Ellsworth Kelly at 90

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Experiment Station

Ellsworth Kelly, Green Blue Black Red, 2007. Oil on canvas, four panels, 345 x 217 in. Private collection. Photo: Jerry L. Thompson, courtesy the artist © Ellsworth Kelly

One of the seven multi-panel works by Ellsworth Kelly that will be on view at the Phillips June 22-Sept. 22, on the occasion of the artist’s 90th birthday year. Ellsworth Kelly, Green Blue Black Red, 2007. Oil on canvas, four panels, 345 x 217 in. Private collection. Photo: Jerry L. Thompson, courtesy the artist © Ellsworth Kelly

Today is Ellsworth Kelly’s 90th birthday! In just three weeks, we open Ellsworth Kelly: Panel Paintings: 2004-2009, joining a host of sister institutions in celebrating the milestone birthday year of this acclaimed artist. Early this month, Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation opened Ellsworth Kelly: Sculpture on the Wall. Just last week MoMA put on view the artist’s Chatham Series, reunited for the first time since 1972. A few days later a retrospective of Kelly’s prints opened at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Here in town the National Gallery of Art is showing a series of luminous handmade paper images that the artist made in 1977. Happy birthday Mr. Kelly!

Style Profile: Abigail Maynard Chrisman

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Experiment Station

Photos: Joshua Navarro

Abigail was one the first people to get on board with Style Profile. I’m glad, not only because is she creative with her fashion choices, but also because she has experience in front of the camera. I asked her a few questions to get a better idea of her fashion sense.

Josh Navarro: How would you describe your style?

Abigail Maynard Chrisman: I grew up in a city where a cyclist in a square dancing dress was hardly worth mentioning – surely that’s influenced my style. I don’t think I subscribe to any particular aesthetic, although I always admire people who do. I just wear things I think are interesting, then usually cover it with sweaters and scarves to protect myself from oppressive air conditioning. I also have a plethora of vintage hats.

JN: What was your outfit for this shoot?

AMC: A J. Crew dress, Nordstrom sweater, and the belt is vintage.

JN: Anything else we need to know?

AMC: I like to follow the style advice, “Always overdress, because you never know where you might end up.”

Joshua Navarro, Museum Assistant and Blog Photographer

Hard Art / Wild at Heart

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Experiment Station

Alec MacKaye speaking at Politics and Prose, Friday, May 17. Photo: Vesela Sretenovic

There is a part of D.C. that may be hidden but is real and wild at heart. Last Friday night’s promotion at Politics and Prose of Hard Art, DC–a book by Lucian Perkins on the D.C. punk-music scene in the late 1970s–confirmed it. (The book sold out that same night but more are on the way.) Perkins captured the images, and his iconic photos are complemented with stories on the bands and their shows by Henry Rollins and punk musician Alec MacKaye, yes–OUR ALEC!

Vesela Sretenovic, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art