Lynda Benglis: Elemental

Lynda Benglis: Elemental reframes the work of American artist Lynda Benglis by foregrounding the formative role of the Gulf Coast in her practice. Raised in Lake Charles, Benglis developed an acute awareness of the physical world through close encounters with the region’s waterways, wetlands, and industrial landscapes. The exhibition reveals how Benglis’ lifelong meditations on movement, perception, and material transformation are rooted in experiences that predate her emergence on the international art scene.

Image-making, together with deep material experimentation, is central to Benglis’ work. Elemental traces the evolution of Benglis’ art across six decades through rare drawings, paintings, ceramics, glass, and metal, illuminating how a sense of place and the environment profoundly shaped her creative vision.

Lynda Benglis: Elemental was organized by Laura Blereau, curator of exhibitions at Newcomb Art Museum, in partnership with Pace Gallery and the artist’s studios in New York and Santa Fe. An illustrated exhibition catalog published by Dancing Foxes Press is forthcoming in 2027. It will include contributions from curator Laura Blereau, art historians Adrian Anagnost, Alex Landry, and Tina Oldknow.

The exhibition and catalog are made possible through the generosity of foundations and donors whose support sustains the Newcomb Art Museum. We gratefully acknowledge the Andrew Mellon Foundation, The Eugenie & Joseph Jones Family Foundation, the Elizabeth Jane Moody Fund, the Ellen Conlon Endowed Fund, the Jane Whipple Green Art Fund, the Ernestine Bass Hopkins Fund, the Katherine Steinmayer McLean Endowed Fund, the Evelyn Burton Shaddock Murray Art Fund, the Carol Wiener Sandfield Art Fund, the Elise Levy Steiner Fund, and the Ruth Sterling Fund.