Since the mid-1960s, Keith Sonnier seamlessly integrated an array of media into his practice while prioritizing concept, process, and duration. This presentation marks the artist's first posthumous institutional exhibition in the United States, featuring a group of works realized between 1968 and 1970. During this formative period the artist radically reconsidered the haptic, spatial, and temporal dynamics of sculpture: from what he referred to as his "floor-to-wall" sculptures to installations that envelop their architectural surroundings with light and color. In these works, Sonnier pursued what he termed "psychologically loaded" industrial materials—including cloth and satin in addition to neon, latex, and flocking—with strong associative qualities. Many realized in situ, the sculptures and installations on view reconstitute the pivotal, early years of Sonnier's practice, encapsulating foundational concerns and innovative strategies that defined his artistic vocabulary, including the entanglement of material, light, time, and space, as well as the cultivation of psychological and sensual evocations through process and form.
Keith Sonnier is curated by Jordan Carter, curator and co–department head, with Min Sun Jeon, assistant curator.
All exhibitions at Dia are made possible by the Economou Exhibition Fund.
Keith Sonnier is made possible by support from James L. Cahn and Jeremiah J. Collatz, the David Schwartz Foundation, Inc., and those who wish to remain anonymous.
Louisiana-born sculptor and performance and video artist Keith Sonnier was a pioneer of post-Minimalist sculpture in the late 1960s. Experimenting with new materials, particularly neon lights, he helped to re-invent Minimalism for a contemporary era.
Dia was founded in New York City in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, Heiner Friedrich, and Helen Winkler to help artists achieve visionary projects that might not otherwise be realized because of scale or scope. To suggest the institution’s role in enabling such ambitions, they selected the name “Dia,” taken from the Greek word meaning 'through.'
Today, Dia is a constellation of sites, from the iconic permanent, site-specific artworks and installations in New York, the American West and Germany; to an exhibition program that has commissioned dozens of breakthrough projects; to the vast galleries of Dia:Beacon; and finally the programs of education and public engagement.
From the beginning, Dia demonstrated a willingness to follow and support artists’ ideas. Many of Dia’s early, major projects are sited outside the museum or gallery. These projects are open to the public and continue to be maintained by Dia today.
Dia commissioned and maintains The Lightning Field, completed by Walter De Maria in 1977 near Quemado, New Mexico. Additionally, De Maria’s installations The New York Earth Room (1977) and The Broken Kilometer (1979) in New York City and The Vertical Earth Kilometer (1977) in Kassel, Germany, have been on view for over 30 years.
Occupying a former Nabisco box printing factory on the banks of the Hudson River, Dia:Beacon presents Dia’s collection of art from the 1960s to the present as well as special exhibitions, new commissions, and public and education programs. Since its opening in May 2003, Dia:Beacon has helped transform the city of Beacon into a vibrant arts destination for visitors from the region, New York City, and beyond.
