In the Balance: Between Painting and Sculpture, 1965–1985

Oct 19, 2022–Mar 5, 2023

A collection of red acrylic paint is layered in quick strokes that resembles a collection of particles, like a body of sand.
A collection of red acrylic paint is layered in quick strokes that resembles a collection of particles, like a body of sand.

Alma Thomas (1891–1978), Mars Dust, 1972. Acrylic on canvas, 69 1/4 × 57 1/8 in. (175.9 × 145.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from The Hament Corporation 72.58

In the Balance: Between Painting and Sculpture, 1965–1985 brings together artworks from the Whitney's collection that cross boundaries and upset conventions. Regardless of whether they pour across or sit on the floor, the sculptures included here explore painting’s domain through investigations of color, surface, and optical perception. The paintings, conversely, engage with sculptural concerns by taking up ideas long associated with three-dimensional art, such as balance and objecthood.

The works share many crossover effects, but their greatest affinity is in revealing how artists during this period were persistently questioning how we relate to, react to, and fit into (or are alienated from) physical space. Such queries were top of mind for sculptors associated with movements that flourished at this time, including Minimalism, Post-Minimalism, and feminist art. Similarly, just as many critics were arguing that painting had reached a dead end, painters active in the 1970s and early 1980s asserted the medium’s enduring vitality by pursuing untraditional starting points like shaped canvases, mathematically driven abstract compositions, and other explorations of positive and negative space that called attention to perception.

By commingling elements of painting and sculpture, these works exist beyond established limits of what artists can do and upset the balance of preexisting ideas of what art can be.

This exhibition is organized by Jennie Goldstein, Assistant Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Major support for In the Balance: Painting and Sculpture, 1965–1985 is provided by the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation.

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Edna Andrade

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In Edna Andrade’s Cool Wave, the interaction of seemingly simple components—shades of blue with thin white lines—creates the illusion of shifting, undulating movement across the painting’s surface. Andrade had begun making abstract works over a decade earlier, at a time when many artists were stylistically grouped together under the category of Op art (short for optical art), a painting style known for producing ocular sensations such as vibration or afterimages. She focused her attention on how the brain processes visual information and was captivated by “how little it takes to upset the eye,” but her interest went beyond the retinal. Influenced by the geometries and textures of quiltmaking, basketry, weaving, and mosaic-tile patterns, she wanted to explore how seemingly simple combinations of color, shape, and line might create, and upset, perceptions of visual stasis.

  • Bent and repeating radiating lines create a pattern replicated twenty-five times.
    Bent and repeating radiating lines create a pattern replicated twenty-five times.

    Edna Andrade, Cool Wave, 1974. Acrylic on canvas, 72 1/8 × 72 1/4 in. (183.2 × 183.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Luther W. Brady 2022.9. © The Estate of Edna Andrade

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Essay

Artist sitting amongst large sculptures

Balancing Acts

By Jennie Goldstein, Assistant Curator

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A vibrant orange and pink abstract sculpture consisting of slanted rectangular shapes is installed on a lush green lawn, with a backdrop of assorted trees under a partly cloudy sky.
A vibrant orange and pink abstract sculpture consisting of slanted rectangular shapes is installed on a lush green lawn, with a backdrop of assorted trees under a partly cloudy sky.

Judy Chicago, Trinity (Outdoor Version), 1965/2019. Matthews polyurethane paint on stainless steel, overall: 63 3/8 × 127 1/4 × 60 in. (161 × 323.2 × 152.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2022.45a-c. © Judy Chicago / Artists Rights Society, New York

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Explore works from this exhibition
in the Whitney's collection

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In the News

“To tackle chaos but achieve order nonetheless—that’s when balance is beautiful.” —The Wall Street Journal

“The exhibition, an anthology of innovation, is not only enjoyable, it shows the experimental bent of these artists extremely well.” —The Brooklyn Rail

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

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Learn more at whitney.org/artport

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