Walter De Maria: Counterpoint

A towering figure in the history of minimal, conceptual, installation, and Land art, Walter De Maria has had a profound impact on contemporary art making. On display for the first time since its unveiling 30 years ago, Large Rod Series: Circle/Rectangle, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 1986, will be presented as part of a unique installation alongside El Greco’s (Doménikos Theotokópoulos) Saint Francis Kneeling in Meditation, 1605–10.

Five years in production, De Maria’s Large Rod Series sculptures were drawn through custom-made dies, hand welded, machine ground, hand ground, and, finally, hand polished. Circle/Rectangle, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 is one of only ten works made by the artist between 1984 and 1989. While the strength and capacity of the material is unyielding, De Maria expanded the qualities of the works by allowing three formal installation configuration possibilities: Circle, Short Rectangle, or Long Rectangle. The series debuted in 1986 at the renowned Xavier Fourcade Gallery, New York, with a selection from the series installed at De Maria’s studio for by-appointment viewing only. 

Generously on loan from the Meadows Museum, El Greco’s Saint Francis Kneeling in Meditation is an iconic example of how the painter geometrized his compositions. Through expert modeling he achieved a perfect equilibrium between naturalism and agitated expressionism. Beyond the refined formal qualities of El Greco and De Maria, there is a connection to be made between the artists’ shared interest in systematic production.

Completing the installation is a programmed recording of Cricket Music, 1964, one of De Maria’s rare musical compositions. Experienced together, the sculpture, painting, and audio component form a new and distinctive meditation on themes of minimalism, geometry, progression, and sensory perception. Their installation in an encyclopedic museum draws parallels between artistic forms and iconographies of past and present.

Cricket Music can be heard each day in the exhibition at noon, 2pm, and 4pm. Duration 24 minutes, 34 seconds. 

Public program

Arts & Letters Live: Geoff Dyer discusses his book White Sands and shares musings on travel, landscape, and De Maria’s work.
January 18, 7pm

With a live drumming performance of Walter De Maria’s musical compositions by Stockton Helbing

Tickets go on sale December 5 to DMA Members and on December 7 to the public. For tickets and information, click here.

Publication
Published by Yale and the DMA, a new monograph, Counterpoint: Sculpture, Music, and Walter De Maria’s Large Rod Series, will be available beginning January 2017. Incorporating an analysis of De Maria’s early musical compositions, this book explores a previously unexamined historical precedent in his percussion recordings, providing a new framework in which to understand his sculpture. With contributions by Gavin Delahunty, Caitlin Haskell, Chelsea Pierce, and Jason Treuting, the publication will include 35 full-color plates, an exhibition and publication history, and a number of as yet unpublished images of the artist.

Collaboration
Following the presentation at the Dallas Museum of Art, this exhibition will be on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) March 25–November 5, 2017.