Monumental Dreams: A Story for Houston, ca. 1969

Erica DiBenedetto, The Menil Drawing Institute: Short Features, 21 May 2021

The exhibition at the Menil Drawing Institute reimagines the potential connections between the built environment and nature, while also addressing undercurrents of social unrest and ecological concerns.

 

Artists included in the exhibition were Alice Aycock, Beverly Buchanan, Mel Chin, Christo, Agnes Denes, Mary Beth Edelson, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Walter De Maria, Gray Foy, Jackie Ferrara, Michael Heizer,  Will Insley, Richard Long, Robert Morris, Claes Oldenburg, Dennis Oppenheim, Marta Minujin, Michelle Stuart, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Smithson.

 

Curated by Kelly Montana and Erica DiBenedetto.

 

"Amid the preparations for this massive project, John de Menil handwrote a list of artists: Michael Heizer, Christo, Dennis Oppenheim, Will Insley, Robert Smithson, Peter Hutchinson, Richard Long, Carl Andre, Claes Oldenburg, Walter De Maria, Robert Morris. To assemble these names, he and Dominique de Menil enlisted the help of John Gibson, a gallerist based in New York City who described himself as an intermediary for clients interested in commissioning what he called “mail-order monuments,” or large-scale sculptural works based on proposals."

- Erica DiBenedetto