SOL LEWITTE : Works from the 1960s
Jan 15 - Feb 28, 2026
Paula Cooper Gallery, 534 W 21st St, New York, NY 10011
A name that never fails to appear in art history books, Sol LeWitt is a legend of Minimalism and Conceptual Art. Along with Dan Flavin, whom I introduced earlier, he is a pivotal artist who built the very foundation of contemporary art. For this exhibition, Paula Cooper Gallery dedicated multiple spaces to showcase the sheer scale and significance of LeWitt’s work.
He is the artist who famously said, "The idea becomes a machine that makes the art." He valued 'planning' and 'logic' more than the final physical result. Because of this philosophy, he often didn't paint the murals himself; instead, he wrote out detailed instructions or diagrams. Assistants would then execute the wall drawings following those instructions—much like an architect’s working method. He is also known as the "Magician of the Cube," so when you see those white grid structures, you naturally think, "Ah, that's Sol LeWitt."
Paula Cooper Gallery is said to be the very first contemporary art gallery to open in SoHo back in 1968. Although it is now located in Chelsea, it was Paula Cooper herself who transformed SoHo—a place no one visited at the time—into the world-renowned art district it is today. Known as a sanctuary of Minimalism, it serves as the home base for masters like Donald Judd and Carl Andre, as well as Sol LeWitt. While other major galleries focus on commercially successful works, Paula Cooper is famous for insisting on philosophical and experimental exhibitions, even if they are challenging. Knowing this history makes me admire the gallery even more.
솔 르윗: 1960년대 작업들
1960년대 초반은 솔 르윗에게 매우 중요한 시기였습니다. 그는 자신의 예술 세계를 지탱하는 핵심 테마인 순차성(sequence), 직렬성(seriality), 글과 이미지의 결합, 그리고 3차원성을 실험하기 시작했습니다. 1월 15일에 개막하는 《솔 르윗: 1960년대 작업들》 전시에서는 이러한 원칙들이 어떻게 발전했는지 추적합니다. 특히 평면 회화 속의 형상(figuration)이 어떻게 3차원의 구조물과 벽화(wall drawing)로 전이되었는지에 주목합니다.
이번 전시의 많은 작품들은 움직이는 인간의 형상을 묘사하고 있습니다. 이는 걷고, 뛰고, 오르는 사람들을 연속 촬영한 에드워드 머이브리지(Eadweard Muybridge)의 사진이 솔 르윗의 개념적 접근 방식에 큰 영향을 주었음을 보여줍니다. 그중에서도 머이브리지의 1872~1885년 사진 복합물에서 직접 영감을 받은 대형 회화와 부조 시리즈인 《달리기(Run)》 시리즈는 매우 주목할 만합니다. 캔버스와 종이에 그려진 인물 연구들은 솔 르윗의 작업 과정을 고스란히 드러냅니다: "그곳에 나에게 중요한 무언가가 있다는 건 알았지만, 그것을 어떻게 활용해야 할지는 몰랐다."
1960년대 후반에 이르러 솔 르윗은 자신의 아이디어를 물리적으로 구현하기 위한 시스템으로 '직렬 모듈 구조(serial modular structures)'를 확립하며, 독창적이고 합리적인 창작 프로세스를 구축했습니다. 또한 그는 직선을 무한히 조합하는 《드로잉 시리즈(Drawing Series)》 시스템을 개발했고, 1968년 폴라 쿠퍼 갤러리(Paula Cooper Gallery)에서 벽면에 직접 손으로 그린 첫 번째 벽화(wall drawing) 를 선보였습니다.
전시에는 1966년 유대인 박물관의 전설적인 전시 《프라이머리 스트럭처(Primary Structures)》에 출품되었던 《모듈러 큐브(Modular Cube, 1966)》와, 댄 그레이엄이 운영했던 실험적 공간 존 다니엘스 갤러리에서의 1965년 첫 개인전 작품들이 포함됩니다.
한편, 일본 도쿄 현대미술관(MOT)에서도 2025년 12월 24일부터 2026년 4월 2일까지 솔 르윗의 대규모 전시 《솔 르윗: 오픈 스트럭처》가 열리고 있습니다. 이는 일본 공립 미술관에서 열리는 그의 첫 번째 대규모 전시입니다.
Sol LeWitt: Works from the 1960s
The early 1960s was a pivotal moment for Sol LeWitt, as the artist experimented with the foundational themes of his art: sequence, seriality, the union of word and image, and three-dimensionality. Opening on January 15th, Sol LeWitt: Works from the 1960s will trace the development of these guiding principles, paying special attention to the transition from figuration on a flat painted plane to seriality in three-dimensional structures and wall drawings.
A number of works in the exhibition depict human figures in motion, revealing the influence of Eadweard Muybridge’s sequential photographs of people walking, jumping, and climbing on the formation of LeWitt’s conceptual approach. Among these are the remarkable Run series of large-scale paintings and painted reliefs that borrow directly from Muybridge’s photographic composite Running at full speed, 1872-1885. Figure studies for this body of work on canvas and paper lay bare LeWitt’s process: “I knew that there was something there that was important to me, but I didn’t know how to use it.”[1]
By the late 1960s LeWitt had identified serial modular structures as a system for the physical manifestation of his ideas, establishing a creative process of profound rationality and originality. LeWitt also developed his Drawing Series system using straight lines in multiple, infinite combinations and executed his first wall drawing at Paula Cooper Gallery in 1968, an adaptation of this system drawn by hand directly on the wall.
The exhibition will include Modular Cube, 1966, which was included in the influential Primary Structures exhibition at the Jewish Museum that year, as well as works from LeWitt’s first one-person show in 1965 at the John Daniels Gallery, a short-lived experimental space operated by Dan Graham.
A major exhibition of LeWitt’s work will also be on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) from December 24, 2025 – April 2, 2026. Titled Sol LeWitt: Open Structure, this exhibition marks the first significant presentation of his work at a public museum in Japan.
Original Text from Paula Cooper Gallery
예술은 결과물이 아니라 그 뒤에 숨겨진 '생각의 기계'라고 믿었던 솔 르윗. 그의 정교한 논리가 폴라 쿠퍼의 높은 천장 아래 겹겹이 쌓여있는 모습을 보며, 현대미술의 가장 단단한 뿌리를 만난 기분이었어요.
화려한 기교 대신 직선과 입방체(Cube)라는 가장 순수한 언어로 공간을 정의하는 그의 작업은, 복잡한 일상을 잠시 멈추고 사물의 본질을 들여다보게 하는 묘한 힘이 있었구요. 50년이 넘는 세월 동안 철학적이고 실험적인 가치를 지켜온 폴라 쿠퍼 갤러리의 뚝심과 솔 르윗의 명징한 아이디어가 만나, 첼시의 공기마저도 더욱 투명하게 느껴지는 시간이었어요. 가장 단순한 것이 가장 강력한 울림을 준다는 미니멀리즘의 정수를 되새기는 시간이었어요. 감사합니다.
Sol LeWitt believed that art is not just a final result, but a "machine of thought" hidden behind it. Seeing his sophisticated logic layered beneath the high ceilings of Paula Cooper Gallery, I felt as though I was encountering the sturdiest roots of contemporary art.
His work, which defines space through the purest language of straight lines and cubes instead of flashy techniques, has a mysterious power that makes one pause their busy daily life and look into the essence of things. The meeting of Paula Cooper Gallery’s steadfast commitment to philosophical and experimental values for over 50 years and LeWitt’s lucid ideas made even the air of Chelsea feel more transparent. It was a moment to reflect on the essence of Minimalism—that the simplest things often resonate most powerfully. Thank you.