Forms Larger and Bolder: EVA HESSE DRAWINGS

Eva Hesse (1936–1970) is among the most influential artists of the 20th century. Her work, especially her sculptures, embodied the attitudes of a generation that at the end of the 1960s was trying to break out of established social norms. With Forms Larger and Bolder: EVA HESSE DRAWINGS from the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College (March 15–June 23 2019), the Museum Wiesbaden focuses on a medium that featured constantly in the creative processes of this ground-breaking artist. More than 70 drawings and collages, supplemented by five sculptures and three paintings, provide an intimate view of Hesse’s oeuvre.

In her art, Eva Hesse combines sensuality and fragility with outright audacity. The emotion and physicality of her paintings, and later sculpture, set her work apart from the minimalism and conceptual art of the 1960s. The artist brought ​​opposites together in her creations. She discovered chaos in order and repetition, discovered new materials such as polyester, fiberglass, and latex, and continually engaged with new forms and techniques. She was constantly producing sketches, drawings and collages that reflected her very own, unique personality.

“Where does drawing end and painting begin? I don’t know if my own drawings aren’t really paintings except smaller and on paper. The drawings could be called painting legitimately and a lot of my sculpture could be called painting.” –Eva Hesse

Born in Hamburg, Eva Hesse and her family fled the Nazi regime, emigrating to the United States in 1939. She studied at the Cooper Union School and at the Yale School of Art and Architecture. In 1961, she married sculptor Tom Doyle. They spent a year in Germany (Essen-Kettwig) together from 1964 to 1965. There she playfully transformed found objects into her first three-dimensional pieces, developing a form of artistic expression that would soon help her break into the New York art scene. After returning to the United States, she worked exclusively with sculpture, experimenting with new forms and materials. Her early death ended a creative period that lasted only ten years, but in that time she managed to create an extensive oeuvre that radiates sensuality.

Forms Larger and Bolder: EVA HESSE DRAWINGS spans the American artist’s entire oeuvre. Through the 72 graphic works, some in small format, we can trace the different strands running through Hesse’s oeuvre and draw conclusions about the similarities and differences between drawing, painting and sculpture. Organised chronologically, the exhibition includes early sketches, painterly gouaches and watercolours, as well as expressive ink and coloured pencil drawings, collages, and design drawings and drafts for sculptural pieces. The show is supplemented by a selection of paintings and sculptures from the Museum Wiesbaden’s own collection, while the majority of the works are on loan from the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, Ohio.

This exhibition is organized by the Estate of Eva Hesse and Hauser & Wirth in collaboration with the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College.

A comprehensive catalogue is also being published, with drawings from the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College: Eva Hesse: Oberlin Drawings. Drawings in the Collection of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, 2019, Hauser & Wirth Publishers. (ISBN: 978-3-906915-39-5.)

Exhibition dates: March 15–June 23 2019
museum-wiesbaden.de/hesse

Press contact
Susanne Löffler, T +49 (0) 611 3352189, susanne.loeffler [​at​] museum-wiesbaden.de

Upcoming exhibitions:

Joanna Pousette-Dart
March 29–June 30 2019

Art Nouveau
Donation F.W. Neess
from June 29 2019

museum [​at​] museum-wiesbaden.de
www.museum-wiesbaden.de/en

Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 10am-8pm; Wednesday & Friday 10am-5pm; Saturday & Sunday 10am-6pm