Robert Indiana Biography
New Castle, Indiana(USA), 1928
American Master painter, printmaker and sculptor Robert Indiana is widely recognized as one of the leading exponents of American Pop art. He is known for his simple bold iconic images of graphic numbers and letters and for his "LOVE" paintings and sculptures.
Born Robert Clark, he adopted the name Indiana as a tribute to his home state. After receiving a degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953, he moved to New York City. He became part of an artist community that included Ellsworth Kelly and Jack Youngerman, and began to experiment in geometric pop art styles.
In the early 1960s he did his first constructions of junk wood and weathered iron. These works, at first severely geometric, combine metal and wood with gesso. In the early 1960s several of his works were purchased by major museums and collectors and his pieces were included in many exhibitions, including his first one-man show in 1962 at the Stable Gallery, New York. In 1964 he collaborated with Andy Warhol on the film EAT and in the same year received his first public commission, a work for the exterior of the New York State Pavilion at the New York World's Fair -- a 20-foot EAT Sign.
Although he came to prominence during the 1960's, his concerns have always differed greatly from those of his contemporaries. Whereas the general pop movement took interest in the mass media and trappings of consumer culture, Indiana was drawn to Americana and national and cultural identity.
In 1973, the U.S. Postal Service used Indiana's "LOVE" painting for the first of their annual "Love" stamps. With a printing of 300 million, it became the most reproduced image in pop art.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2005
Made in USA - ausgewahlte Graphik , Galerie & Edition Bode GmbH, Nuremberg
Summer of Love Art of the Psychedelic Era, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool (England)
Do it yourself - Positionen von den sechziger Jahren bis Heute, Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum fur Gegenwart, Berlin
40 Jahre Galerie Thomas, Galerie Thomas, Munich
2004
Marilyn - From Anastasi to Weegee, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
Pop Classics, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus
Support - Die Neue Galerie als Sammlung - 1950 - Heute, Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz
Modern Means: Continuity and Change in Art from 1880 to the Present, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
HOMMAGE A PICASSO - 50 KÃ?nstler - 80 Exponate in verschiedenen Techniken, Galerie Wolfgang Exner, Vienna
2003
Robert Indiana - The Story of Love, Scottsdale Museum of Modern Art, Phoenix, AZ
pop art - Druckgraphieken, Galerie Wolfgang Exner, Vienna
Pop Art from the Collection, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
Andy Warhol and the Pop Aesthetic - Permanent Collection and Loans, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
The Pow!er of Pop, Stiftung Museum Kunst Palast, Duesseldorf
Robert Indiana - Letters, Words and Numbers, L & M Arts, New York, NY
Painting Explosion - 1958 1963, Part I, Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX
P (OP), Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC
Contemporary Prints and Photographs from the Bruce Brown Collection, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME
2002
Memoir of Freedom, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY
Andy Warhol and Friends - American Art of the 60s and 70s, Haggarty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI
"AMERICAN SCENE", M-ART Galerie, Hamburg
2001
Accrochage de groupe, Galerie Denise Rene - Espace Marais, Paris
Light and Movement of the Century Abstract Art, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul
Pop Art & Co - Uniques, Graphics and Multiples, Galerie Burkhard Eikelmann â?¢ Dusseldorf, Duesseldorf
Accrochage de groupe, Galerie Denise Rene Rive Gauche, Paris
Indiana, Galerie Denise Rene - Espace Marais, Paris
SELECTED MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS - Museum of Modern Art, New York - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco - National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC - Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC - Los Angeles County Museum of Art - Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC - Walker Art Center, Minnesota
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