Page 61 - World of Art Contemporary Art magazine: The 2023 Guggenheim issue

Eva Hesse. Expanded Expansion, 1969 Fiberglass, polyester resin, latex,
and cheesecloth, Width variable; approximately 10 feet 2 inches x 25 feet
living space through unedited footage captured on film
(309.9 x 762 cm) overall Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Gift,
by Dorothy Beskind, and in an interview with Hesse by Family of Eva Hesse, 1975
art historian and activist Cindy Nemser - uncovering the
artist’s ideas about the connections between her life and
her art: “I remember always working with contradictions Installation view, Eva Hesse:Expanded Expansion, Solomon R. Guggenheim
and contradictory forms, which is my idea also in life, Museum. Photo: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation,
the whole absurdity of life, everything for me has always
been opposites, nothing has ever been in the middle. . .
. it was always more interesting than making something
average, normal, right-size.”- Eva Hesse
The show surveys the temporalities of exhibition and
interpretation, elucidating the contextual nature of
perception and the complexities around preservation
and stewardship. Hesse was well aware of the fragility
of her chosen media, yet ambivalent about their
accelerated demise over time, leaving the museum with
a lasting question regarding her feelings about Expanded
Expansion’s physical changes. Despite its shifts in color
and increasing rigidity, the piece still holds tremendous
power as a testament to the pioneering artist who,
despite her untimely death in 1970, left a body of work Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion is curated by Lena
that pushed sculpture beyond Minimalism and Abstract Stringari, Deputy Director and Andrew W. Mellon Chief
Expressionism, and continues to deeply influence and Conservator, with the collaboration of Richard Armstrong,
inspire artists today. Director, and Esther Chao, Objects Conservator.

WORLD of ART 59