Museum Home Current Exhibitions From Start to Finish: De Wain Valentine's Gray Column

September 13, 2011–March 11, 2012 at the Getty Center

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Gray Column / De Wain Valentine
Gray Column, 1975–76, De Wain Valentine. Polyester resin, 140 in. high x 87 1/2 in. wide x 9 1/2 in. deep. Lent by De Wain Valentine Artwork © De Wain Valentine
 
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Gray Column was one of the largest sculptures De Wain Valentine ever cast with polyester resin—the material with which he worked throughout the 1960s and 1970s to create his dazzling circles and columns. This monumental, free-standing slab, measuring twelve feet high and eight feet wide, was abandoned in 1975 and only completed for this exhibition.

Curated by the Getty Conservation Institute and on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum, From Start to Finish tells the story of how this extraordinary piece was made and features preparatory drawings and maquettes, videos documenting the fabrication process, interviews with the artist, and a discussion of the conservation of this sculpture.

This exhibition is part of the region-wide Pacific Standard Time initiative.

Pacific Standard Time at the Getty