In this video, see the selection and installation process behind Jean Meisel‘s 50–65 Horizon Line, her Intersections contemporary art project on view at the Phillips through May 4.
Tag Archives: Washington artists
The Delicate Balance: Happy Valentine’s Day
Sam Gilliam, Red Petals, 1967. Acrylic on canvas, 88 x 93 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, Acquired 1967
Read in the context of today’s holiday, the description of this piece on our website struck me as especially poignant:
“Red Petals is among the first paintings in which Gilliam poured paint onto an unprimed and unstretched canvas, folded the canvas onto itself, suspended it, and left the paint to settle overnight. The next day he sponged, daubed, splattered, folded, rolled, and then restretched the canvas. Gilliam describes this delicate balance between improvisation and discipline as ‘a sort of accident, a part that I controlled, and then a part that I didn’t control, a part that I set into motion.’ The emotional intensity and expressionistic force of Red Petals partly derives from this careful manipulation and the tension between chance and control.”
Amy Wike, Marketing Manager
Jean Meisel’s Imaginary Seascapes
Installation of Jean Meisel: 50-65 Horizon Line, an Intersections contemporary art project. Photo: Amy Wike
Jean Meisel, Untitled watercolor, 1970s-2013. Photo: Rhiannon Newman
Installation of Washington-based artist Jean Meisel’s 50–65 Horizon Line is nearly complete in an intimate gallery on the second floor of the house. Meisel began creating these tiny paintings, none measuring more than six inches, during the 1970s and hasn’t stopped since. While the works might evoke memories of landscapes and seascapes encountered by viewers, these endearing scenes are in fact all created from the artist’s imagination.
Meisel will discuss her work in an Artist’s Perspective at 6:30 pm on Thursday, January 30.