Dean Sobel, Director of the Clyfford Still Museum, writes about Case Work
View projectFeb 24, 2016
In his essay for Case Work, Dean Sobel, Director of the Clyfford Still Museum, emphasizes the importance of modelmaking in Allied Works’ design process and relates the firm’s emphasis on craftsmanship and materiality to works of late modern art.
"Case Work explores a unique and little-known aspect of AWA’s practice, one that is foundational to the firm’s design process. A counterpoint to the customary models and renderings, these inspirational works are central to AWA’s creative vision—both manifestations of the investigative process and complete works of art in and of themselves. Moreover, they reveal a fundamental relationship with a number of activities that link them not only to contemporary architecture but also to the activities of visual artists of the 1960s and 1970s, the so-called post-minimalists like Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, and Jackie Winsor, who changed the nature of art making itself.
[…] AWA’s manipulation of process, use of protean materials, attention to hand-craftsmanship, and desire for a human scale are all qualities that can be associated with the tenets of late modern art. This heightened attention to process (the activities and energies expended in the course of making) became of paramount concern in the art world in the period following abstract expressionism, when the theories about objects like the poured and dripped paintings of Jackson Pollack turned away from how paintings looked toward the underpinnings of how they were made. By the late 1960s, a new generation of visual artists introduced the notion that “process” could be not only a departure point for their art but also could be considered as subject matter in and of itself.”
The complete essay is available in the exhibition catalog,Case Work: Studies in Form, Space and Construction, on sale now at the Denver Art Museum and online at Artbook.
The 72-page catalog was designed by Juliette Cezzar, and published by Metropolis Books.
Dean Sobel is the Director of the Clyfford Still Museum, the permanent home of the Clyfford Still Estate, which encompasses approximately 3,000 works of art by the early Abstract Expressionist painter. Sobel, a specialist in twentieth-century art, also led the architect selection process for the Allied Works-designed museum, which opened to international acclaim in November 2011.
In his essay for Case Work, Dean Sobel, Director of the Clyfford Still Museum, emphasizes the importance of modelmaking in Allied Works’ design process and relates the firm’s emphasis on craftsmanship and materiality to works of late modern art.
"Case Work explores a unique and little-known aspect of AWA’s practice, one that is foundational to the firm’s design process. A counterpoint to the customary models and renderings, these inspirational works are central to AWA’s creative vision—both manifestations of the investigative process and complete works of art in and of themselves. Moreover, they reveal a fundamental relationship with a number of activities that link them not only to contemporary architecture but also to the activities of visual artists of the 1960s and 1970s, the so-called post-minimalists like Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, and Jackie Winsor, who changed the nature of art making itself.
[…] AWA’s manipulation of process, use of protean materials, attention to hand-craftsmanship, and desire for a human scale are all qualities that can be associated with the tenets of late modern art. This heightened attention to process (the activities and energies expended in the course of making) became of paramount concern in the art world in the period following abstract expressionism, when the theories about objects like the poured and dripped paintings of Jackson Pollack turned away from how paintings looked toward the underpinnings of how they were made. By the late 1960s, a new generation of visual artists introduced the notion that “process” could be not only a departure point for their art but also could be considered as subject matter in and of itself.”
The complete essay is available in the exhibition catalog,Case Work: Studies in Form, Space and Construction, on sale now at the Denver Art Museum and online at Artbook.
The 72-page catalog was designed by Juliette Cezzar, and published by Metropolis Books.
Dean Sobel is the Director of the Clyfford Still Museum, the permanent home of the Clyfford Still Estate, which encompasses approximately 3,000 works of art by the early Abstract Expressionist painter. Sobel, a specialist in twentieth-century art, also led the architect selection process for the Allied Works-designed museum, which opened to international acclaim in November 2011.