OnTheCusp.org

In October, Maya Lin and Adrian Schiess

[image, Adrian Schiess, installation view, from Galerie Tanit]

October should be an exciting time at the IMA, as internatinally reknowned artists Maya Lin and Adrian Schiess will each be unveiling new works. I have been looking forward to seeing both of these artists works at the IMA for months, as I have been a fan of each for years. In fact those who know me, have probably heard me talk quite a bit about the works of Adrian Schiess, in particular, as he is one of my favorite artists working today. While Maya Lin has made a career of installing inspiring, large scale, installations at museums in the U.S. and abroad, Adrian Schiess has recieved little attention in the United States. He did show at the Rennaisance Society in Chicago severa years ago, which I sadly missed.


Maya Lin will premiere, Above and Below, a new site-specific sculpture.

When completed, Lin’s sculpture will serve as a gateway work between the main museum building and the new Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, scheduled to open in 2009.

Using aluminum tubing and working from images created by photography and sonar readings, Lin will create a sculptural “sketch” of a portion of the vast underground river system which flows through Indiana. The sculpture, which will be sited on the Fortune Balcony of the main museum building, will be visible from inside the museum’s galleries as well as from the walkway bridge designed by Mary Miss that will lead to the Art & Nature Park.

Above and Below will continue an ongoing conceptual theme in Lin’s work, using technology to probe and interpret the form and function of the natural world. Using aerial, satellite, and sonar views of the varied landscapes that make up the earth’s surface, the artist creates works that reinvent those landscapes as sculptural forms. The design for Above and Below was developed by Lin through a series of visits to the underground White River, located in the Bluespring Caverns in Bedford, Indiana, as well as collaboration with scientists at Bluespring Caverns State Park and USGS Indiana Water Science Center. Working with the scientists, Lin used ultrasound technology to map the complex structure of tributaries and caves that run beneath the state. Photographic and bathymetric surveys of the region were used to capture images of both above-ground and underwater terrain in the caverns. The 2,000 square-foot project will be completed this summer at the Walla Walla Foundry , Wash., before its installation at the IMA.

Adrian Schiess will be presenting 12 large-scale works in multiple locations in museum building and grounds. This will be the first solo, museum exhibition of Adrian Schiess works. And to think, I thought I may have been the only fan of his work in Indianapolis. I expect, that after this opening, he will find a new batch of fans in Indiana.

The Indianapolis Museum of Art will unveil the latest site-specific art installation by Swiss artist Adrian Schiess—the artist’s first solo museum exhibition and largest installation in the United States. Sited throughout the IMA’s buildings and surrounding campus, the exhibition will feature video projections and ten works of Schiess’s signature “flat” paintings, which are large-scale panels made of mixed media. The exhibition will feature some new works that will be shown for the first time at the IMA. Off the Wall: Adrian Schiess will be on view at the IMA through April 27, 2008.

The artist Adrian Schiess has been exhibiting his trademark “flat” paintings internationally for more than two decades. The large panels, measuring up to 6.5 feet by 10 feet in size, are rendered in colorful enamel or digital prints covered with glossy lacquer. The paintings are not conventionally hung on the wall. Rather, the artist places the works on the floor or propped upright against a wall. Occupying various sites in the museum galleries and halls, as well as in Lilly House, a historic house museum on IMA’s campus, select works will be displayed in relation to windows and building architecture. The arrangement of the works is specifically intended to reflect changes of light, seasonal shifts, and human activities that will occur around them during their six months on display. A video installation by the artist also will be on view.

“Off the Wall: Adrian Schiess will create an engaging, responsive environment that explores the interaction of society and setting,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, the Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. “As we develop a vibrant contemporary art program, we are excited to showcase artists such as Schiess, whose work provides visitors with an experience of art not normally found in an encyclopedic museum.”

For Schiess, the act of arranging his works produces an awareness of the environments around them. “For decades, Adrian has considered something that is now prevalent in discussions around art,” said Rebecca Uchill, assistant curator of contemporary art at the IMA. “He began early on to produce variable artworks that change with each installation. Viewers will have different personal experiences of the work and of the shifting landscape.”

On October 18 at 7 p.m., Claire Schneider, associate curator of contemporary art at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, will conduct a free public interview with Adrian Schiess to discuss his working process. Schneider co-organized the 2005 exhibition Extreme Abstraction, which included the first presentation of work by Adrian Schiess in a United States Museum.