John Chamberlain: THE TIGHTER THEY’RE WOUND, THE HARDER THEY UNRAVEL
Curated by Urs Fischer
December 15, 2023–April 7, 2024
In a career extending over six decades, roving across the United States, artist John Chamberlain (1927–2011) generated a radical visual world in which motion, pressure, and color crystalize within manufactured objects. He is widely recognized for sculptures made from crushed automobile parts, a material the artist continually revisited throughout his career, though additional bodies of work, ranging in scale from monumental to miniature, are composed of foam, foil, resin, paper, steel, and dismantled appliances, amongst others. Curated by artist Urs Fischer (b. 1973) and developed in collaboration with Dia Art Foundation, THE TIGHTER THEY’RE WOUND, THE HARDER THEY UNRAVEL is the first institutional survey devoted to John Chamberlain in over a decade.
On the occasion of the exhibition, Urs Fischer has produced a new artist book: The Tighter They’re Wound, The Harder They Unravel: John Chamberlain Against The World. The publication is a companion to the show, and visitors are encouraged to take a copy.
John Chamberlain: THE TIGHTER THEY’RE WOUND, THE HARDER THEY UNRAVEL is organized by the Aspen Art Museum in collaboration with Dia Art Foundation. The exhibition is curated by Urs Fischer, in collaboration with Nicola Lees, Nancy and Bob Magoon Director, and Daniel Merritt, Director of Curatorial Affairs.
John Chamberlain: THE TIGHTER THEY’RE WOUND, THE HARDER THEY UNRAVEL is made possible with major support from Bank of America. Additional support is provided by Sasha and Edward P. Bass, Susan and Larry Marx, and Crozier. Special thanks to Hauser & Wirth. The Tighter They’re Wound, The Harder They Unravel: John Chamberlain Against The World is made possible by the generous support of Gagosian and the Aspen Art Museum Publication Circle.
Cauleen Smith: Mines to Caves
December 15, 2023–April 7, 2024
Mines to Caves evolves out of Cauleen Smith’s (b. 1967) film program GIMME SHELTER CINEGLYPHS which premiered in September 2022 inside Aspen, Colorado’s Smuggler Mine, the oldest operating silver mine in the region. The exhibition gallery emulates Smuggler Mine’s darkened, cave-like interior, where Smith presents a reimagined edit of her animated cinematic hieroglyphs first projected on the mine walls. A featured experimental film reflects on Smith’s desire to return the mine to the mountain and to reorient towards an alternative relationship with the planet.
The exhibition is curated by Anisa Jackson, Curator at Large, and Simone Krug, Curator.
Lena Henke: You and your vim
December 15, 2023–April 7, 2024
A new exhibition by New York–based artist Lena Henke (b. 1982) crowns the rooftop of the Aspen Art Museum. The central sculpture, a towering bronze outline of a woman, can be pushed and set in motion, circling like the hands of a clock or the searching needle of a compass. Henke has long studied the relationship between figure and environment, initiating sculptural and psychological explorations of bodies as they relate to the built world. Within these explorations of place and personhood lies a negotiation of desire, dominance, and submission. Where does one fit? Who is in control?
Lena Henke: You and your vim is organized by Simone Krug, Curator, and Daniel Merritt, Director of Curatorial Affairs.
A Lover’s Discourse: Issy Wood in the company of Fernando Botero
December 15, 2023–February 4, 2024
The fifth presentation of A Lover’s Discourse features Tasting it all, a new painting by London-based artist Issy Wood (b. 1993, USA) exhibited alongside Fernando Botero’s oil on canvas, Lovers, from 1982. A new text by Wood accompanies the display and expands on her long-time interest in the volumetric figuration and stylized characters championed by the renowned Colombian painter, who passed away earlier this year.
A Lover’s Discourse is curated by Stella Bottai, Curator at Large.
AAM exhibitions are made possible by the Marx Exhibition Fund. General exhibition support is provided by the Toby Devan Lewis Visiting Artist Fund. Admission to the AAM is free courtesy of Amy and John Phelan.
