Martin Puryear Commission

Storm King Art Center has commissioned artist Martin Puryear to create a new, site-specific work for its permanent collection set to open in September 2023.

Martin Puryear is one of the most important sculptors working today, and his project for Storm King will join a historic series of site-specific commissions for Art Center’s permanent collection, including works by Andy Goldsworthy, Maya Lin, Isamu Noguchi, Richard Serra, and Sarah Sze, among others.

The 20-foot-high structure will occupy a clearing at the edge of the Art Center’s North Woods. The commission will be accompanied by an exhibition of Martin Puryear’s drawings and process models for large-scale outdoor and public works, spanning over four decades of the artist’s career, and a publication.

 

 

The sculpture will be composed completely of brick and marks the artist’s first use of the material—a nod to brickmaking as a once-primary industry in the Hudson Valley and a reference to the brick structures that dot the local landscape. The work will challenge viewers’ conceptions of this ubiquitous material: rather than straight lines and solid walls, the sculpture will curve inward and upward, opening to allow entry from one side while producing an overhanging swelling form on the opposite end.

three different angles of the Martin Puryear commission, from left to right: an archway on completed brick with the wire structure in the shape of a dome extending upward, a close up of the terracotta colored bricks and how they curve with the sculpture, and a view of the sculpture half completed from the sideInstallation in progress of the permanent commission for Storm King Art Center by Martin Puryear. Photo by Jeffrey Jenkins


A crew of masons commenced bricklaying in fall 2022 and will continue this work into 2023. Once masonry work on the commission concludes, the landscape around the sculpture will be shaped under the guidance of Reed Hildebrand Landscape Architects, which will allow visitors to experience the work from all sides, including from within.

team of masons working on half completed Puryear commission: an archway of brick with wire support in the shape of a dome ascending from the archwayInstallation in progress of the permanent commission for Storm King Art Center by Martin Puryear. Photo by Jeffrey Jenkins

Supporters
Storm King’s commission and exhibition by Martin Puryear are made possible by generous major support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Bridgitt and Bruce Evans, Glenstone Foundation, Ohnell Family Foundation, the Hazen Polsky Foundation, Thomas A. and Georgina T. Russo, Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, and Margaret VB Wurtele.

Lead support is provided by Agnes Gund, and The Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder Foundation, with support also provided by Robert Lehman Foundation and supported in part by Andrew L. and Gayle Shaw Camden, Jennifer Brorsen and Richard DeMartini, Tommy and Dathel Coleman, and Martha Gabbert.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Bloomberg Philanthropies

 

 

National Endowment for the Arts

 

 

 

As of March 3, 2023

Become A Supporter
Join Storm King in helping Martin Puryear realize one of his most ambitious projects. Become a supporter by making a donation today.


For gifts larger than $25,000, or for additional information, please contact Catherine Taylor-Williams: c.taylorwilliams[at]stormkingartcenter.org