Eva Hesse Exhibition Catalogue

Eva Hesse Exhibition Catalogue

Untitled, 1966 Enamel paint, chord, and papier-mâché over balloon with string 33 1/2 x 26 x 2 ½ in. When Hesse returned from Germany she began to make sculptures that built upon the sexual imagery and vocabulary she had begun to develop in her relief sculptures while she was abroad. 2 Her Untitled piece was created by applying papier-mâché over a blown up balloon, wrapping sting completely around the balloon and applying enamel paint to the surface. Makes reference to a breast and an erect penis simultaneously. 3 Hesse created the bodily form using materials and processes deeply rooted in handicraft, which positioned her as an artist outside of the avant-garde movement. This piece has structured and slackened characteristics, Ringaround Arosie, 1956 Pencil, acetone, varnish, enamel paint, ink, and cloth-covered electrical wire on papier-mâché and masonite. 26 3/8 x 16 ½ x 4 ½ in. Eva Hesse identified herself as an abstract expressionist painter; her first attempts to venture out of painting and into the area of sculpture were a series of reliefs she created while living in Germany for a year. And is an important launching point from painting into what would become her trademark eccentric sculpture. Ringaround Arosie was the first of such works. She built up two circular mounds using papiermâché and electrical wire in shades of grey and pinks. 1 It is thought that the title of the piece, which refers to a popular childhood game, makes reference to Hesse s own desire to have a child at the time she made the piece. The sexual imagery that Hesse created in this in this relief references both a breast and a penis. The ambiguity of gender is a theme that runs throughout the rest of Hesse s work. 1 Elisabeth Sussman. Eva Hesse. (San Francisco: San Francisco museum of modern art; 2002) (164-165) 2 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (177) 3 Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Hesse, Untitled, 1966. YouTube. http://youtu.be/jo1wp- Bx-WE (accessed May 5, 2014).

which meld into one another. This contrast between structure and chaos are qualities that reoccur throughout the rest of her body of work. Ennead, 1966 Paint and papier-mâché on plywood with dyed string Dimensions variable; panel: 36 x 22 x 1 ½ in. Made in 1966, the same year in which her father dies and she is divorced, Hesse s Ennead makes a strong leap in the direction towards her characteristic work. The papiermâché plywood provides a structured and ordered support system for the strings to mingle organically. The strings are reminiscent of hair, the body, or an internal feeling of confusion and or tension. The piece extends into the viewers space and almost reaches out, longing to be touched. Though the strings protrude into space the piece holds a sense of coldness, aloofness, or being selfcontained. The interactions between the strings and the space in the Ennead strongly allude to Hesse s later work Untitled, 1970. Accession II, 1967/69 Galvanized Steel with Plastic Tubing 30 ¾ x 30 ¾ x 30 ¾ in. Soon Hesse adopted industrialized fabrication techniques common among the Minimalists of the 1960 s. 4 The formal contradiction between the plastic tendrils and ridged steel in Accession II were fundamentally absurd. The plastic tubing references feminine traditions of weaving and the steel form is overtly masculine. The extreme opposition presented in this piece seems to be a representation of the extremes of her life. The sculpture is strangely seductive inside while overtly inhospitable on the outside and bears the material sensibility that resonate throughout her other work. Accession II is a self-portrait that exemplifies Hesse s conflicts and extremes in her own life. 4 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (213)

Repetition Nineteen III, 1968 Fiberglass and Polyester Resin 19 Units, height of each: 19 to 20 ¼ in; Diameter: 11 to 12 ¾ in. Hesse began to work in fiberglass in 1965. She made a series called Repetition Nineteen I, II and III, first out of papier-mâché and painted white. The papier-mâché forms were too mysterious and anthropomorphic for Hesse, 5 so she worked with Doug Johns to create her forms in fiberglass. The fiberglass made the cylinders more ambiguous and added a soul like warmth to each piece as they seemingly mingle with one another while at the same time maintaining a cold distance. The irregular forms are consistent with Hesse s focus on compartmental formations, but at the same time they are also ambiguously sexual. The translucent quality of the fiberglass allows light to pass through each cylinder, giving the piece a spiritual or pastoral quality. Sans II, 1968 Fiberglass and Polyester Resin Five units, each 38 x 86 x 6 1/8 in. Hesse worked with Doug Johns again to create Sans II, in which she cast 62 fiber glass rectangular forms and joined them in five separate groups each 6 boxes wide and two boxes tall. 6 The six boxes on the top were made form one mold and the six boxes across the bottom were made from another mold. The gridded structure of the semi translucent forms contrasts with the imperfect textured surface. The intersections become filled with tension between order and chaos. The surface appears warm and uniform from a distance, yet upon closer investigation the imperfect surface of the fiberglass elicits the impulse to touch. Though this piece stretches across the space of the gallery it remains a selfcontained entity, it is difficult to enter into the work or to fully understand what the interaction between the components mean. 5 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (229-230) 6 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (238-239)

Argument, 1968 Latex and Filler over canvas 19 sheets, each 78 x 40 in. Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, Germany Hesse s work Argument consists of 19 latex infused canvas sheets that lie stacked on top of one another on the floor. The work was shown in the 1968 Anti-Form Exhibition at the Nine at Leo Castelli. 7 Hesse wanted to utilize materiality and gravity as a means to obtain form, the loose stacking and random piling of the individual components break the order created by the repetition of form. The fragile materials Hesse used to create this piece continue to break down with the passage of time contributing to the chaos in the piece. The degradation of materials in Hesse s work makes strong reference to the mortality and vulnerability of the human body. Hesse often felt an internal conflict about producing work that would deteriorate with time. She was once quoted I feel a little guilty about when people want to buy [it]. I think they know but I want to write them a letter and say it is not going to last. 8 Yet the materials were more important for her work to her than being archival. Expanded Expansion, 1969 Reinforced fiberglass poles and rubberized cheese cloth 3 Units; Overall: 122 x 360 in. Hesse completed Expanded Expansion in 1969, the piece is over 30 feet wide and can be expanded or contracted with each new installation, yet with time the rubberized cheese cloth is deteriorating, becoming more brittle and changing color. The piece is the sculptural embodiment of opposites uniting, permanence and deterioration, structure and chaos. The fiberglass poles provide structural support for the intensely deteriorating rubberized cheesecloth. The redundancy of the title reinforces the absurd and contradictory nature of the piece. 9 Much of Hesse s work holds formal contradictions in her material and relational choices. Yet Hesse was striving for something beyond comprehensibility, an essence or quality that resided outside of logic and understanding. 10 7 Elisabeth Sussman and Fred Wasserman, Eva Hesse Sculpture. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006) (9) 8 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (254) 9 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (247-248) 10 Elisabeth Sussman and Fred Wasserman, Eva Hesse Sculpture.(9)

The sheer size of select works by Hesse contributes to their incomprehensibility and absurdity. Contingent, 1969 Fiberglass and polyester resin; Latex on cheesecloth 8 units, each 114 to 168 x 36 to 48 in. Hesse began this piece in 1968 before she collapsed and was diagnosed with cancer. She collapsed during the making of this piece, but was determined to finish the piece for the Art in Process IV, which was to open at the Finch College Museum of Art. A group of her students from School of Visual Arts at which she taught helped her finish the piece. 11 The repetition of the forms adds structure and regularity to the work as a whole. Yet each form is different from the others, some are longer than the others and there are differences in appearance and texture. Hesse considered this work to be paintings created in a media outside of paint. The flat expansive segments of rubberized cheesecloth held a sense of touch, and the painterly attributes contribute to a subtle spatial illusionism. 12 Hesse specifically chose the ripple cloth because of its interesting weave and it s ability to form pattern when interacting with the latex. 13 Untitled, 1970 Latex and filler over rope and string with metal hooks Dimensions Variable This was the last piece that Hesse was able to be a participant in production. The piece consists of rope dipped in latex and is a record of the process through which the work was created. The latex coating gives the rope a bodily quality and structure. The work is a chaotic tangle of rope and thread whose structure is based on how the piece dried, the structure determines how it can be hung without breaking. The work extends to metaphors about outside influences and manipulation on the body or psyche. The web recalls the abstract expressionist paintings of Jackson Pollock, yet resists the avant- 11 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (279) 12 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (279) 13 Elisabeth, Sussman, Eva Hesse. (279)

garde in its materiality. Hesse s work questioned issues of what it meant to be a woman and artist in a male dominated society and Avant-grade art scene.