The Phillips is home to radiant works by the Washington Color School. Don’t miss the gallery featuring brilliant paintings by Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Gene Davis, and Thomas Downing, artist who frequented the museum and were inspired by the American Modernist and French Impressionist works in the galleries. Leo Villareal’s pulsating Scramble offers a contemporary twist to the Color Field canvases.
Sea Shells, Galaxies, and Lampshades: Man Ray’s Spiral Obsession
“Nature, from the sea shell to the galaxy, is full of spirals. When I was a young man, I was already obsessed with this form; when working as a draughtsman I was fascinated by curves, spirals, parabolas, hyperbolas.”
–Man Ray
In 1919, inspired by the chance discovery of an unraveled paper lampshade in the trash, Man Ray created Lampshade, one of the earliest manifestations of his obsession with the spiral. Like many of his other objects, this work continued to exist as a concept even after the original was lost, becoming better known through photographic translations and the 1939 painting Le Retour à la raison (Return to Reason). Man Ray made multiple replicas of Lampshade, including one featured in the 1944 exhibition Objects of My Affection.
650 shades of #InstaManRay
It’s only been about three weeks since Man Ray–Human Equations opened, but we’ve already received over 650 submissions from our in-gallery #InstaManRay interactive. Visitors to the exhibition have the opportunity to experience Man Ray’s artistic process by using social media app Instagram to photograph mathematical models and share their creations. Here’s just a sample of the inspired work.
Follow submissions throughout the exhibition via our Instagram account @InstaManRay2015 or #InstaManRay.