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Thu, Jul 25, 2019
The Wexner Center for the Arts, the multidisciplinary contemporary arts laboratory at The Ohio State University, kicks off its 30th anniversary year of exhibitions with HERE: Ann Hamilton, Jenny Holzer, Maya Lin. On view September 21–December 29, HERE marks the first time these highly influential artists have exhibited together. The show is curated by Michael Goodson, Senior Curator of Exhibitions for the center.
A contemplation of the idea of place centering on Ohio—not only the home of the center but the birthplace of all three artists—HERE will present site-specific installations that activate all of the center’s galleries. Lin’s pieces for the exhibition will be complimented by Groundswell, her permanent installation on the south side of the Wex building, in place since 1993. Works by Hamilton and Holzer will also engage spaces beyond the Wex. Holzer’s language will be featured on the LED tickers and screens at the intersection of Broad and High Streets in downtown Columbus, and images produced by Hamilton will appear large-scale on an architectural facade downtown and on the northside of the Wex's Mershon Auditorium.
The works in HERE reflect ongoing pursuits in each artist’s respective practice, as well as new areas of creative exploration. Hamilton, Holzer, and Lin will engage in a public conversation with Wexner Center director Johanna Burton as part of an exhibition preview event on September 20.
Hamilton, a two-time Wexner Center Artist Residency Award recipient, continues an ongoing project in collaboration with the university libraries in which she “images” common domestic objects and special collection items using outmoded digital scanners. The process examines our interactions with things—through physical contact but also through a form of emotional recognition, which Hamilton describes as their “felt” quality. Her scans of objects ranging from doll clothes to fossils become small memorials to the “spirit” of each item. Prints of the scans will be stacked in the gallery and across the Ohio State campus at Thompson Library; visitors are encouraged to take a print from the book-form stacks, either for themselves or to mail to an address of their choice at adjacent mailing stations.
Holzer, who has focused throughout her career on considered yet provocative use of words, will create a public installation incorporating language specific to her memories of growing up in Ohio. The artist will also adapt some of her best-known bodies of work to the Wex’s galleries, such as her Inflammatory Essays, the colorful, often scathing series of 100-word statements Holzer first began wheatpasting around New York City in 1979.
For her contribution, Lin will create installations in the lower lobby and galleries that mirror the changing shapes of waterways and aquifers in Ohio. Formed from a simple yet compelling material, thousands of industrial glass beads, the works will illustrate the human relationship to these natural resources and how they’ve been affected by fracking and climate change.
“Ann Hamilton, Jenny Holzer, and Maya Lin are all Ohio natives who have been formatively shaped by the state’s landscape and spirit,” says Goodson. “They also have careers in sync with the lifespan of the center to this point. In these ways, HERE reckons with both place and time. The show provides an opportunity to reflect on the past, to consider its relevance to where we are now—locally and globally—and to prepare for what may lie ahead.”
Exhibition-related events
A Fall Exhibition Preview will take place Friday, September 20, 6–9 PM, with a set by DJ Citizen Dorian S, a cash bar, free admission to the galleries, and a public conversation between artists Ann Hamilton, Jenny Holzer, and Maya Lin moderated by Wexner Center Director Johanna Burton.
A robust schedule of talks and tours will continue throughout the exhibition, concluding with a curator’s tour by Michael Goodson on Sunday, December 8. A complete list of related events will roll out in the weeks ahead at wexarts.org/education.
Visitor Information
HERE: Ann Hamilton, Jenny Holzer, Maya Lin will be on view September 21–December 29, 2019 at the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St. (at 15th Avenue) on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus.
Gallery hours are 11 AM–6 PM Tuesday–Wednesday, 11 AM–8 PM Thursday–Saturday, and 11AM–6 PM Sunday. Galleries are closed Mondays. Admission is free anytime for Wexner Center members, college students, and visitors 18 and under, and free for all Thursdays 4–8 PM and the first Sunday of the month.
More info on bus routes, parking, and other visitor information is available here, or at (614) 292-3535.
Exhibition Support
Support for off-site artworks is provided by Orange Barrel Media.
Major support for this exhibition is provided by The Crane Group.
Assisting support for this exhibition is provided by Paige and Mike Crane, Dave and Nancy Gil, and Jack and Charlotte Kessler.
Support for arts access at the Wexner Center is provided by Cardinal Health Foundation and Huntington Bank.
General operating support for the Wexner Center is provided by Greater Columbus Arts Council, Ohio Arts Council, The Columbus Foundation, and Nationwide Foundation. Generous support is also provided by the Corporate Annual Fund of the Wexner Center Foundation and Wexner Center members.
