Pace Gallery in Los Angeles presents the exhibition Robert Irwin in Los Angeles from April 5 to June 7, 2025. This show is dedicated to the works of the influential artist Robert Irwin from 1960 to 1971, a creative period that is considered particularly productive and formative for his career. This is Irwin’s first posthumous exhibition in California since his death in 2023. The exhibition, which marks the gallery’s 65th anniversary, celebrates Irwin’s seminal contributions to art and in particular to the Light and Space movement that emerged in Southern California in the 1960s.
The focus is on key works from this decade, with which Irwin began to move beyond traditional approaches to art and engage intensively with phenomenology and the subjectivity of the viewer. The exhibited works include paintings from the early ‘Line’ and ‘Dot’ series, in which Irwin expanded the painterly language into new conceptual dimensions, as well as his famous ‘Discs’ from the late 1960s, which dissolve the boundaries between physical object and sensory experience. A particular highlight is a rare twelve-foot high acrylic column, one of the last physical works Irwin created before his transition to an installation-based and site-specific practice in the 1970s.
1201 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019
April 5 – June 7, 2025
Photography courtesy Pace Gallery
Robert Irwin (1928-2023), born in Long Beach, California, was a pioneering artist of the Light and Space movement who explored issues of light, space and perception over seven decades. Originally working as a painter, he developed innovative series in the 1960s that moved at the interface between painting, sculpture and installation. From the 1970s onwards, he turned his attention entirely to site-specific and often ephemeral installations. His works, which incorporate materials such as fluorescent lights, acrylic, fabrics and glass, are characterized by an interaction with their surroundings and challenge the viewer’s perception.
The exhibition in Los Angeles offers a unique opportunity to explore the early stages of Irwin’s visionary work and to experience the development of his groundbreaking artistic language, which has permanently pushed the boundaries of art.
© Photo Courtesy of Pace Gallery
