|volume=101|issue=1|pages=86–97|url=http://archives.asla.org/lamag/lam11/january/feature1.html|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120707114636/http://archives.asla.org/lamag/lam11/january/feature1.html|archivedate=July 7, 2012}}</ref>

In 1965, he participated in an exhibition called ''[[The Responsive Eye]]'' at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and at another called ''XIII'' in [[Bienal de São Paulo]], Brazil. In 1966, he exhibited both as an individual and with [[Kenneth Price]] at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and as an individual exhibitor later at The Pace Gallery in New York City. In 1969, Irwin exhibited with [[Doug Wheeler]] at the [[Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth|Fort Worth Art Center]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas]]. In 1970, he first exhibited scrim "volumes" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. For the next five years, he exhibited individually at the following locations: the Pace Gallery in New York City, the [[Walker Art Center]] in [[Minneapolis]], the Minuzo and [[ACE gallery|Ace]] Galleries in Los Angeles, the [[Fogg Art Museum]] on the [[Harvard University]] Campus in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], [[Wright State University]] in Dayton, Ohio'','' the [[University of California at Santa Barbara]], Fort Worth Art Center, and [[Palomar College]] in [[San Marcos, California]]. He participated in several joint exhibitions: "Transparency, Reflection, Light, Space: Four Artists" at the [[UCLA]] Art Gallery in Los Angeles and "Some Recent American Art" at the Museum of Modern Art exhibition for Australia. He also exhibited internationally: "Kompas IV" at [[Stedelijk Museum]] in [[Eindhoven]], with other artists, (Larry Bell and Doug Wheeler), at the [[Tate Gallery]] in London, and [[Documenta]] atin [[Kassel]] in Germany''.''

Irwin was awarded a [[MacArthur Fellowship]] in 1984, making him the first artist to receive the five-year fellowship, which lasted until 1989. He haswas also been the recipient of a [[John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship]] (1976), the Chaloner award, the [[James Duval Phelan Award|James D. Phelan award]] (1954), and the [[Thomas Jefferson]] Foundation medal in architecture awarded by the [[University of Virginia School of Architecture]] (2009). He held Honorary Doctorates from the [[San Francisco Art Institute]] (19791978) and the [[Otis College of Art and Design]] (1992). Irwin was elected as a member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]] in 2007. That same year he had a residency at the [[Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego]].<ref>[http://www.mcasd.org/collection/artist/robert+irwin/light+and+space Robert Irwin: ''Light and Space'', 2007] [[Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego]].</ref>

[[Category:ModernAmerican modern painters]]

[[Category:PeopleArtists from Long Beach, California]]