Installation view of Cy Twombly’s sculpture show via Gagosian Gallery
The Gagosian Gallery Uptown is currently exhibiting the recent sculpture works of Cy Twombly. The show coincides with several others around the world that highlight diversity of themes and media that comprise Twombly’s oeuvre. Among these is the inaugural exhibition of Gagosian Athens outpost titled “Leaving Pathos Ringed with Waves” assembled of the artist’s four new paintings. The other two exhibits are “Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works, 2000-20007” at the new wing of The Art Institute of Chicago and “Cy Twombly: Sensations of the Moment” held at Museum Mederner Kunst, Vienna. The New York-based show is on view until October 31st, 2009.
Cy Twombly in front of one his paintings via The Guardian
Related links:
Gagosian Gallery
Cy Twombly Press Release [Gagosian]
Gagosian Athens Inauguration Press Release [Gagosian]
Cy Twombly: The Natural World [The Art Institute of Chicago]
Cy Twombly: Sensations of the Moment [MUMOK]
Jonathan Jones on Cy Twombly [The Guardian]
Eli Broad Bags a Twombly at Gagosian [Lindsay Pollock blog]
Cy Twombly “Eight Sculptures” [NY ArtBeat]
More text and images after the jump…
Installation view via Gagosian Gallery
Cy Twombly’s groundbreaking career began over half a century ago in the abstract expressionist tradition yet has always stood apart with the use of fragmented text, writing and scribbles on canvas. Dabbed by Jonathan Jones as the “thinking person’s idea of a radical artist,” Twombly has defined and defied the abstract tradition by the means of actively setting his saturated heavy canvases with illegible yet prominent painterly mark.
One of the eight bronze sculptures on view, Untitled (The Mathematical Dream of Ashurbanipal) (2000-2009) via Gagosian
Gagosian provides a unique presentation of Twombly’s sculptures, inspiration for which he draws heavily from Greek, Egyptian and Mesopotamian mythologies. Since the 1940’s Twombly created three-dimensional pieces from everyday and found materials and objects and often painted them with white gesso. In 1979, however, he began to cast several of sculptures in bronze, thus producing new unified bodies and whole identities compared to the previously built bricollages.
Untitled (2004-2009) by Cy Twombly via Gagosian
The centerpiece of the exhibit Untitled (The Mathematical Dream of Ashurbanipal) (2004-2009) is rumored to have been purchased by the Los Angeles based collector Eli Broad. Broad has paid and acquired the sculpture at an undisclosed price even before the show opened on September 15th.
Untitled (2009) is another exceptional work of Eight Sculptures via Gagosian
