Primary Colors: Dan Gorski Paintings, 1962-65

January 06 - February 14,2024

From the Jung Center: "The Jung Center is pleased to present the new exhibition Primary Colors: Dan Gorski Paintings, 1962-65. Dan Gorski created a group of paintings between 1962 and 1965 that demonstrate his intense interest in color and its effects on both artist and viewer. These abstract paintings, with their specific color combinations and biomorphic compositions, offer viewers a contemplative space for reflection and inspiration. Gorski’s early engagements with minimalism, color field, and hard-edge movements as they developed in the United States mark a critical period in 20th century art, and illustrate the journey of artistic experimentation and investigation that he pursued throughout his entire career. His work from this period in the mid 1960s was selected by the curator Kynaston McShine for inclusion in the groundbreaking exhibition Primary Structures at the Jewish Museum in New York in 1966. Alongside artists such as Larry Bell, Judy Chicago, Bridget Bray info@dangorski.org Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, and Walter de Maria, Gorski was featured in the historic exhibition, which is widely considered to be the first to spotlight artists working in a minimalist mode, with a focus on essential forms, geometries, and planes of color. Geography played a formative role in Gorski’s work and career as well, with the artist calling Houston his home for almost thirty years. He influenced a new generation of artists as Director of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Glassell School, demonstrating a passion not only for his own studio work but also arts education. His tenure at the Glassell was preceded by his leadership of the painting department at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore. The new exhibition at The Jung Center, curated by Bridget Bray, will feature important examples of the mid-60s works by Dan Gorski, many never before exhibited in Houston, and spotlight a remarkable chapter in the history of an artist who lived and worked in the city for a large part of his career. ABOUT THE ARTIST Dan Gorski was born in 1939 in Cleveland and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art before attending the prestigious Yale Norfolk Summer School, completing his MFA at Yale in 1964. While at Yale, professors such as Al Held and Jack Tworkov significantly impacted his practice, in a tightly-knit milieu of fellow classmates including Chuck Close, Nancy Graves, Robert Mangold, and Richard Serra. Gorski made his debut in the landmark group exhibition Primary Structures at the Jewish Museum in New York in 1966. Gorski combined his active studio practice with a long-standing commitment to teaching, including at Ithaca College in the late 1960s. He led the painting department at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore from 1971 to 1990. Gorski relocated to Houston to direct the Glassell School at Museum of Fine Arts Houston in 1990, retiring in 1996, and dedicating his attention to working in the studio until his death in 2017. Centering the processes of inquiry and self-discovery, Gorski summed up his years of artistic practice in the following way: “I would always change again and again, realizing that the change was an obligation to myself.” https://dangorski.org/ Instagram: @dangorskiart For more information, contact Bridget Bray at info@dangorski.org or visit https://junghouston.org/exhibit/primary-colors-dan-gorski-paintings-1962-65/. ABOUT THE JUNG CENTER For more than sixty years, The Jung Center has served as a nonprofit resource unique to Houston — a forum for dynamic conversations across disciplines and perspectives about what matters most in our lives. We champion the value of living an examined life. We prize compassion and creativity. We encourage action rooted in reflection and connection. We look beyond convenient stories to uncover what we have hidden from ourselves — and what has been hidden from us by others. We do this through hundreds of events, exhibits, and performances every year throughout the region and online."

On View: January 06, 2024 | 5-7 pm

Jung Center Houston 5200 Montrose Blvd
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