Artist Jane Hammond’s Installation of Leaves Representing Fallen Soldiers in Iraq Come to Wexner Center This May

Columbus, OH—Jane Hammond: Fallen, a nationally touring installation, featuring a large field of colorful, handmade leaves—each inscribed with the name of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq—comes to the Wexner Center May 10–August 3, 2008.

 The leaves in the piece—each handmade of paper—are based on individual leaves gathered by Hammond between 2004 and 2008, and the spread of leaves grows as soldiers die. Fallen was first exhibited at Galerie Lelong in New York in 2005, and shortly thereafter was acquired by the Whitney Museum of American Art. The first presentation of Fallen opened with 1,511 leaves; its iteration when it opens here will include 3,994 leaves, a poignant reminder of lives lost in the intervening years. Over the course of the presentation at the Wexner Center, additional leaves will be created by the artist and placed on the platform.

Wexner Center Director Sherri Geldin says: “Having initially seen Fallen in its earliest gallery exhibition, it is something of a bittersweet honor to present this work—now three times its original configuration—at the Wexner Center.  No matter what one’s political or military perspective, one can’t help but be touched and overwhelmed by the poetry of Hammond’s gesture to mark each individual life lost with a unique, meticulously crafted reflection of nature.”

Based in New York, Hammond has been featured in solo and group exhibitions across the country, and her work is in public collections around the world, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Primarily a painter, Hammond also works with photographs and printmaking. One of her most celebrated works was a collaboration with poet John Ashbery, where she created 62 works inspired by titles suggested by him. In 2003, Hammond became the first woman to design the poster for the French Open. Hammond will be a guest at the Spring Exhibition Opening on Friday, May 9, 6–9 pm.

Admission to this exhibition is free. Click here for more information on visiting the Wexner Center. Also on view at the Wexner Center May 10–August 3: Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond and Mary Heilmann: To Be Someone. Walk-in Tours for all three exhibitions will be held Thursdays at 5 pm and Saturdays at 1 pm beginning May 15.

GALLERY TALK
Wexner Center educator Amanda Potter will discuss Fallen in the context of artworks that have been created in response to war and violence on Tuesday, May 27 at 12:30 pm in the Wexner Center galleries. The talk, titled Artists’ Responses to War, is free and open to the public.

CALENDAR INFORMATION

Jane Hammond: Fallen, a nationally touring installation featuring 3,994 colorful leaves made of paper—each inscribed with the name of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq—will be on display May 10–August 3, 2008 in the Wexner Center Galleries, located at 1871 North High Street at 15th Avenue at the Ohio State University. The Galleries are open 11 am–6 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday; and 11 am–8 pm Thursday–Saturday. The galleries are closed on Mondays and holidays. Admission is free. Parking is available in the Ohio Union Parking Garage, just south of the Wexner Center on High Street. Parking also available in the South Campus Gateway garage, on High Street between 9th and 11th avenues. Group tours are available  calling 614 292–3535. Visit www.wexarts.org for more information.

 

EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION AND SUPPORT

Jane Hammond: Fallen was organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art

All Wexner Center exhibitions receive support from the Corporate Annual Fund of the Wexner Center Foundation and Wexner Center members.

The preferred airline for this exhibition is American Airlines/American Eagle.

 

FALLEN CAPTION INFORMATION

Jane Hammond

Fallen, 2004 – ongoing

Color ink jet print, printed from digital file recto and verso, on archival paper, cut, with matt medium, Jade glue, fiberglass strand, sumi ink, and additional handwork in acrylic paint and gouache.

Dimensions variable

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from Sarah Ann and Werner Kramarsky, Mr. and Mrs. David Schiff, Melissa and Robert Soros, Marion C. and Charles Burson, Toby Devan Lewis Foundation, The Judith Rothschild Foundation, Nora and Guy Barron, Pam Joseph and Rob Brinker, Greg Kucera and Larry Yocom, Ted and Maryanne Ellison Simmons, 2007.6