The Nevada Museum of Art in Reno recently added a suite of five works by Stig Brøgger to its collection. In 1969, the Danish artist travelled to the western United States, where he created works of art in the deserts in California and Nevada and met American artists such as Robert Smithson, Ed Ruscha and Joseph Kosuth. In many ways, this journey had a formative influence on Brøgger, and the following year he took part in the exhibition ‘Information’ at MoMA in New York.
Intercontinental exchange
‘From an early time in his career, Stig Brøgger turned his eye to the United States, and his curious and engaging dialogue with the latest trends in the American art scene came to have a crucial impact on the breakthrough of conceptual art in Denmark. It is precisely this intercontinental artistic and personal development that is acknowledged here, and in the New Carlsberg Foundation we are delighted to be able to accommodate the Nevada Museum of Art’s desire to include Brøgger’s works in their distinguished collection,’ says Christine Buhl Andersen, Chairwoman of the New Carlsberg Foundation.
‘The Nevada Museum of Art is grateful to the New Carlsberg Foundation for supporting this important acquisition for the permanent collection of the Nevada Museum of Art. We are pleased that his work will be available and accessible to the general public and to visiting art historians and researchers for many years to come,’ says Ann M. Wolfe, Andrea and John C. Deane Senior Curator and Deputy Director at the Nevada Museum of Art.
Dialogue with Smithson
The Holt/Smithson Foundation, which manages the legacies of the artists Nancy Holt (1938–2014) and Robert Smithson (1938–1973), will also soon be putting a spotlight on Stig Brøgger’s work. This spring, the foundation launches a series of interviews, talks and audio recordings, including an interview between Stig Brøgger, Erik Thygesen and Robert Smithson. The conversation was recorded in a New York loft during Brøgger’s first visit to the United States:
‘For six decades, Stig Brøgger consistently pushed at the limits of art. Whether creating artists’ books, performance, painting, photography or immersive environments, he was committed to experimentation and driven by generous curiosity. The Nevada Museum of Art’s thoughtful acquisition of these key works will stimulate new research opportunities and introduce his work to new audiences in the United States,’ says Lisa Le Feuvre, Executive Director of the Holt/Smithson Foundation.
Current and coming exhibitions
The Nevada Museum of Art’s new acquisitions include Spray (Nevada), Structure of a Circular Tour, Mutations (Bushes, Nevada) and Stacking I & II, all of which were created during Brøgger’s stay in the United States in 1969. The pieces will be featured in the museum’s upcoming exhibition ‘Shifting Horizons’ (27 March – 1 August 2021) and ‘Land Art: Past, Present, Futures’ (26 June 2021 – 2 January 2022).
About Stig Brøgger
For six decades, from the 1960s until this year, Stig Brøgger’s work (1941–2021) explored a range of different media: photography, painting, installation, film, artists’ books, sculpture and projects in the public space. With a background in political science and the Copenhagen-based experimental art school Eks-skolen, his work drew inspiration from philosophy, popular culture, information and systems theory as well as art history. His works are represented in a wide range of museums in Denmark and abroad, including MoMA in New York, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Henie-Onstad Art Center in Oslo, MACBA Archive in Barcelona, ARoS in Aarhus and SMK – National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen.
