Mel Kendrick Discusses His Practice With Art Critic Nancy Princenthal

On Friday, December 2, at 6 p.m. artist Mel Kendrick, whose work is featured in “Mel Kendrick: Seeing Things in Things” at the Parrish Art Museum, will discuss his practice and process with art critic and catalogue contributor Nancy Princenthal.

Featuring nearly 70 works from 1982 to the present, this comprehensive exhibition is the first major survey of Kendrick’s (American, b. 1949) work highlighting his four-decade career. It explores how the artist, one of America’s renowned contemporary sculptors, pushes the limits of materials including wood, rubber, and concrete to create sculpture that lays bare the process by which it was made. The talk in the Lichtenstein Theater will be introduced by Corinne Erni, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Senior Curator of ArtsReach and Special Projects.

“Mel Kendrick has reinvented, renewed, and rethought what sculpture can be many times over. His relentless quest into physicality and three-dimensionality, constantly orchestrating and rearranging, is not dissimilar to that of a choreographer — the spectator will never cease to be mesmerized and drawn into the performance,” said Erni. “The Parrish is delighted and honored to present this astonishing body of work and to celebrate his impressive career.”

In her catalogue essay, Princenthal wrote of Kendrick, “His approach has been to create works that undermine and destabilize the unique characteristics of sculpture, even as he has seemingly embraced the notion of the autonomous object, to intellectually challenge viewers and stimulate visual and mental gymnastics that deconstruct and reconstruct his forms and processes.”

At his talk, Kendrick will discuss these and aspects of his unique approach to artmaking — one that is fueled by a tireless A richly illustrated 192-page book, co-published with and distributed by Rizzoli Electa, accompanies the exhibition and in on sale in the museum Shop. “Seeing Things in Things” is on view through February 19. The show was organized by the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts and curated by Allison Kemmerer, The Mary Stripp and R. Crosby Kemper Director. The presentation at the Parrish Art Museum is organized by Erni with additional support from Kaitlin Halloran, curatorial assistant and publications coordinator and Brianna L. Hernández, curatorial fellow.

Admission to the talk and the exhibition galleries is free for museum members, and residents and employees of the Tuckahoe and Southampton school districts; members of the Shinnecock Nation; veterans/active duty military and their families; college students with ID; SNAP recipients; and anyone 18 & under. Nonmember admission is $16 for adults and $12 for seniors.

The Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway, Water Mill. Visit parrishart.org for details.