Mary Lucier Explained

Mary Lucier
Birth Place:Bucyrus, Ohio, U.S.
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Brandeis University
Known For:Installation and video art

Mary Lucier (born 1944, in Bucyrus, Ohio) is an American visual artist and pioneer in video art.[1] Concentrating primarily on video and installation since 1973, she has produced numerous multiple- and single-channel pieces that have had a significant impact on the medium.

Life and education

Lucier grew up in Bucyrus, Ohio, before receiving her B.A. from Brandeis University in literature and sculpture.[2] She married the composer Alvin Lucier in 1964 and then toured with him as a member of the Sonic Arts Union from 1966 to the mid-1970s. She lived with him in Middletown, Connecticut after he secured a position at Wesleyan University until their divorce in ‘74,[3] when she moved to New York City. She would later marry the painter Robert Berlind, who passed away in 2015.[4] She currently lives in both New York City and Cochecton, New York, where she has established a studio and archive for video art.

Work

Lucier was invested in performance and photography during her time in the Sonic Arts Union, creating works such as the Polaroid Image Series, which accompanied Alvin Lucier’s work I am sitting in a room (1969). During this performance she projected slides transferred from Polaroids which were degraded in a process similar to Alvin Lucier’s recorded voice.[5]

Her movement into video in the early 1970s connected to her interest in the manipulation of the image as well as her fascination with the illuminated television box and its architectural space. In the 1970s, Lucier started to burn the internal recording tube of her camera by focusing on the sun which can be seen in her multi-channel video works Dawn Burn (1975), Paris Dawn Burn (1977) and Equinox (1979).[6] She also performed a piece Fire Writing in 1975 at The Kitchen where she used laser beams to burn text onto the Vidicon tube of her hand-held camera, which can be seen in the resulting video image.[7]

In the 1980s, Lucier moved into greater aesthetic and sculptural concerns with her work, reflecting a clear shift in video art sensibilities of the time period. Her 2-channel, 7-monitor installation Ohio at Giverny (1983) both removes the television box from view in its installation and provides a translation to video of Claude Monet’s technique of rendering light palpable.[8] [9] Wilderness (1986) furthered Lucier’s experimentation with installation and landscape by placing three channels of video on seven monitors mounted on faux classical pedestals in a stepped colonnade and focusing on American landscape motifs.

In the 1990s, Lucier would investigate the more devastating aspects of the earth’s landscapes by comparing the ecological precarity of the Brazilian Amazon and Alaskan wildlife with the cancerous human body in Noah’s Raven (1993)[10] and examining the tragedy of flooding through recollections and ruined interiors in Floodsongs (1998).

Her work continued to investigate various aspects of the landscape and its diverse peoples into the 21st century including works such as The Plains of Sweet Regret (2004), a 5-channel video installation examining the Great Plains at a time of depopulation.[11] In Drum Songs (2013) and (Untitled) Spirit Lake (2017) she examines Native American song and dance from the Cankdeska Cikana Singers and Drummers.[12]

Lucier's art can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art,[13] the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,[14] the Museum of Modern Art[15] in New York City, ZKM Museum für Neue Kunst[16] in Karlsruhe, Germany, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Milwaukee Art Museum[17] in Milwaukee, WI, the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York[18] and the Munson-Williams Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York.[19]

She is currently represented by Cristin Tierney Gallery.

Teaching

Lucier has been an adjunct professor in Video Art at SUNY Purchase, a Visiting Regent's Professor in Art and Art History at UC Davis, a Visiting Lecturer in Video Art at Harvard University, and a visiting professor of Film and Video at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She has also taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art, at New York University, at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, at the San Francisco Art Institute, and at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Grants and fellowships

Lucier has been the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Arts,[20] the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1985,[21] the Rockefeller Foundation in 2001,[22] Creative Capital in 2001,[23] Anonymous Was a Woman in 1998,[24] [25] the Nancy Graves Foundation in 2003,[26] USA Artists in 2010,[27] the American Film Institute Independent Filmmaker Grant,[28] the Jerome Foundation in 1982,[29] the New York State Council on the Arts,[30] and the Japan-US Friendship Commission in 2010.[31]

Exhibitions

Select solo exhibitions

Mary Lucier has presented solo exhibitions at venues such as:

The Phoenix Art Museum (2018)[32]

The Kitchen (2016)[33]

Tacoma Art Museum (2014–2015)[34]

Amon Carter Museum (2008)[35]

Huntington Museum of Art (2007)[36]

North Dakota Museum of Art (2004)[37]

Emerson Gallery at Hamilton College (2002)

Museum of Modern Art (1999)[38]

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1995)[39]

Toledo Museum of Art (1993)[40]

City Gallery of Contemporary Art (1991)

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1988)[41]

Dallas Museum of Art (1987)[42]

Capp Street Project (1986)[43]

Rose Art Museum (1986)

Carnegie Museum of Art (1983)

Hudson River Museum (1980)[44]

City University Graduate Center (1979)

Everson Museum of Art (1976)[45]

The Kitchen (1975)[46]

Select group exhibitions

Lucier has participated in many international group exhibitions as well, such as:

Media Relay: An Exhibition in Two Parts presented by the National Academy of Design at PS122 (2022)[47]

Partially Buried: Land-Based Art in Ohio, 1970 to Now at the Columbus Museum of Art (2021)[48]

How Can We Think of Art At A Time Like This at Art At A Time Like This (2020)[49]

Videotapes: Early Video Art (1965–1976) at Zachęta National Gallery of Art (2020)[50]

Before Projection: Video Sculpture, 1974 – 1995 at MIT/List Visual Arts Center (2018)[51] and at SculptureCenter (2018)[52]

Citings/Sightings at Lennon, Weinburg, Inc. (2017)[53]

Songs for Spirit Lake at the Rauschenberg Foundation Project Space, the North Dakota Museum of Art and the Cankdeska Cikana Community College (2013–2014)[54]

Playing House at the Brooklyn Museum of Art (2012)[55]

September 11 at MoMA PS1 (2011)[56]

Two Monzeki Spaces at Takashimaya Exhibition Hall (2011)

Recasting Site at CCS Bard (2008)[57]

Primera generacion. Arte e imagén en movimiento (1963–1986) at the Museo Reina Sofia (2006–2007)[58]

Into the Light: The Projected Image in American Art, 1964–1977 at the Whitney Museum of American Art (2001–2002)[59]

Illusions of Eden: Visions of the American Heartland at Museum of Modern Art/Ludwig Foundation, Ludwig Museum Budapest, Museum the Columbus Museum of Art and Madison Art Center (2000–2001)[60]

Video Cult/ures at ZKM Museum für Neue Kunst (1999)[61]

Landscape: Mediated Views at the Visual Studies Workshop (1998)[62]

Living With Contemporary Art at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (1995–1996)[63]

Gazing Back: Shigeko Kubota and Mary Lucier at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1995)[64]

Facing Eden: 100 Years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area at the De Young Museum (1994)

The First Generation: Women and Video, 1970–75 by Independent Curators International (1993)[65]

Video Skulptur: retrospektiv und aktuell, 1963 – 1989 at the Kölnischer Kunstverein (1989)[66]

Femmes Cathodiques at the Palais de tokyo, Musee d'art moderne de Paris (1989)

The Luminous Image at the Stedelijk Museum (1984)[67]

Whitney Biennial 1983 at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1983)[68]

The Second Link: Viewpoints on Video in the Eighties at the Walter Philips Gallery, travelled internationally (1983)[69]

10e Biennale de Paris at the Musee d'art moderne de Paris (1977)[70]

Sonic Arts Union performance at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1970)[71]

Selected Artworks

External links

Websites

Interviews

Select Exhibition Reviews

Notes and References

  1. Jules Heller, Nancy G. Heller (1997). North American women artists of the twentieth century: a biographical dictionary. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20101127023517/http://eai.org/artistBio.htm?id=417 Mary Lucier
  3. News: Kozinn. Allan. 2021-12-01. Alvin Lucier, Probing Composer of Soundscapes, Is Dead at 90. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-12-24. 0362-4331.
  4. Web site: Wolkoff. Julia. 2016-01-08. Robert Berlind (1938–2015). 2021-12-24. ARTnews.com. en-US.
  5. Web site: Mary Lucier by Alex Klein – BOMB Magazine. 2021-12-24. bombmagazine.org.
  6. Book: Barlow, Melinda. Mary Lucier. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2000. 0801863791. Baltimore, MD. English.
  7. Web site: 2017-01-18. The Renegade Video Artist. 2021-12-24. Aperture. en-US.
  8. Web site: NAD. 2021-12-24. nationalacademy.org.
  9. Web site: Electronic Arts Intermix: Selected Works 1975–2000: Program 2, Mary Lucier. 2019-03-14. www.eai.org.
  10. Web site: Installations. 2021-12-24. Mary Lucier. en-US.
  11. Web site: Mary Lucier Plains of Sweet Regret Art Museum University of Wyoming. 2021-12-24. www.uwyo.edu.
  12. Web site: 2013-05-24. Collaboration brings Spirit Lake culture to East Coast art world. 2021-12-24. Grand Forks Herald. en.
  13. Web site: Ohio at Giverny. whitney.org. en. 2019-03-23.
  14. Web site: Mary Lucier · SFMOMA. www.sfmoma.org. 2019-03-23.
  15. Web site: Mary Lucier MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art. en. 2019-03-23.
  16. Web site: Mary Lucier ZKM. zkm.de. en. 2019-03-23.
  17. Web site: Mary Lucier Milwaukee Art Museum. collection.mam.org. 2019-03-23.
  18. Web site: Mary Lucier Albright-Knox. 2021-12-26. www.albrightknox.org.
  19. Web site: Mary Lucier. 2021-12-26. Mary Lucier. en-US.
  20. National Endowment for the Arts: A History 1965 - 2008, Ed. by Mark Bauerline with Ellen Grantham, (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for the Arts, 2009), 210.
  21. Web site: John Simon Guggenheim Foundation All Fellows. 2022-01-04. en-US.
  22. Web site: 2021-06-30. Rockefeller Foundation – 2001 Film, Video and Multimedia Fellowship Awards. 2022-01-04. IndexArticles. en-US.
  23. Web site: The Plains of Sweet Regret. 2022-01-04. Creative Capital. en.
  24. Web site: Recipients to Date. 2022-01-04. Anonymous Was A Woman. en-US.
  25. News: Hershenson. Roberta. 1998-03-22. 2 Women Receive Art Grants From Unknown Female Donor. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-01-04. 0362-4331.
  26. Web site: Nancy Graves Foundation grant program. 2022-01-04. Nancy Graves Foundation. en-US.
  27. Web site: United States Artists » Mary Lucier. 2022-01-04. en-US.
  28. Web site: 2014-04-24. Mary Lucier: Arabesque (2004). 2022-01-04. MIT List Visual Arts Center. en.
  29. Web site: Past Grantees Jerome Foundation. 2022-01-04. www.jeromefdn.org. en.
  30. Web site: Biography. 2022-01-04. Mary Lucier. en-US.
  31. Japan-US Friendship Commission & CULCON, 2011, "Grant and Financial Information. FY2011: October 1, 2010 – September 30, 2011."
  32. Web site: Video Crossings Series: Mary Lucier. 2021-12-24. Phoenix Art Museum. en-US.
  33. Web site: The Kitchen: From Minimalism into Algorithm. 2021-12-24. thekitchen.org.
  34. Web site: Mary Lucier: The Plains of Sweet Regret. 2021-12-24. Tacoma Art Museum. en-US.
  35. Web site: Amon Carter Museum Presents Video Installation by Artist Mary Lucier. 2022-01-04. www.cartermuseum.org. en.
  36. Web site: Herald-Dispatch. DAVE LAVENDERThe. Well-known video artist comes to Huntington. 2022-01-04. The Herald-Dispatch. en.
  37. Web site: North Dakota Museum Of Art past 2004 mary lucier. 2021-12-24. www.ndmoa.com.
  38. Web site: Mary Lucier: Floodsongs MoMA. 2021-12-24. The Museum of Modern Art. en.
  39. Web site: Exhibitions. 2021-12-24. Mary Lucier. en-US.
  40. Web site: Finding aid for the Toledo Museum of Art Exhibition Archives. 2022-01-04. ead.ohiolink.edu.
  41. Web site: Mary Lucier's Wilderness. 2022-01-04. www.moca.org.
  42. Web site: Concentrations 16: Mary Lucier, Wilderness Dallas Museum of Art. 2022-01-04. dma.org.
  43. Web site: Asylum (A Romance) VAULT. 2022-01-04. vault.cca.edu.
  44. Web site: Independent Video: The First Fifteen Years. 2022-01-04. www.artforum.com. en-US.
  45. Web site: Exhibitions. 2022-01-04. Mary Lucier. en-US.
  46. Web site: Air Writing/Video (1973 – 1975) + Fire Writing/Video The Kitchen Archive. 2022-01-04. en-US.
  47. Web site: NAD. 2021-12-24. nationalacademy.org.
  48. Web site: Anna Talarico – The Hoosac Institute. 2022-01-04. hoosacinstitute.com. en.
  49. Web site: HCWTOAATLT. 2022-01-04. Art At A Time Like This. en-US.
  50. Web site: Huncwot.com. Videotapes Early video art (1965–1976) – Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki. 2022-01-04. zacheta.art.pl. en.
  51. Web site: 2017-07-11. Before Projection: Video Sculpture 1974–1995. 2021-12-24. MIT List Visual Arts Center. en.
  52. Web site: Before Projection: Video Sculpture 1974–1995. 2021-12-24. www.sculpture-center.org. en.
  53. Web site: Citings / Sightings. 2022-01-04. Citings / Sightings. en-US.
  54. Web site: North Dakota Museum Of Art past 2013 Songs for Spirit Lake. 2022-01-04. www.ndmoa.com.
  55. Web site: Brooklyn Museum: Playing House. 2022-01-04. www.brooklynmuseum.org.
  56. Web site: September 11 MoMA. 2022-01-04. The Museum of Modern Art. en.
  57. Web site: Recasting Site. 2022-01-04. CCS Bard. en.
  58. Web site: Primera generación. Arte e imagen en movimiento (1963–1986) Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. 2022-01-04. www.museoreinasofia.es. en.
  59. Web site: Into the Light: the Projected Image in American Art, 1964–1977. 2021-12-24. whitney.org. en.
  60. Web site: Illusions of Eden: Visions of the American Heartland. 2022-01-04. www.tfaoi.com.
  61. Web site: Video Cult/ures 06.05.1999 (All day) to 29.08.1999 (All day) ZKM. 2021-12-24. zkm.de. en.
  62. Web site: etc_admin_1. 2011-05-16. Landscape: Mediated Views. 2022-01-04. www.videohistoryproject.org.
  63. Web site: Living with Contemporary Art. 2022-01-04. The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. en.
  64. News: Karmel. Pepe. 1995-08-25. Art in Review. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-01-04. 0362-4331.
  65. Web site: The First Generation: Women and Video, 1970–75 – Exhibitions – Independent Curators International. 2022-01-04. curatorsintl.org.
  66. Web site: Video Skulptur retrospektiv und aktuell 1963–1989, 1989 – Kölnischer Kunstverein. 2022-01-04. koelnischerkunstverein.de.
  67. Web site: Grrr.nl. The Luminous Image / Het lumineuze beeld. 22 video-installaties van Europese en Amerikaanse kunstenaars. – Wim Crouwel. 2021-12-24. www.stedelijk.nl. en.
  68. Web site: Whitney Biennial 1983. 2021-12-24. whitney.org. en.
  69. Web site: The Second Link: Viewpoints on Video in the Eighties MoMA. 2022-01-04. The Museum of Modern Art. en.
  70. 10e Biennale de Paris. Exhibition catalogue, Musee d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris. 1977.
  71. Web site: Press and Print. 2022-01-04. sonicartsunion.org.

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