Susan Inglett Gallery is pleased to present Process, Maren Hassinger’s third solo exhibition with the Gallery, from 20 April through 3 June 2023. The Gallery will host an opening reception with the artist on Thursday, 20 April from 6 – 8 PM. The artist will be present for a rolling installation 20 - 22 April 2023 and 18 - 20 May 2023 from 12 – 3 PM. Audience participation is invited and encouraged.
“We are an extension of nature. We build our environment, no different from any other living creature.”
-Maren Hassinger
Every day holds the possibility for change-- here rope is looped and knotted to form hanging skeletal structures, newspaper is twisted and twined, concrete slabs planted with wire rope are arranged and rearranged in an unchoreographed dance. In Process, the artist merges her history as a performance artist with her ongoing sculpture practice. As a progressive installation, Hassinger invites the audience to collaborate in the artistic process, allowing for the element of chance, surprise, and cooperation.
Throughout Hassinger's expansive practice, she has intentionally selected industrial materials that resemble elements found in nature. When manipulated, steel rope, concrete, newspaper, and fabric create an environment that references our inextricable connection to the earth. Throughout the progression of this performance, Hassinger renders the beauty found in nature and its inevitable evolution-- exploring humanity’s impact on the environment and the role we play in its future.
MAREN HASSINGER (b. 1947) has built an interdisciplinary practice that articulates the relationship between nature and humanity. Carefully choosing materials for their innate characteristics, Hassinger has explored the subject of movement, family, love, nature, environment, consumerism, identity, and race. Wire rope has played a prominent role in Maren Hassinger’s artistic practice since the early 1970s when as a sculptor placed in the Fiber Arts program at UCLA, Hassinger used the material to bridge the gap between the two disciplines. The artist uses her materials to mimic nature, whether bundling it to resemble a monolithic sheaf of wheat or planting it in cement to create an industrial garden. Within the past five years, the artist has executed commissions for Dia Bridgehampton, Socrates Sculpture Park, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the Aspen Art Museum. Hassinger will be honored with an upcoming two-person survey alongside Senga Nengudi at IVAM, Valencia as well as an exhibition focused on their work in performance at the Cooley Gallery, Reed College, Portland, OR. She is the recipient of the Women’s Caucus for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work can be found at the Art Institute of Chicago; the Hirshhorn Museum; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art, NYC; San Francisco Museum of Art; the Walker Art Center, and the Whitney Museum, among others.
