MEIJER GARDENS PRESENTS AN EXPLORATION OF GEORGE SEGAL’S WORK ACROSS
A WIDE RANGE OF MEDIA AND MATERIALS
George Segal: Body Language will be the first opportunity to view the artist’s sculptures side-by-side with a recent gift of prints from the Segal Foundation.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — March 3, 2020—Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is honored to announce the upcoming sculpture exhibition, George Segal: Body Language. Opening on April 3, 2020, this exclusive exhibition organized by Meijer Gardens and the Segal Foundation explores Segal’s career and focuses on his remarkable versatility in representing body language across different media including plaster and various print techniques. This exhibition will run through August 16, 2020.
Approximately sixty years ago, George Segal embraced a new working process that catapulted him to become one of the most recognized twentieth-century sculptors. During the summer of 1961, Segal was introduced to medical gauze bandages which he began to use as a primary material to cast plaster sculptures. The following year he was included in the legendary exhibition The New Realists, along with Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg and Jim Dine. In response to this group exhibition, the American media began to refer to the artists as a new movement: Pop Art.
“The George and Helen Segal Foundation is pleased to see Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park exhibit their collection of Segal works along with rarely seen prints,” said Rena Segal, President of the George and Helen Segal Foundation. “It is wonderful that his work will inspire new audiences.”
George Segal: Body Language will revisit the career of George Segal and focus on his remarkable versatility in representing body language across a variety of materials. This is the first exhibition of Segal’s work at Meijer Gardens since 2004 and will be the first time that a selection of the gift of 31 prints from the Segal Foundation will be on display.
“We are thrilled to share this selection of George Segal’s sculptures, reliefs and two-dimensional works with our guests,” said Jochen Wierich, Curator of Sculpture & Sculpture Exhibitions at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. “Segal’s exploration of the human body across different media continues to resonate. By showing the wide range of prints he made while also working on sculpture, we hope to add a new and largely unexplored dimension to this important 20th century artist.”
