Buffalo, NY – Recently the Albright-Knox Art Gallery opened Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective. The exhibition provides an in-depth exploration of one of America’s best known, but least understood artists. It will remain on view in the South Galleries of the museum’s 1905 Building through Sunday, September 23, 2018. A Members’ Opening will be held on Friday, June 22, from 5 to 7 pm, with a free public opening to follow from 7 to 9 pm.

With his career-defining LOVE sculpture, Robert Indiana (American, 1928–2018) created what is perhaps the most beloved public artwork of the twentieth century and one of the most iconic works in all of art history. Indiana’s works created prior to LOVE in the early 1960s were quickly embraced as classics of the burgeoning Pop art movement. However, his intensely autobiographical artwork consistently defied this narrow art historical categorization. Through varied combinations of universal but personally resonant symbols—letters, numbers, stars, circles, and wheels—the artist realized his vision across the decades and across a full range of media. In this landmark exhibition, Indiana’s sculptures, paintings, drawings, and prints are placed in dialogue with one another to reveal the breadth, development, and consistency across his sixty-year career.

The retrospective includes numerous important works, particularly from his later Vinalhaven period, that have only rarely been shown, as well as intimate examples of the LOVE sculpture in semiprecious stone that have never been exhibited. Featuring significant loans from national and international museums and private collections, Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective offers a thorough reassessment of the artist’s work, from his earliest assemblages in recycled wood and iron of the late 1950s to his final series of painted bronzes, which are among the most complicated and fascinating bronze works of the contemporary era.

Following its presentation at the Albright-Knox, the exhibition will travel to the Tampa Museum of Art from October 2018 to March 2019. The accompanying catalogue, published by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in association with Kerber Verlag, is edited by Albright-Knox Deputy Director Joe Lin-Hill, with contributions by Lin-Hill, Albright-Knox Chief Curator Emeritus Douglas Dreishpoon, Albright-Knox Curator of Public Art Aaron Ott, Robert Hobbs, and Simon Salama-Caro.

Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective has been made possible through the generosity of M&T Bank. Additional support has been provided by the sponsors of the Summer of AK. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s exhibition program is generously supported by The Seymour H. Knox Foundation, Inc.

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