Chryssa’s neon sculptures, long unseen, shine again in a comprehensive survey of her dynamic oeuvre.
On May 3 Wrightwood 659 opens Chryssa & New York, the first museum exhibition in North America in more than four decades to focus on the Greek-born artist. Chryssa—who used only her first name professionally—became a leading figure of the New York art world in the 1950s and ’60s. Pathbreaking in its use of signage, text, and neon, her vastly underrecognized body of work bridges Pop, Conceptual, and Minimalist ideas of art making. This exhibition focuses on works from these decades through the early 1970s, bringing together Chryssa’s deeply formal concerns and critical interest in exploring the United States following World War II.
Following exhibitions at Dia Chelsea and the Menil Collection, Houston, the third installment of Chryssa & New York includes a small addition reflecting on Chryssa's dismantled and unfulfilled public sculptures in Chicago, featuring photographs, drawings, postcards, and elevations from the Art Institute of Chicago and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) archives.
Co-organized by Dia Art Foundation and the Menil Collection, Houston, in collaboration with Alphawood Foundation, the critically acclaimed exhibition concludes its national tour at Wrightwood 659, from May 3 through July 27.
Chryssa exhibit a vivid reminder of all-but-forgotten Greek artist and her impact on 20th century American art.
Dia and the Menil’s exhibition is accompanied by the first major publication about Chryssa in more than thirty years.
Chryssa & New York is co-organized by Dia Art Foundation and the Menil Collection, Houston, in collaboration with Alphawood Foundation at Wrightwood 659, Chicago.
The exhibition is co-curated by Megan Holly Witko, External Curator, Dia Art Foundation, and Michelle White, Senior Curator, the Menil Collection, Houston.
Chryssa & New York is made possible by lead support from the Henry Luce Foundation.
The Dia presentation is made possible by major funding from Irene Panagopoulos and Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Significant support by the Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, and additional support by James L. Cahn and Jeremiah J. Collatz and D. Daskalopoulos Collection.
The publication is made possible by generous support from the Anthony E. Comninos Foundation, and additional support by Katherine Embiricos and Christos Papazis.
All exhibitions at Dia are made possible by the Economou Exhibition Fund.
Major funding for the Menil Collection presentation is provided by a gift in memory of Virginia P. Rorschach. Additional support comes from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
Major support for the exhibition catalogue is provided by the Menil Collection Publishing Fund.
Image: The Gates to Times Square, 1964-66, Copyright estate of Chryssa, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens. Image courtesy of Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York.
