Sol LeWitt: Prints

Pace Prints is pleased to present Sol LeWitt: Prints, on view September 22–October 22, 2016 at its 32 East 57th Street gallery. The works in the exhibition span the breadth of LeWitt’s printmaking career, from 1970 to 2006, exemplifying several major themes: complex forms, incomplete forms, lines in four directions and combinations of four colors (primary colors plus gray). Printmaking was a means of exploration and collaboration for LeWitt, playing a pivotal role in the creation of his multi-media corpus, including his iconic wall drawings.

A major work in the exhibition will be Folding Screen A 4 (Three Pyramids), one of ten folding screens created by the artist in 1986. Measuring 72 inches high by 150 inches wide, the double-sided screen is made of 5 framed wood panels with applied ink wash drawings using varying combinations of primary colors plus gray. The pyramid shapes used in this work lead directly into LeWitt’s Complex Forms (1990), a set of five aquatint etchings in an edition of 27.

Sol LeWitt was born in 1928 in Hartford, CT. He is a leading figure of Minimalism and pioneer of Conceptual art. Redefining art production by exploring ideas rather than conventional aesthetics, he distilled art to its essentials. LeWitt’s work is characterized by serialization, repetition, and progression, exemplified by his iconic open-grid structures. Studying systems of line and color, his prolific output of wall drawings represents a breakthrough in his career and solidifies his engagement with two-dimensional practices spanning painting, drawing, photography, and printmaking. LeWitt has been the subject of numerous one-artist exhibitions and his work is held in public collections worldwide. In 2008, MASS MoCA opened Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective, which will remain on view through 2033. Pace gallery has represented The Estate of Sol LeWitt since his death in 2007.