Susan Philipsz: Seven Tears

The Pulitzer Arts Foundation presents Susan Philipsz: Seven Tears, an exhibition of five immersive sound installations by the Turner Prize-winning artist. Born in Glasgow and now based in Berlin, Philipsz explores sound as found objects with the potential to heighten our experience of space, architecture, and history. The works in the Pulitzer exhibition range from an early recorded piece to a 2019 work that has never previously been shown in the U.S., and a new work commissioned by the Pulitzer.

Pulitzer Director Cara Starke notes, “Since its first exhibition, the Pulitzer has been celebrated as a superb environment in which to view art. This exhibition of work by the brilliant Susan Philipsz adds a new dimension to the experience of the museum, using sound to heighten our perceptions of the building and its context.”

The exhibition includes a newly commissioned installation, Too Much I Once Lamented, created for the Pulitzer’s Tadao Ando-designed building. Situated in the museum’s central water court, where a reflecting pool offers dynamic views of the surrounding environment, the installation features Philipsz singing a seventeenth-century lament that describes a heartbroken lover in a state of solitary reflection. Other works—poetic meditations on loss, hope, and longing—animate the museum’s galleries and surrounding architecture, creating a constellation of singular, immersive environments.

Pulitzer Associate Curator Stephanie Weissberg says, “Susan Philipsz’s work, which she has described as ‘visual, aural, and emotive landscape[s],’ link the personal and the collective, provoking an awareness of both where we are at a particular moment and the larger architectural and historic contexts of those places. It is our hope that Susan Philipsz: Seven Tears—which brings the Pulitzer galleries to life with sound that ranges from a seventeenth-century madrigal to a song by rock band Radiohead—will shed new light on Philipsz’s profound and poetic practice, as well as on the Pulitzer, its architecture, and its location in the city of St. Louis.”

Now on view through February 2, 2020, Susan Philipsz: Seven Tears is curated by Pulitzer Arts Foundation Associate Curator Stephanie Weissberg. The Pulitzer is the exhibition’s only venue.

About the Pulitzer Arts Foundation
The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is a museum that provides dynamic experiences with contemporary and historic art presented in dialogue with its celebrated Tadao Ando building. Since its founding in 2001, the museum has organized a range of exhibitions featuring art from around the world, exploring a diverse array of ideas and inspiring new perspectives. Highlights have included the exhibitions Ruth Asawa: Life’s Work (2018-19); Blue Black, curated by artist Glenn Ligon (2017); Medardo Rosso: Experiments in Light and Form (2016-17); raumlaborberlin: 4562 Enright Avenue (2016); Reflections of the Buddha (2011-12); Urban Alchemy / Gordon Matta-Clark (2009-10); and Brancusi and Serra in Dialogue (2005). These exhibitions are complemented by programs that bring together leading figures from the fields of art, architecture, design, urban planning, and others. The Pulitzer is a place for contemplation and exchange that brings art and people together.

Located in the Grand Center Arts District of St. Louis, Missouri, the museum is open Thursday through Sunday, 10am–5pm, with evening hours until 8pm on Friday.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation Media Contacts
Ennis O’Brien
Betsy Ennis: betsy [​at​] ennisobrien.com, T 917-783-6553
Lucy O’Brien: lucy [​at​] ennisobrien.com, T 973-879-4037