Born in Hamburg Germany in , Eva Hesse is one of the icons of American art of the s, her work being a major influence on subsequent generations of artists. Comprehensive solo exhibitions in the past 50 years, as well as a retrospective that toured from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to the Museum Wiesbaden in Germany and finally to the Tate Modern in London, have highlighted the lasting interest that her oeuvre has generated.
Hesse cultivated mistakes and surprises, precariousness and enigma, to make works that could transcend literal associations. The objects she produced, at times barely present yet powerfully charismatic, came to play a central role in the transformation of contemporary art practice.
In New York in the s, Hesse was one of a group of artists, including Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Richard Serra and Robert Smithson, who engaged with materials that were flexible, viscous or soft: latex rubber, plastic, lead, polythene, copper, felt, chicken-wire, dirt, sawdust, paper pulp and glue.
Often unstable and subject to alteration, these elements yielded works that were vital in their relativity and mutability. Hesse was aware she produced objects that were ephemeral, but this problem was of less concern to her than the desire to exploit materials with a temporal dimension. Installation view, Solomon R. Moritz To reserve advance tickets by phone, please call 88 Visit the documentary website for information about how to watch Photo: Stephen Korbet.
Selected Artworks. No title Selfportrait No title No title c. Load more. Legs of a Walking Ball Ringaround Arosie Ingeminate Hang Up Magnet Boards Sequel Inside II Sans I Sans II Repetition Nineteen III Eva Hesse.
