“Resin Towers A, B, and C” by Eva LeWitt.
The past year will be known for countless things, but one might be our relationship with boundaries. Our intrepid nature has been altered, and art has taken a hit, of course. Without our galleries and museums, we’ve been reduced to digital displays that don’t always measure up. Enter Ground/work, a new yearlong installation of six leading contemporary artists at the Clark Art Institute’s (clarkart.edu) 140-acre campus in the Berkshires. This is the first outdoor exhibition set throughout the woodland trails and open meadows. The glory of this exhibit is that it can be viewed through Oct. 2021. In fact, the exquisite works take on new meaning and resonate differently in each season. Winter and its bare landscape or snowy white canvas offers an exciting new perspective.
“The Clark has always been deeply connected to our unique natural setting in the Berkshires, where one lives with—and treasures—the seasonal fluctuations that are such a part of life here,” says Olivier Meslay, the Hardymon director at the Clark. “For Ground/work, our meadows and woodlands will serve as a kind of natural gallery, offering visitors the opportunity to venture beyond our institutional walls and contemplate vibrant and inspiring contemporary works set amid the remarkable natural beauty that surrounds them.”
“Knee and Elbow” by Nairy Baghramian.
Ground/work artists include Eva LeWitt, whose sculptures consist of three totems that play with transparency and opacity; Jennie C. Jones, whose dynamic work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden; and Nairy Baghramian, whose art deconstructs and reassembles the human form and is in the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and The Art Institute of Chicago.
“We could never have foreseen it when we first conceived Ground/work more than three years ago, but the significance and benefit of being able to offer our visitors the opportunity to visit the Clark and enjoy an outdoor exhibition at this moment feels particularly welcome,” says Meslay.
“These (Mournful) Shores” by Jennie C. Jones.
Photography by: Thomas Clark
