The Everson Museum provides a unique context for displaying monumentally sized artwork. With four cantilevered galleries revolving around a cavernous central atrium, the building itself is considered to be a colossal work of sculpture. This characteristic, coupled with the galleries’ soaring ceilings and the two-story sculpture court, creates spaces ideally suited for the acquisition and exhibition of largescale work. Monumental features six artists from the Everson’s collection—John de Andrea, Harmony Hammond, Sadashi Inuzuka, Sol LeWitt, Dennis Oppenheim, and Arnie Zimmerman—whose largescale sculptures take full advantage of the expansive gallery space the Everson has to offer.
Artists practice monumentality in different ways using an assortment of materials and methods. While some begin with typically small objects and reimagine them on a massive scale, others construct large installations from objects or materials of a normal size. Regardless of their chosen methods, these artists play with scale to create work that is enveloping and oftentimes overwhelming, providing viewers with an experience very different from that offered by traditionally sized artwork. These sculptures challenge the artist’s technical proficiency as well as push the limits of their material choices. Monumental sculptures require viewers to become physically involved with the work, asking them to look in all directions—even inward—to fully experience each piece. Shifting the typical power dynamic between viewers and artworks, the works in Monumental command attention as they become more closely associated with architectural scale rather than human scale.
Banner photo:
Dennis Oppenheim. American (b. Mason City, WA, 1938-2011). Impulse Reactor (A Device for Detecting, Entering, Converting Past Lies. Traveling Underground and in the Air), 1980. 14′ X 25′ X 40′. Gift of Mr. Jerry Flum. PC 85.73
Harmony Hammond. Kong, 1981. Cloth, wood, foam rubber, acrylic, gesso, glitter, wax, charcoal powder, 41 x 74 x 26 inches. Everson Museum of Art; Gift of Judith Daner
Arnold Zimmerman. American (b. 1954). Untitled Vessel, 1982. Earthenware, 88” x 34”. Gift of Lucia Beadel, Edward Beadel Jr., and Lucia Whisenand in memory of Edward F. Beadel
John de Andrea. American (b. Denver, CO, 1941). Boys Playing Soccer, 1971, cast polyester and fiberglass resin, polychrome in oil. 59 x 75 x 55 in. Gift of Mr. Robert C. Hosmer
Related Events
Exhibition Talk: Monumental
September 28, 6:30pm
Free with Museum Admission
Hosmer Auditorium
Led by scholar Dr. Mary Ann Calo
Docent-Led Tour: Monumental
October 19, 6:00pm
Free Third Thursday
