New York City Center Unveils Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #357

NEW YORK CITY CENTER unveils Wall Drawing #357 by renowned American artist Sol LeWitt (1928 – 2007) as part of the 80th Season at the Center of the Arts, on view in the Grand Tier Lobby for audiences to experience throughout the season. The wall drawing is presented in connection with the Lyon Opera Ballet performances of the Lucinda Childs masterwork Dance (Oct 19 – 21) with music by Philip Glass and film design by Sol LeWitt. The installation is a continuation of City Center's visual art exhibits which have featured works by Stephen Antonakos, Keith Haring, Arnold Newman, Jorge Otero-Pailos (commission), Nina Robinson (commission), Mark Seliger, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Lawrence Weiner (commission), and the forthcoming works of Deborah Kass.

Wall Drawing #357, which is a development of the arc motif, was first made in November 1981 and is a tribute to choreographer Lucinda Childs. The arc, together with the straight line and the diagonal, comprise the formal range of her minimalist dances. Childs is known for her collaborations with visual artists, composers, directors, and designers including John Adams, Philip Glass, Sol LeWitt, Peter Sellars, and Robert Wilson. Her 1979 masterwork Dance, encompassing three dances performed together without intermission, is set to the music of Phillip Glass with LeWitt's black-and-white film projected in front of the stage simultaneous with the three dances, creating instantaneous layers of time. The film was recreated, frame by frame, for the first time in 2016 with the dancers of Lyon Opera Ballet for their production of Dance.

LeWitt made his first-ever wall drawing for Paula Cooper Gallery in 1968, and it was considered radical, in part because this innovative form of drawing was intentionally temporary and often executed not just by LeWitt but also by other artists he invited to assist him. Each wall drawing begins as a set of instructions or diagram to be followed. The drawing dimensions are variable to the size of the wall, and LeWitt entrusted many decisions in the execution of his work to the drafters, which means no two pieces created from the same directions will ever be identical. This is the first time this wall drawing has appeared in New York City since its initial installation at Zabriskie Gallery in 1981. It will remain on view at New York City Center until the fall of 2026.

About Sol LeWitt

The preeminent American artist Sol LeWitt, whose pioneering style defies categorization, is well-known for his wall drawings as well as his many variations of open cube structures, complex forms, and works on paper. A critical departure from the tradition of object-based art, he believed in the primacy of the idea, famously stating: “The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” LeWitt executed his first wall drawing for Paula Cooper Galleryʼs inaugural show in 1968. In November 2008, “Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective” opened at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, where it will remain on view for 35 years. Recent one-person presentations include those at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, and the Modern Institute, Glasgow. LeWittʼs works are in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Centre National dʼArt Moderne Georges Pompidou, Paris, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Turinʼs Castello di Rivoli, the Moderna Museet Stockholm, and the Tate Gallery, London.

Support for Visual Art New York City Center is provided by Deborah Goodman Davis and Gerald R. Davis.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER

(Michael S. Rosenberg, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. The distinctive Neo-Moorish building was founded by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as Manhattan's first performing arts center with the mission of making the best in theater, dance, and music accessible to all audiences. This commitment continues today through celebrated dance and musical theater series like the Fall for Dance Festival and the Tony-honored Encores! series; the annual season by Principal Dance Company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and new dance series Artists at the Center. City Center welcomes audiences to experience internationally acclaimed artists including Kyle Abraham, Matthew Bourne, Ayodele Casel, Manhattan Theatre Club, Nederlands Dans Theater, and Twyla Tharp, on the same stage where legends made their mark. Dedicated to a culture built on the values of curiosity, collaboration, accessibility, and inclusivity, City Center's dynamic programming, art exhibitions, and studio events are complemented by education and community engagement programs that bring the performing arts to thousands of New York City students, teachers, and families every year. NYCityCenter.org