“Think of Them as Spaces: Brice Marden’s Drawings”

Curated by Kelly Montana

Brice Marden has said that he starts his work “far away and end[s] up really close.” He continues, “Usually, when I am drawing, say with a brush from a distance, I always close in on it and I end up working it with a knife. . . . It’s like going from the vague to the specific—closing in on it, focusing.” Likewise for the viewer: You want to keep getting nearer to the work. Rather than trying to be all-inclusive, this first survey of his works on paper since 2001 delves deeply into a few important themes—including, for instance, thirty-five studies for the 1988–91 “Cold Mountain” series among nearly one hundred works made between 1975 and the present. It should provide a welcome opportunity both to take an overview and to focus on the minute particulars of this storied oeuvre. Travels to Kunstmuseum Basel, June–September 2021.