Looking Forward: Diana Campbell Betancourt

The Samdani Art Foundation Curator salutes Lynda Benglis and Roberto Burle-Marx, whose work appears at Frieze Masters

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BY Diana Campbell Betancourt in Frieze | 07 OCT 17

As someone in the process of developing two sculpture parks, one in Bangladesh and one in the Philippines, the presentations of two visionary and interdisciplinary artists who reimagined possibilities for art and landscape stand out to me, namely: Roberto Burle Marx and Lynda Benglis. While primarily known as one of the most influential landscape architects of the 20th Century, designing the pavements of Copacabana Beach and the grounds of Inhotim, Roberto Burle Marx was also a painter and sculptor who had an orchestral approach to composed colour and composition. His hybrid arrangements [on view with Fortes d'Aloia & Gabriel and Bergamin & Gomide, Frieze Masters Stand D5 are equally geometric and inspired by lush organic forms in nature. 

Lynda Benglis, SCARAB, 1990. Stainless steel mesh, aluminium, 132 x 191 x 41cm. Courtesy: Thomas Dane Gallery, London 

Lynda Benglis’s diverse sculpture practice [on view with Cheim & Read and Thomas Dane, Frieze Masters Stand F6] was recently subject of an exhibition at Storm King, where several impressive fountains came to life in the majestic landscape of upstate New York. Benglis seeks to free color from the canvas, and, little known to some, her work is profoundly influenced by the landscapes of the studios she’s built for herself in New York, Santa Fe, Ahmedabad, and Kastellorizo. I am hoping these presentations provide similar inspiration for me.

Diana Campbell Betancourt is Artistic Director, Samdani Art Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Artistic Director, Bellas Artes Projects, Bagac, The Phillipines

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