Works by artists Nayland Blake and Lari Pittman now on view at ICA Los Angeles and the Hammer Museum at UCLA
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (October 14, 2019) — Important works at The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College by acclaimed contemporary artists Nayland Blake and Lari Pittman have hit the road and are now on view as central works in career-spanning surveys at two prestigious Los Angeles museums.
No Wrong Holes: Thirty Years of Nayland Blake is at the Institute for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and will be on view through Jan. 26, 2020. Work in the exhibition from the Tang collection includes Feeder 2, 1998, a life-size cabin made out of a steel frame and gingerbread that measures 7 by 10 by 7 feet, which was a gift from Peter Norton; Lap Dog, 1987, leather shoes connected by brass chains with a brass label on each shoe, a gift of Patti and Frank Kolodny; and two sculptures that are gifts of the Hort Family Collection: Restraint Shoes, 1990, five leather shoes connected by chains to a wall bracket, and Restraint Device #1, 1988, made of leather, chromed metal, and chain.
Lari Pittman: Declaration of Independence will be on view through Jan. 5, 2020, at the Hammer Museum at UCLA. Once a Noun, Now a Verb #1, 1997, which was also a gift to the Tang from Peter Norton, is a four-panel painting that measures nearly 8 by 21 feet with additional framed works attached to each panel.
“We are honored to have Tang works included in these important exhibitions,” said Dayton Director Ian Berry. “Blake’s monumental Feeder and Pittman’s epic history painting represent key periods in each artist’s body of work. As stewards of these important late-twentieth-century artworks, and as the Tang collection grows and deepens, we are gratified to share them with new audiences and to see that they resonate with today’s art historians, who are inspired to write new art histories. These new contexts for the collection teach us all a great deal.”
The Tang collection includes more than 16,700 objects, and the works by Blake and Pittman exemplify part of the Museum’s mission of acquiring important work by artists from underrepresented identities and that reflect the museum’s exhibition history: Pittman was born in Los Angeles from an American father and a Columbian mother, and his work often addresses issues of inequality and sexual identity. Blake’s work addresses his own queer and biracial identity, as both African American and white. Both of their works are fueled by history and biography and deftly combine narrative and form.
About the Tang Teaching Museum
The Tang Teaching Museum is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the Tang’s approach has become a model for university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs that bring together visual and performing arts with interdisciplinary ideas from history, economics, biology, dance, and physics to name just a few. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, and a robust publication and touring exhibition program that extends the museum’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s award-winning building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of art and ideas. Admission to the museum is free (donation suggested). Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., with extended hours until 9 p.m. Thursday. http://tang.skidmore.edu.
Media contact
Michael Janairo
Head of Communications
Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College
518-580-5542
mjanairo@skidmore.edu
