Ellsworth Kelly at Tate Liverpool
Polly Checkland Harding
Ellsworth Kelly, thought of as one of America’s great 20th century abstract artists, partly developed his approach to painting from time served in the US Army’s camouflage unit in WWII: he introduced the methods and research employed there to innovative colour and coding techniques in his artistic output. This new exhibition at Tate Liverpool showcases Kelly’s work, bringing together paintings, prints and reliefs that span more than six decade’s of his career.
Part of the Tate Liverpool’s spring 2017 season – which also includes an updated Constellations display and O.K. – The Musical (the entire production process of a musical staged inside the gallery) – Ellsworth Kelly includes highlight works such as Méditerranée (pictured here), which was inspired by Kelly’s fascination with how light was refracted by the surface of the River Seine. A number of the pieces displayed were bequeathed to the Tate collection after the artist’s death in 2015; together, the selection elucidates the way in which Kelly considered his works to be objects in themselves.
