How does an artist go from being a smash hit to falling through the cracks of art history? Beginning in 1957 and through the 1960s, the artist Marisol (1930–2016) was the toast of the New York art scene, her figurative sculptures of roughly hewn wood and found objects admired by artists, critics, and the public alike. Her work was included in the pivotal “Art of Assemblage” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1961, and she represented Venezuela at the 1968 Venice Biennale. Yet by the 1970s her art was falling out of favor, as a fickle art world turned its attention to other styles and movements.
Now, however, Marisol is back in the spotlight. In her multifaceted practice, she was prescient in subtly addressing social and political issues, such as the immigrant experience, the environment, Native American rights, and social injustice, concerns that make her work newly relevant today. Fittingly, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum has organized a major retrospective of works from its substantial holdings, along with some significant loans. The exhibition is now at the Toledo Museum of Art, through June 2, after which it travels to Buffalo and then to Dallas. Below, we take a fresh look at Marisol’s life and her hard-to-classify art.
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Source: artnews.com