Lygia Clark: Painting as an Experimental Field, 1948–1958

<strong>Lygia Clark</strong><br />
<em>Staircase</em> (<em>Escada</em>), 1951<br />
Oil on canvas <br />
100.4 x 74 cm <br />
Acervo Museu de Arte Brasileira – MAB FAAP, São Paulo<br />
Photo: Fernando Silveira<br />
© Courtesy of “The World of Lygia Clark” Cultural Association<br />
X.2017.20

Dates: March 6 – October 25, 2020
Curator: Geaninne Gutiérrez-Guimarães, Associate Curator, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation

This presentation of Lygia Clark’s early practice debuts on the centenary anniversary of the artist’s birth, bringing a renewed attention at an international level to a significant postwar Latin American female artist.

Viewing painting as an “experimental field,” a phrase from a keynote lecture given by the artist in 1956, Clark sought to redefine the medium by pushing the boundaries of traditional painting.

Along with a pertinent representation of her early figurative work, this show assembles paintings from major series created during this early period to provide a fundamental overview of the first decade of Clark’s artistic career.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents Lygia Clark: Painting as an Experimental Field, 1948–1958. A pioneer in abstraction, Lygia Clark (b. 1920, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; d. 1988, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was a major artist of the second half of the twentieth century. This exhibition presents a reexamination of Clark’s crucial formative years from 1948 to 1958, when she was experimenting between figuration and abstraction to articulate the compelling visual language that defined her mature production. Along with a pertinent representation of her early figurative work, this show assembles paintings from major series created during this early period to provide a fundamental overview of the first decade of Clark’s artistic career.

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