Learning Series Lectures in Contemporary Art: The Psychology of Space—From Hopper to Irwin

Learning Series Members in the Curate Your Own Program

This two-part lecture series explores how artists have engaged and manipulated space and imbued it with psychological significance. The exhibitions Hopper Drawing and Robert Irwin: Scrim veil—Black rectangle—Natural light, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1977) serve as anchoring touchpoints. The simple treatment of space is a hallmark in the work of both artists. Edward Hopper builds his paintings out of almost architectonic forms, often eliminating detail in favor of expansive, planar geometries; the result is an awareness of the strangeness hidden in quotidian, everyday spaces. Irwin relies on an economy of material to transform spaces that might initially look rather empty, rendering them charged and paradoxically full. 

Using gallery talks as well as classroom presentations and discussion, the course will explore the psychology of space in the work of artists using seemingly traditional media, as well as those whose mode is characteristic of the so-called post-studio moment. This course is taught by Joan Tisch Whitney Teaching Fellow Paula Burleigh.

Learning Series members are invited to select one two-part course:

Option 1: July 13 and 20, 11:30 am–1 pm
Option 2: August 8 and 15, 7–8:30 pm

Electronic invitations will be sent to Learning Series members. Registration is required. For more information about our Curate Your Own Membership program, or if you would like to upgrade your membership, please call (212) 570-3641.