Walter de Maria, Truth/Beauty series (detail) (1993 – 2016), © The Estate of Walter De Maria, Photo Joseph Asghar. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

Comprising two separate series created by the artist during the course of his career, Gagosian Gallery on London’s Britannia Street has opened an exhibition of work by renowned minimalist Walter de Maria, opening a dialogue within the artist’s own body of work across decades of practice, and through a range of materials that underscore the artist’s particular approach to questions of space, subjectivity and time. (more…)

Gagosian Gallery has announced that it will represent the estate of artist Walter de Maria, continuing a relationship the artist had with the gallery during his life, showing there several times.  The gallery’s first step is assisting in establishing a Foundation to oversee his estate and work.  “Walter so wished to establish his own foundation, but sadly, he did not accomplish this during his lifetime,” says Elizabeth Childress, former director of the artist’s studio. “It is an important step to have as a protection and a promotion of his legacy.” (more…)

The Real Deal reports that collector Peter Brant has recently purchased a large property in Manhattan’s East Village for $27 million. The space was originally a Con Edison substation in the 1920s before being purchased in 1980 and repurposed by artist Walter de Maria as both an art space and private home. Although Brant’s plans remain unclear, the article speculates that the space might serve as the New York City outpost for the Brant Foundation’s Art Study Center, which is based in Greenwich, CT.  (more…)

Walter De Maria, 5-7-9 Series, installation view. All images courtesy of Gagosian Gallery Rome.

Influential American sculptor Walter De Maria is currently exhibiting part of his 5-7-9 Series at the Gagosian Gallery in Rome. De Maria has been involved with numerous historical art movements, including Minimalism, Land Art, and Conceptual Art, and the present exhibition represents a chance to view De Maria’s contribution to some of these. The 5-7-9 Series is one of three large-scale, multi-part installation sculptures. The current Rome exhibition is edition 2 of 2; the first being on permanent view at Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie. This series is preceded by The 4-6-8 Series (1966) and followed by Time/Timeless/No Time (2004).
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Gabriel Orozco, Black Kites Perspective (right), 1997, digital C-print, 41 x 51 cm. Courtesy of Marian Goodman.

Last weekend marked the opening of “Thrice Upon A Time” at Magasin 3 Konsthall in Stockholm, Sweden. The exhibition, which runs through December 12, 2010, is the institution’s most comprehensive to date. Curated by Richard Julin, Elisabeth Millqvist, and Tessa Praun, the exhibition draws on Magasin 3’s rich collection of works by established international and emerging contemporary artists. The ambitious show features over 200 pieces of photography, drawing, painting, film and sculpture. Just a week away from the Swedish elections, the opening was filled with political hopefuls and those in the know in Stockholm’s growing art scene.

On the role call are recognizable international names such as Uta Barth, Walter De Maria, Gabriel Orozco, Chris Ofili, Tal R, Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, Fred Sandback, and Richard Tuttle. Many of the fresher faces are included in Moderna Museet’s fall show “The Moderna Exhibition 2010” opening October 2, 2010.

Sculptures by Danish artist Tal R, Hyacint, 2008, glazed ceramic, 107 x 28 x 34 and 105 x 36 x 49 cm. Photo by Christian Saltas.

More text and images after the jump… (more…)

Walter De Maria: The Broken Kilometer via Dia Art Foundation

On long term display in Soho since 1979 under the Dia Foundation, The Broken Kilometer (1979) consists of “500 highly polished, round, solid brass rods, each measuring two meters in length and five centimeters (two inches) in diameter.” The rods are placed in five parallel rows, with 100 rods making up each column. This monumental sculpture weighs 18 3/4 tons and would measure 3,280 feet, if all 500 rods were laid end-to-end. The rods’ placement increases by 5mm, with the first two rods placed a mere 80mm apart and the final two rods positioned 580 mm apart. The work is placed in a spacious room illuminated by metal halide stadium lights. Altogether, the piece is approximately 45 feet wide and 125 feet long. De Maria completed The Broken Kilometer in 1979, and it has been on long-term view to the public ever since.

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