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Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964-1977

February 24, 2011 - May 15, 2011

Museum: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

Location: 2nd Floor

This exhibition is the first survey of artworks in the United States by postwar painter Blinky Palermo (German, 1943-1977). Celebrated throughout Europe, Palermo (born Peter Schwartze) continually expanded the definition of painting throughout his career. The exhibition reflects this progression, following a loose chronology based on his four main bodies of work -- from early works illustrating his evolution away from traditional materials to taking cues from advertising and fashion of his time starting in 1964 to toying with decoration and its intersection with Modernism through site-specific wall paintings to painting on metal as represented by Metallbilder (Metal Pictures). Also traveling for the first time is a multi-panel installation To the People of New York City (1976), a tribute to the city the artist loved and called home until his death at age 33.