
/https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/c7/38/c7386585-cddc-42f2-905e-ddcf1083ecaa/donovanuntitledweb.jpg)
Donovan has been the subject of several major solo exhibitions at museums including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The simplicity of the one-color print is in keeping with Donovan’s larger body of work, in which the transformative properties of ordinary materials are realized through repetition and elegant formal sequencing.ĭonovan is the recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Genius Award (2008), the first Calder Prize (2005), and exhibits her work internationally. The photographic image was exposed to an aluminum plate, with the contrast adjusted to allow for the intricacies of the paper-thin edges to read as positive space. She assembled the cards in a wooden structure, and then the overall construction was photographed from above.


Tamarind Master Printer Valpuri Remling and Apprentice Printer Candice Corgan worked with Donovan to create a matrix constructed entirely of 3 x 5 index cards. In her first residency at Tamarind Institute, Donovan continued her exploration of printmaking, defying traditional techniques to create matrixes of astonishing simplicity and beauty. Her work is typically untitled, but even in its open interpretation suggests a biomimicry of organic form and pattern.

Her sculptures and large-scale installations build on the malleability of her chosen materials, amassing mundane objects such as plastic straws, Styrofoam cups, straight pins, rubber bands, and index cards into transcendent forms. This exhibition is curated by Robin Clark, associate curator of contemporary art.Tara Donovan’s process-driven work explores how materials behave, as she re-imagines the potential of everyday things.
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Installed specifically for each exhibition space, these forms function as fields of visual activity that reveal distinctive characteristics with each shifting viewpoint.Ĭurrents 98: Tara Donovan is part of a series of exhibitions featuring the work of contemporary artists at the Saint Louis Art Museum.
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Donovan gives particular attention to patterning and configuration, as well as light absorption and reflection when deciding how to unify the elements from which she creates her work. This moment occurred when I realized that the cups could create an undulating plane that crested at various heights and remained a singular object, despite being composed of millions of parts.ĭonovans sculptural installations each comprise accumulations of a single, familiar material such as adding machine paper, roofing felt, straight pins, paper plates, and toothpicks. The Thing in the Corner - Directed by Matthew Stedman, Freakin’ Mayhem Productions (producer) official selection of over 12 film festivals world wide. A transformative moment occurs for me when the material ceases to reference itself and begins to take on a formal structure that relates to the natural or built environment, Donovan explains. Conversation with the Artist and Exhibition PreviewĬurrents 98: Tara Donovan features two site-specific installations: Untitled (Plastic Cups), 2006, made from more than 600 thousand cups, and Haze, 2005, a pixilated wall of drinking straws.
