PARRISH ART MUSEUM IS LOANED TOWERING SCULPTURE BY ARTIST ROY LICHTENSTEIN

Tokyo Brushstrokes I & II Will Be on View Beginning Friday, April 18,  

On the Front Lawn of the Museum

 The Parrish Art Museum will exhibit Roy Lichtenstein’s monumental sculptures, “Tokyo Brushstrokes 1 & II (1994) beginning Friday April 1

As of Friday, April 18, 2014, Roy Lichtenstein's monumental sculpture, Tokyo Brushstroke I & II (1994) will grace the entry of The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill courtesy of the artists’ widow, Dorothy Lichtenstein. It is the first long-term sculpture by the artist, will be on view outdoors at the Water Mill campus of the the Parrish Art Museum. It is the first long-term sculpture out side the new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building.

Tokyo Brushstroke I & II will be placed on the front lawn, west of the driveway entrance to the museum, near the museum. It is a long-term loan courtesy of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, with additional support from the Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman and the Furman Family Foundation.

In a statement the museum said they are thrilled with the sculpture and to become “the home for Tokyo Brushstroke I & II at this time,” said Parrish Art Museum Director Terrie Sultan. “We are tremendously grateful to the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Fuhrman Family Foundation for their generosity. This awe-inspiring work promises to become a cultural landmark, and a beacon that draws visitors to the Parrish.”

The installation, Tokyo Brushstrokes I & II is made of painted and fabricated aluminum by Paul Amaral and Amaral Custom Fabrication in Rhode Island. It is taller than the Parrish Museum itself and stands 33 feet high and will be installed wit a crane into a secure cement plinth. Weighing over 12,000 pounds, Tokyo Brushstroke I is constructed in two pieces that will be joined together on site. Tokyo Brushstroke II weighs approximately 5,000 pounds and is 19 feet high inches). It will be installed closer to Montauk Highway.

Tokyo Brushstroke I & II is part of a series of "brushstroke" sculptures constructed mainly mostly in the 1960s. Similar "Brushstroke Groups" can be found in Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Washington, D.C., and other cities worldwide.

Lichtenstein said of the work, “It’s a symbol of something it isn’t and that is part of the irony I’m interested in." The work asks questions about the contradictions between the ephemeral nature of the artist's brushstroke and the monumentality and permanence of art.

The installation of Tokyo Brushstroke I & II at the Parrish Art Museum underscores the ongoing legacy of Lichtenstein on the East End. Roy Lichtenstein and his wife Dorothy moved to Southampton to live year-round in 1970, beginning a warm and enduring relationship with the Parrish Art Museum and the East End of Long Island.

In 1982, the Museum organized an exhibition of 48 Lichtenstein paintings from 1951 to the early 1980s, the first to include rarely seen early works such as the iconic Look Mickey (1961). Other monographic shows of his work at the Parrish Art Museum include: The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein, a major exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., (1995), and Roy Lichtenstein: American Indian Encounters (2006) that paired his paintings with Native American artifacts from the Montclair Art Museum. In the summer of 1995, the Parrish Art Museum brought the impressive monumental stainless steel sculpture Modern Head (1989) to Southampton’s Lake Agawam Park.

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was an American pop art painter active in New York from the 1960s until his death in 1997. He spent a good deal of his time in Southampton  and is best known for his iconic large-scale paintings based on comic books. Lichtenstein continues to be one of the most influential and recognizable artists of the 20th century.

The Parrish Art Museum is the oldest cultural institution on the East End of Long Island, uniquely situated within one of the most concentrated creative communities in the United States. The Parrish is dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of art from the nineteenth century to the present, with a particular focus on honoring the rich narrative legacy of visual arts of the East End of Long Island—the country’s longest living extant art colony. The Parrish is committed to educational outreach, to serving as a dynamic cultural resource for its diverse community, and to celebrating artistic innovation for generations to come.