MAY 16 – NOVEMBER 8, 2015
Lynda Benglis: Water Sources is the first exhibition centered around the outdoor water fountains that the artist has been developing since the early 1980s. More broadly, this presentation takes as its point of departure the interest in water and landscape that Benglis has explored throughout the last thirty years of her career.
Benglis (b.1941) grew up surrounded by lakes, rivers, and marshes in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and has long felt a deep connection to water. Many of her fountains, such as Pink Ladies, reference the human form, and Benglis sees a natural connection between people and water. We are buoyant in the womb, and upon our exit, as Benglis has noted, “we are walking water vessels ourselves.” She was in Greece at age eleven when she experienced the pulse of a turbulent ocean while crossing the seas with her grandmother. When she first arrived on the East Coast of the United States in 1964, she spent a lot of time on the ocean in the summer and liked the pattern of the waves on the sand. Benglis's interest in water intensified when she began scuba diving while living and working in Los Angeles; she has also spent ample time in locations at water's edge around the world, including her ancestral home on the Greek island of Kastellorizo, and on New York's Long Island.
Benglis, who moved to New York City and rose to prominence in the late 1960s after receiving a degree in fine arts from Newcomb College for Women at Tulane University in New Orleans, where she focused on painting and ceramics, is known for her inquisitiveness, dexterity, and sculptural achievements across several materials-both traditional, such as wax, bronze, and clay, and non-traditional, such as natural latex rubber and polyurethane foam. Her process embraces chance while maintaining deft artistic control. Based in human scale, her works engage with larger patterns of flow and movement, extending her exploration of motion across all natural forms.
This exhibition is organized by David R. Collens, Director and Chief Curator, Storm King Art Center; and Nora Lawrence, Curator, Storm King Art Center. Design by Gina Rossi.
Lynda Benglis: Water Sources is made possible by generous lead support from Roberta and Steven Denning, Agnes Gund, the Hazen Polsky Foundation, Ohnell Charitable Lead Trust, and Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust. Additional support is provided by Janet Inskeep Benton, The Cowles Charitable Trust, The Helis Foundation, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., The Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin M. Rosen, Hume R. Steyer and Nanahya C. Santana, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, and the Vance Wall Foundation. Special thanks also to Dan Desmond and Julia Fowler of J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Support for the accompanying publication is provided by Cheim & Read, New York.
Media sponsorship provided by 
Support for education-related programming is provided by the Charina Endowment Fund and Sidney E. Frank Foundation, and artist talks are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
With thanks to Storm King Art Center’s installation team, led by Mike Seaman and including Joel Longinott, Armando Ocampo, Mike Odynsky, and Howard Seaman, as well as Storm King’s entire staff. Thanks as well to Theresa Choi and Mary Ann Carter in Storm King’s curatorial department, Christina Grillo, and the staff of the Benglis Studio: Sarita Dubin, Nicole Root, and Irene Chin.
