IMAGE: Orly Genger, Current, 2014. Lobster rope and latex paint. Dimensions variable. Installation view, The Contemporary Austin – Laguna Gloria, Austin. Courtesy the artist. Photograph by Brian Fitzsimmons.
Exhibition
Orly Genger: Current
May 4 – August 17, 2014
On View at Laguna Gloria
Blending large-scale sculpture techniques with an expanded notion of craft and textile, New York City–based artist and designer Orly Genger creates organic forms and site-specific installations from painted swaths of woven rope. With the help of assistants, Genger looms, crochets, weaves, and knots heavy twine over the course of many months to create a single work. In recent projects, she has used recycled lobster rope purchased by the artist from fishermen in local communities, a gesture that has both positive economical and social purposes, bringing briny or sea-frozen coils of twine into her studio, cleaning it first, then knotting and painting it. The completed works are painterly, evoking three-dimensional manifestations of 1950s abstract Color Field canvases, and direct, recalling the simple forms and techniques of 1960s Minimalists. For The Contemporary Austin, Genger has manifested a massive outdoor piece of painted woven rope that covers the entire outdoor amphitheater at Laguna Gloria, cascades down the hill, and tapers off onto a platform in the lagoon—all the while inviting visitors to walk in, on, and around the work, activating the site as a nexus for community interaction, play, and public programming.
—Heather Pesanti, Senior Curator
Support for Orly Genger provided by The Moody Foundation.
Orly Genger
Orly Genger (American, born 1979 in New York City, New York) currently lives in New York City and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BA from Brown University in 2001 and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2002.
Genger’s recent solo exhibitions include Red, Yellow and Blue at Madison Square Park in New York City (2013); Big, Open, Empty at Larissa Goldston Gallery, New York City (2011); and Whole at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (2008). Her work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions at various venues throughout the United States, including MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (2010), and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver (2010).
Genger’s work has been featured in the collections of several museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York City; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH; and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In 2011, she was the recipient of the Rappaport Prize, founded by the Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation, whose mission is to promote leadership in public policy, medical research, and art.
Related Events
Art Dinner
The Contemporary’s inaugural Art Dinner will celebrate the new Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria, honor the Edward and Betty Marcus Foundation for its founding gift, and unveil Orly Genger’s new commissioned work, Current.
Summer Spectacular Teacher Workshop
Teacher Workshops provide interactive training and resource materials for teachers from all subject areas and grade levels. Explore artist Orly Genger’s new work at Laguna Gloria during the Summer Spectacular workshop.
International Museum Day
With free admission all day long at the Jones Center and Laguna Gloria, come explore the exciting new exhibitions alongside family-friendly interactive activities.
Good Taste: Spinning Plates
Gather amid Orly Genger’s cascading monumental installation in the Laguna Gloria amphitheater for an evening celebrating restaurants as sites of creativity and community, with light bites and cocktails provided by local establishments.
Artist Talk: Orly Genger
Artist on view Orly Genger speaks about her large-scale sculpture practice and new commission Current, 2014, in the outdoor amphitheater of Laguna Gloria.
Family Day with Orly Genger
Enter the woven world of artist Orly Genger as we make colorful creatures, then grab some natural elements to add to a collaborative weaving wall overlooking the lagoon.
Music for Wilderness Lake: Dusk
In this work of environmental sound music, twelve trombonists positioned around the lagoon play meditative music across the water to one another at dusk and dawn while the music is cued via flags from a raft.
Music for Wilderness Lake: Dawn
In this work of environmental sound music, twelve trombonists positioned around the lagoon play meditative music across the water to one another at dusk and dawn while the music is cued via flags from a raft.