This comprehensive survey of H. C. Westermann’s work, the first since the artist’s death in 1981, includes approximately one hundred and twenty sculptures and drawings made between the early 1950s and 1981. A highly original artist, Westermann created humorous, stylized compositions addressing contemporary sociopolitical concerns, reflecting his own experience as a World War II veteran who lived through the Vietnam War and its aftermath. His sculptures’ toy-like forms belie their immaculate craftsmanship and heavy themes, as in Mad House (1958), which resembles a model schoolhouse dotted with cartoon body parts but alludes to the cruel, titular institution. Boxes are another recurring motif in Westermann’s oeuvre, paying homage to various traditions of functional craftwork. Memorial to the Idea of a Man If He Was an Idea (1958), for example, is an anthropomorphic, operable cabinet filled with bottle caps and figurines.
The exhibition traveled from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago to the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, and will travel to the Menil Collection, Houston.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.
H. C. Westermann was organized by Lynne Warren, Michael Rooks and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. The MOCA installation was designed by LA-based artist Billy Al Bengston.