Sheila Pepe, Red Hook at Bedford Terrace (detail with artist), 2008, shoelaces, cotton yarn, and nautical towline. Smith College Museum of Art, Purchased with gifts from members of the Museum’s Visiting Committee in honor of the retirement of Ann Johnson, courtesy of Phoenix Art Museum.
Two new exhibits will open at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum on Friday, Oct. 19: Sheila Pepe: Hot Mess Formalism, a major survey that includes her expansive fiber-based sculptures and small-scale assemblages, and Larry Fink: Primal Empathy, a distinctive presentation of his iconic candid black-and-white photography. Both will be on view through March 10, 2019.
The museum (including the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room) will be closed through October 18 while the fall exhibitions are being installed. Admission to the Sculpture Park will be half-price during this time.
“Despite their contrasts, both artists capitalize on the spontaneity of art and life and solicit feelings of connectivity among people through their work. Pepe and Fink are also tremendous educators, and their path-breaking influence is evident in the work of many younger artists today,” said curator Sarah Montross.
For over 20 years, Pepe has made large-scale sculptures and installations using domestic and industrial fibers. This exhibition, the first mid-career survey of Pepe’s work, examines how the artist plays with feminist and craft traditions to counter patriarchal notions of art making.
Suspended in the light of his camera’s flash, Fink’s subjects are absorbed in sensual connection, unspoken familiarity, and comic revelry. Drawn largely from deCordova’s permanent collection, this exhibition focuses on the central role of empathy in Fink’s work and explores his critical compassion across series that span his extensive career, including his best-known project Social Graces, his surprisingly tender images of boxers, and close studies of flora and fauna around his Pennsylvania farm.
“First Communion, Bronx, NY,” 1961, from the series “Making Out 1957-1980,” silver gelatin print, gift of Stephen L. Singer and Linda G. Singer, ©Larry Fink.
Rappaport Prize
The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum has announced Titus Kaphar is the 19th recipient of the prestigious Rappaport Prize, an annual $25,000 award given to a contemporary artist with strong connections to New England and a proven record of achievement.
Kaphar is a painter and sculptor whose practice examines the history of representation. In his art, he appropriates styles and conventions from the art historical canon and, using techniques like cutting, shredding, and erasing, he represents them to illuminate social inequalities and address African-American experiences from our country’s founding to today.
The public is invited to attend the Rappaport Prize Lecture with Kaphar on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 6:30 p.m. (reception and light refreshments/cash bar with the artist) at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Admission is free, but registration is requested.