Robert Indiana: Placeholder

In 1978, facing eviction from his long-time studio in lower Manhattan, Robert Indiana (born 1928) relocated to the island of Vinalhaven, located in Maine’s Penobscot Bay, where he had worked seasonally since 1969. Robert Indiana: Placeholder features select prints from two series related to the artist’s residence in Maine, a time of intense introspection and renewed creativity. In the first series, Decade: Autoportraits, Vinalhaven Suite (1980), Indiana created a silkscreen for every year of his tumultuous 1970s, each titled after a location on or near Vinalhaven. Supplemented with other text referencing Indiana’s significant travels, artworks, and relationships of each year, these prints navigate the intersections of historical fact, autobiography, and personal memory.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.