Director, Glenn Lowry: Welcome to our retrospective of Brice Marden, a look at 45 years of transcendent work by a master of color, light and surface. I’m Glenn Lowry, Director of The Museum of Modern Art.
Throughout his career, Marden has lavished time, thought and creative energy on both paintings and drawings. He sees the latter as a distinct discipline, related to, but quite separate from his paintings. In keeping with that philosophy, the exhibition is presented in two sections, organized both thematically and chronologically. You’ll find the paintings on the sixth floor, in our Special Exhibition galleries. The drawings are on display in the Drawings Galleries on the third floor.
On this tour, you’ll hear from Marden himself. As you examine his paintings, you’ll be privy to a recent conversation between Marden and Gary Garrels, the curator of the exhibition. In the Drawings Galleries, Marden’s remarks are paired with observations from Professor Richard Shiff of the University of Texas at Austin, who wrote an essay in the catalog.
Marden, who’s notorious for spending years on each project, once said, “I make a very slow painting.” It’s worth taking time to let his resonant abstractions take their effect on you.