Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE at the Whitney Museum of American Art was the first U.S. retrospective of Indiana’s work in twenty-five years and the first to be shown in New York City. The exhibition, curated by Barbara Haskell, consisted of nearly ninety works and addressed the political, social, and personal dimensions of Indiana’s work, presenting a multifaceted portrait of a complex artist deeply engaged with his times.
Although drawn from all phases of Indiana’s career, the exhibition focused primarily on his output during the 1960s, including examples from his American Dream series, the Confederacy series, the early literary paintings, and the major early LOVE canvases, such as LOVE Cross (1968) and his first LOVE sculpture (1966–1968). Rarely seen early works such as Mene, Mene, Tekel (1955–56/1989) and The American Sweetheart (1959–61) were shown alongside a large group of early herms and constructions. Later paintings from the Hartley Elegy series and The Ninth American Dream (2001) highlighted the prevailing strength and continuity of Indiana’s vision.
The exhibition traveled to the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, February 5–May 25, 2014.
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Left to right, The Green Diamond EAT/The Red Diamond DIE (1962), USA 666 (The Sixth American Dream) (1964–66), and Eat/Die (1962). Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Left to right, The Calumet (1961), Eat/Die (1962), The Demuth American Dream No. 5 (1963), The Beware-Danger American Dream #4 (1963), The Red Diamond American Dream #3 (1962), and The Black Diamond American Dream #2 (1962). Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Left to right, The American Dream, I (1960–61), The Rebecca (1962), Ahab (1960–62), and The Triumph of Tira (1960–62). Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Left to right, Ahab (1960–62), The Brooklyn Bridge (1964), Mene Mene Tekel (1955–56/1989), and Year of Meteors (1961). Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Left to right, KvF IV (Hartley Elegy) (1989–94), KvF X (Hartley Elegy) (1989–94), Brow (1960–62), M (1960), and The Metamporhosis of Norma Jean Mortenson (1967). Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
Installation view of Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 26, 2013–January 5, 2014. Photo: Tom Powel Imaging
