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September 21, 2020 to May 9, 2021 | Main Street Sculpture, Sculpture Garden, Lobby, Leir Gallery, Screening Room, Project Space

Frank Stella’s Stars, A Survey

Among the myriad of forms that have appeared in Frank Stella’s (b. 1936) work, the star is the most singular, standing out as a stable and immediately identifiable shape amidst the tangle of abstract, invented forms that the artist has utilized over his long career.

Artworks

Photo of gallery with a small sculpture to left, a large star-shaped painting at center, and a large sculpture featuring a colorful star to the right.
Small scale maquettes for larger sculptures by Frank Stella on tables with white surfaces.
Smaller wooden star sculpture in foreground, large-scale black star sculpture in background.
Stainless steel sculpture in form of abstract star by Frank Stella set in the lawn by Main Street in Ridgefield, CT in front of the Museum.
Façade of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum with three star sculptures on the grounds.
Stainless steel sculpture of an abstract star by Frank Stella sited outside on the Museum's grounds.
Large-scale sculpture of a black star.
Two large scale star shaped sculptures installed on the grass in the Museum's Sculpture Garden.

Frank Stella’s Stars, A Survey

The historical arc of Stella’s use of the star travels from the minimal to the maximal, with the recent star sculptures frequently exhibiting a corruption of the form as well as a wild diversity of materials and fabrication techniques. Frank Stella’s Stars, A Survey will be presented both in the galleries and the Museum's Sculpture Garden. A 150-page hardbound book featuring essays by the exhibition's curators Richard Klein, Exhibitions Director, and Amy Smith-Stewart, Senior Curator, will be co-published by Gregory R. Miller & Co.

Curated by Richard Klein, Exhibitions Director, and Amy Smith-Stewart, Senior Curator

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Press

“‘I think about all kinds of art all the time when I see things,’ Stella told AD at one point in the article. ‘I think about art in terms of generalities and problems.’ Perhaps then, his stars were one important part of that think-quest.”
—Architectural Digest
“In the beginning, in a certain way, you could say I owe everything to the Aldrich,’ [Frank Stella] said, noting the museum provided support when he was an emerging artist.”
—The Ridgefield Press

Funders

Generous support for Frank Stella's Stars, A Survey is provided by the Anne S. Richardson Fund, Speyer Family Foundation, Martin Margulies, Diana Bowes and James Torrey, Linda and Michael Dugan, and Patricia and Lawrence Kemp.

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Photo of gallery with a small sculpture to left, a large star-shaped painting at center, and a large sculpture featuring a colorful star to the right.
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Related News

Frank Stella in his studio
Press

“The Constellation of Frank Stella,” T Magazine, March 18, 2020

The artist’s Minimalist abstractions helped change the direction of his painting.

Red background with text reading "My favorite artwork: Frank Stella"
Press

“My Favorite Artwork | Frank Stella,” T Magazine, March 18, 2020

The artist cites a painterly 19th-century landscape and a geometric 20th-century mural as influences on his own work.

Two large scale star shaped sculptures installed on the grass in the Museum's Sculpture Garden.
Press

Frank Stella Has Always Been a Star, Architectural Digest

A new exhibition calls to mind an interview with Frank Stella from a 1983 issue of Architectural Digest.

Stainless steel sculpture in form of abstract star by Frank Stella set in the lawn by Main Street in Ridgefield, CT in front of the Museum.
Press

Artist Frank Stella credits Aldrich with Supporting Early Career, The Ridgefield Press

The show highlights Stella’s work with star figures, a form he’s often explored during a career of more than six decades.

Top image: Frank Stella’s Stars, A Survey, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, September 21, 2020 to May 9, 2021 (installation view, left, Jasper’s Split Star, 2017; right, Frank’s Wooden Star, 2014), Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen © 2020 Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Christopher E. Manning