Later Works

Later Works

Date: January 29, 2015
Author: kwagner2@uoregon.edu
Category:
"The Quadrant" 1988

“The Quadrant” 1988

92 1/4 in. x 82 3/4 in. x 49 1/2 in.
Mixed media on etched magnesium

17-stella-k-43

“K 43” 2008

relief sculptures

 

Featured Image: “Monstrous Pictures of Whales”, 1993, 4 ft x 6.3 ft

As Stella continued to create work beyond the 1960s and 1970s, his style continued to turn to Post Painterly Abstraction through his use of bright colors, lack of representation, and pushing beyond the boundaries of the canvas. We can see that he gives painting more of an object like nature with his big metal relief sculptures. One of his more famous pieces shows his interest in collage,  “Monstrous Pictures of Whales” (named after Chapter 55 of Moby Dick) is made of many materials including:lithograph, etching, aquatint, relief and screenprint on paper. In the later years Stella got into sculpture and architecture, leaving many critics, viewers and other artists wondering how did he end up in such a different place than where he began? An interview in the Spring of 2000 by BOMB Magazine between Frank Stella and Saul Ostrow gives some answers, click the link below:

http://bombmagazine.org/article/2296/frank-stella

Although this may appear like an amateur video at first, it proves to be very interesting as a man walks through the Frank Stella exhibit hosted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It begins around 50 seconds in, and Frank Stella himself is at the event. The end of the video, around seven minutes in, is an interview with Stella about modernism, and his transition between painting and architecture. This video gives you a chance to see his works from all different phases of his career. The narrator of the video even makes a comment about how Stella started off as the “flattest of flat” when it comes to painting, and how how ironic it is that he turned into a sculptor and architect. It’s worth it to have a look at the variety of Stella’s work over the years!