The only building the artist designed, Austin is Kelly’s most enduring legacy
In January 2015, the renowned American artist Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015) gifted to the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, the design concept for his most monumental work. A 2,715-square-foot stone building with luminous colored glass windows, a totemic wood sculpture and 14 black-and-white marble panels, the work is titled Austin, following the artist’s tradition of naming particular works after the places for which they are destined. The structure is the only building the artist designed, despite Kelly’s lifelong interest in architecture and architectural form dating back to his earliest window studies made while living in Paris in the 1940s. Envisioned by Kelly as a site for joy and contemplation, Austin is a cornerstone of the Blanton’s permanent collection and a new icon for the city in which it stands. This comprehensive volume from Radius Books provides a thorough look at the project, from its first inception to its current position as one of the artist’s most important and enduring works. An incisive essay by Carter E. Foster, deputy director of curatorial affairs at the Blanton Museum of Art, includes archival material, drawings, historic photographs and nearly all related works Kelly created as he developed the building’s design.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Ellsworth Kelly: Austin.'
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In addition to the binding, it's worth pointing out that the book is big, allowing the reader to practically immerse themselves in the color-drenched spaces [...] It's a beautiful document of an amazing building where art is both container and contained.
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In February 2018, the Blanton Museum of Art opened Ellsworth Kelly's masterpiece—a 2,715 square-foot limestone "secular chapel" with 26-foot double-barrel-vaulted ceilings, granite floors, and stained-glass windows, designed to house a series of abstract paintings on marble and a soaring California redwood "Totem" sculpture—to the public. It was a project that the artist, who died in 2015 at the age of 92, had envisioned in 1986, and had overseen in every detail until his death, two months before construction began. Now, Radius Books has released a superb new monograph on the project, featuring double Swiss binding, several deluxe papers, a wealth or archival materials, new installation photography and texts by the Blanton's Simone J. Wicha and Carter E. Foster. "I hope visitors will experience 'Austin' as a place of calm and light," Kelley said. "Go there and rest your eyes, rest your mind." continue to blog
Published by RADIUS BOOKS. Text by Carter E. Foster.
The only building the artist designed, Austin is Kelly’s most enduring legacy
In January 2015, the renowned American artist Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015) gifted to the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, the design concept for his most monumental work. A 2,715-square-foot stone building with luminous colored glass windows, a totemic wood sculpture and 14 black-and-white marble panels, the work is titled Austin, following the artist’s tradition of naming particular works after the places for which they are destined. The structure is the only building the artist designed, despite Kelly’s lifelong interest in architecture and architectural form dating back to his earliest window studies made while living in Paris in the 1940s. Envisioned by Kelly as a site for joy and contemplation, Austin is a cornerstone of the Blanton’s permanent collection and a new icon for the city in which it stands. This comprehensive volume from Radius Books provides a thorough look at the project, from its first inception to its current position as one of the artist’s most important and enduring works. An incisive essay by Carter E. Foster, deputy director of curatorial affairs at the Blanton Museum of Art, includes archival material, drawings, historic photographs and nearly all related works Kelly created as he developed the building’s design.
