
The Chicago Panels
1989
Part of Ellsworth Kelly's monumental suite 'The Chicago Panels' (1989–1999), this red panel is one of six architectural reliefs conceived for the Art Institute of Chicago's Rice Building. Reduced to a single chromatic field with irregular contours and commanding scale, the work embodies Kelly's lifelong ambition to bring painting into direct contact with architecture — treating color as structure, shape as interval, and wall as field. The acrylic on fiberglass and plywood construction gives the color an object-like, architectural body that shifts from isolated form to spatial rhythm as the viewer moves. A highlight of the Art Institute of Chicago's permanent collection, this series represents one of the most lucid realizations of Kelly's vision for painting to accompany modern architecture.
- Medium
- Acrylic on fiberglass and plywood
- Dimensions
- Spotted At
- Museum · Art Institute of Chicago
Notes
Suite of six monumental reliefs (black, red, yellow, blue, orange, and green) conceived for the museum's Rice Building. Dimensions across the suite range from 189.5 × 212.3 cm to 269.8 × 208 cm. Images courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation. Source: zeitcontemporaryart Instagram/post.
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