Sam Gilliam on view in Big Things for Big Room, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Big Things for Big Rooms traces the development of immersive, large-scale artworks since the late 1960s. This presentation of 10 artworks—five on view for the first time at the Museum—is drawn largely from the Hirshhorn’s own collection. Organized in two parts, the exhibition offers a multisensorial investigation of how artists create installation works that expand the boundaries of an artwork and the role of the visitor. The first part introduces the development of “Environments,” expansive installations by pioneering artists such as Dan Flavin, Sam Gilliam, Robert Irwin (whose work defined the Light and Space movement), Lygia Pape, and Land artist Richard Long. The second half demonstrates how contemporary artists such as Paul Chan, Olafur Eliasson, Spencer Finch, Rashid Johnson, and Mika Rottenberg are expanding upon these foundational ideas in different ways, often using everyday materials.

Organized by the Hirshhorn’s head curator, Evelyn C. Hankins, with the support of curatorial assistant CJ Greenhill Caldera.