Vittorio 1979

Lynda Benglis made Vittorio out of flexible polyurethane foam, a material she explored extensively in the 1970s. Can you imagine what it was like to manipulate this pliable substance, pouring and shaping it with her hands? The gold paint transforms it into something precious. The foam itself seems to defy gravity, twisting and bulging in unexpected ways. Benglis, like other process-based artists of her time, was interested in the inherent qualities of her materials and how they could be used to challenge traditional notions of sculpture. I think Benglis might have been thinking about fluidity and transformation, about how a solid object can still evoke a sense of movement and change. Benglis was in dialogue with other artists such as Eva Hesse and Yayoi Kusama, all testing the boundaries of painting and sculpture. Their legacies encourage us to embrace experimentation, trust our instincts, and find beauty in unexpected forms.