Nahum Tevet: Works on Glass 1972–1975
Curated by Thierry de Duve, Evelyn Kranes Kossak Professor of Art History
September 22–November 20, 2016
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 22, 6–8pm
Leubsdorf Gallery
Hunter West Building
132 East 68th Street
New York, NY 10065
Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 1–6pm
Curated by Thierry de Duve, Evelyn Kranes Kossak Professor of Art History, Nahum Tevet: Works on Glass, 1972–1975 presents an important and under-recognized series from the artist’s oeuvre. This exhibition will provide a critical examination of this series in relationship with the broader art historical context of global conceptualism and minimalism dominant in the late 1960s and 1970s. Tevet’s works on glass are both unique and perfectly in tune with the experiments conducted internationally by the most advanced artists of their time. They are radically modernist in every sense: uncompromising, experimental, and taking their own conventions as their subject matter.
These works consist of unframed glass planes with pieces of paper, cardboard, and tape affixed to either front or back of the glass. The works are suspended by wire or twine attached to metal clips clamped around the edges of the glass, often exposing their rudimentary hanging system. They evolved out of drawings Tevet was making as preparatory sketches for equally radical objects—which he called sculptures, but which evoke furniture—and can be seen as an Arte Povera version of Donald Judd’s “specific objects.” Eventually, the drawings and their tentative glass framing devices became works in their own right, with a status separate from the artist’s other works.
Of Tevet’s works on glass there are some thirty known extant pieces. In 1975, thirteen were exhibited at Galerie Schmela in Düsseldorf, however, this body of work has never been shown as a comprehensive series. Nahum Tevet: Works on Glass, 1972–1975 brings the glass works together for the first time, expanding the understanding of Tevet's oeuvre and its historical context, while also introducing his work to new audiences. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication that functions as a catalogue raisonné of the works on glass. The gallery will host a full roster of public programs in conjunction with the show.
Nahum Tevet (born 1946 in Kibbutz Messilot, Israel) has lived and worked in Tel Aviv since 1973. His work has been the topic of several solo exhibitions including Walking on The Wall, Nahum Tevet Small Sculptures, 1980–2012, Tel Aviv University Art Gallery, 2012; Nahum Tevet, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma (MACRO), 2008; Nahum Tevet: Works, 1994–2006, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2007; Nahum Tevet: Take Two, Le Quartier, Center for Contemporary Art, Quimper, France, 2005; and Opening Moves, Nahum Tevet Sculptures, Museum of Modern Art, Ludwig Foundation, Vienna, 1997. His work is included in many important museum collections including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Museum of Modern Art, Ludwig Foundation, MUMOK, Vienna, Austria; Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, Germany; FRAC Bretagne, France; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; and Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv. Tevet has received several distinguished awards including the EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture, The Office of The Prime Minister of Israel & A.M.N Foundation, 2013; the Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture, Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, 2011; and the Minister of Culture and Science Prize for Life Achievement in Art, 2013. In addition to his studio practice, Tevet has a sustained commitment to teaching. He was a professor in the Fine Art Department at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Tel Aviv Branch, from 1980 to 2013, serving as Head of the Master’s Degree Program in Fine Art from 2001 to 2010.
Nahum Tevet: Works on Glass, 1972–1975 will travel to Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, Poland, January 27–April 23, 2017.
This exhibition is made possible by the generous support provided by the Artis Grant Program; The Friends of Bezalel, Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem; Carol and Arthur Goldberg; Evelyn Kranes Kossak; Joan and Charles Lazarus; the Leubsdorf Fund; and Outset Contemporary Art Fund.
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