A Walk Through “Agnes Denes: Absolutes and Intermediates”

Agnes Denes rose to international attention in the 1960s and 1970s as a leading figure in conceptual, environmental, and ecological art. A pioneer of several art movements, she creates work in a broad range of mediums, utilizing various disciplines—science, philosophy, linguistics, ecology, psychology—to analyze, document, and ultimately aid humanity. Denes turns her analysis into beautiful, sensual visual forms, poetry, and a philosophy that she has developed over the course of her career. This comprehensive survey exhibition, “Agnes Denes: Absolutes and Intermediates,” brought together over 150 works spanning her 50-year career. The exhibition included a comprehensive look at her important series the “Philosophical Drawings” (1969 – 80), “Map Projections” (1973 – 79), and “Pyramid Series” (1970 –); her realized monumental public works, including the iconic “Wheatfield—A Confrontation” (1982); as well as a presentation of unrealized works. The Shed also commissioned a number of works that both expound and expand on the ideas that have been ever present throughout Denes’s career.