Frank Stella's Stars, A Survey

September 21, 2020 to September 7, 2021 | Sculpture Garden, Main Street Sculpture

Frank Stella's Stars, A Survey | Outdoor Installation

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. The indoor portion of the exhibition will be on view from September 21, 2020 to May 9, 2021. The outdoor installation will be on view from September 21, 2020 to September 7, 2021.

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, with the help of Caitlin Monachino, Curatorial Assistant and Publications Manager.

Stainless steel sculpture of an abstract star by Frank Stella sited outside on the Museum's grounds.

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

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.

CBS Sunday Morning

Stella on his artistic obsessions, CBS Sunday Morning

Press

“Frank Stella’s Stars’ is a testimony to an artist, now 84, in perpetual evolution. Its focus on the star motif ends up reaffirming the restlessness of this painter’s progress and his underappreciated engagement with new technologies of design, fabrication and display.”
—The New York Times

“They have to have a certain kind of life of their own, and a presence of their own. They seem happy here.”
—Frank Stella, CBS Sunday Morning

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.

Related Events

A man wearing all black with long gray hair views a large-scale black star sculpture by Frank Stella.

May 20, 2021 at 6:00 pm | Public Programs

Frank Stella: Virtual Talk with Art Historian Robert Hobbs presented with The Glass House

This talk will cover Frank Stella’s artistic development and his place in art history by examining Stella’s works from the current Aldrich exhibition Frank Stella’s Stars, A Survey and the Glass House’s collection.

Painting of a golden sun surrounded by moons in varying phases of waxing and waning.

June 20, 2021 at 1:00 pm | Public Programs

Scores for the Stars, Part II

Scores for the Stars, 2020-21, is a two-part series by artist Ander Mikalson commissioned by The Aldrich and dedicated to Frank Stella’s Stars.

Related Exhibitions

Smaller wooden star sculpture in foreground, large-scale black star sculpture in background.

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

Related News

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.

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.

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.

Press

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

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

Frank Stella interviewed in the galleries

Press

Stella On His Artistic Obsessions, CBS Sunday Morning

The 84-year-old abstract artist's giant star sculptures, now on display in Connecticut, exhibit a life of their own.

Top image: Frank Stella’s Stars, A Survey, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, September 21, 2020 to May 9, 2021 (installation view, left, Star with Square Tubing, 2016; right, Stick Star, 2017, ), 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

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

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