A Dark Place of Dreams

Thirty years after her passing, A Dark Place of Dreams revisits the monochromatic assemblages of Louise Nevelson (1899-1988), one of the pioneering American sculptors of the twentieth century, alongside three contemporary artists: Chakaia Booker, Lauren Fensterstock, and Kate Gilmore. In her most iconic works, Nevelson utilized wooden objects she gathered from debris in urban environments to create her monumental installations. Here, each artist expands Nevelson's tradition of assemblage in innovative and provocative ways. By sharing key stylistic elements in the artworks, such as their frontality, obsession with surface and static quality, the contemporary sculptures echo the mystery and scale of Nevelson's pieces, registering as somber black objects dissolving into complex surfaces. A Dark Place of Dreams celebrates Nevelson's artistic accomplishments and her lasting impact on contemporary sculptors, while highlighting the prolific sculptural practices of Booker, Fensterstock, and Gilmore as well as their facilities with material and ongoing explorations.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website