Robert Irwin, Irving Blum Speak at Hirshhorn

Robert Irwin Speaks at the Hirshhorn

Programs for “Robert Irwin: All the Rules Will Change” Include Artist’s Demetrion Lecture and Rare Appearance by Famed Gallerist Irving Blum

“Robert Irwin: All the Rules Will Change,” the first U.S. museum survey outside the artist’s native California in nearly 40 years, runs April 7–Sept. 5 at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. A full slate of public programs accompanying the exhibition begins on opening day. Events will be held in the museum’s Ring Auditorium unless otherwise specified. All are free of charge. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

James T. Demetrion Lecture: Robert Irwin
Thursday, April 7; 7 pm

A leading figure of California Light and Space art, Irwin is one of the driving forces behind an expansion of the definition of art, as it moves away from the production of discrete artworks and into the arena of experience and perception. He discusses his life and work for the Hirshhorn’s most prestigious lecture series, presented in honor of the Hirshhorn’s second director.

Curators in Conversation: Lynne Cooke, Rob Weiner and Evelyn Hankins
Monday, April 18; 6:30 pm

Hirshhorn Curator Evelyn Hankins, who organized the exhibition, joins National Gallery of Art Senior Curator Lynne Cooke and Chinati Foundation Associate Director Rob Weiner to discuss major projects by Irwin at the Hirshhorn, Dia:Beacon and Chinati.

Irving Blum and The Cool School
Wednesday, May 4; 6:30 pm

Legendary contemporary art dealer Irving Blum introduces the documentary The Cool School: How LA Learned to Love Modern Art and reflects on his time at Ferus Gallery, where he worked with artists such as Irwin, Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jasper Johns. 

Lawrence Weschler: Seeing Is Remembering
Tuesday, May 17; 6:30 pm

The author of Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: Over Thirty Years of Conversations with Robert Irwin, arguably one of the most popular and insightful monographs about a contemporary artist, explores the development of the artist’s practice in the 1960s and many of his site-conditioned projects.

Film: Robert Irwin: The Beauty of Questions
Sunday, Aug. 21; 3 pm

Filmed over a period of five years, this documentary traces Irwin’s artistic trajectory from the 1940s to the 1990s. Leonard Feinstein’s film won the Grand Prize at the 6th International Biennale of Films on Art, held in Paris in 1998. 

Friday Gallery Talks

Meet at the Information Desk in the lobby for lunchtime discussions of the exhibition:

Annette Polan on Ways of Seeing
April 8; 12:30 p.m.

Annette Polan, a portrait painter and professor emerita at the Corcoran College of Art + Design at George Washington University, discusses various approaches to Irwin’s work.

Evelyn Hankins on Close Looking: Line Paintings
April 29; 12:30 p.m.

Hankins, the curator of the exhibition, discusses Irwin’s line paintings.

Evelyn Hankins on Close Looking: Dot Paintings
May 20; 12:30 p.m.

Hankins discusses Irwin’s dot paintings.

Evelyn Hankins on Close Looking: Discs
June 3; 12:30 p.m.

Hankins discusses Irwin’s aluminum and acrylic discs. 

Susan Lake on Materials
July 8; 12:30 p.m.

Hirshhorn Director of Collections Emeritus Susan Lake, formerly the museum’s chief conservator, discusses the methods and materials in Irwin’s paintings.

Glenn Dixon on Free Jazz
July 22; 12:30 p.m.

Hirshhorn writer, editor, and public information officer Glenn Dixon presents a free-jazz playlist for “aRobert Irwin: All the Rules Will Change.”

Danielle O’Steen on Plastics
Aug. 5; 12:30 p.m.

Independent curator and critic Danielle O’Steen, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland, College Park, discusses Irwin’s use of plastics.

J.D. Talasek on Science
Aug. 26; 12:30 p.m.

J.D. Talasek, director of cultural programs at the National Academy of Sciences, offers scientific perspectives on Irwin’s work.

“Robert Irwin: All the Rules Will Change” is organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and has been made possible through generous support from the LLWW Foundation, Rosa Giovanna Panza di Biumo, the Hirshhorn International Council, the Hirshhorn Collectors’ Council and the Scholarly Studies Program of the Smithsonian Institution. Media support provided by Artnet.