The Anderson Collection, Stanford University's free museum of modern and contemporary American art, presents an exhibition of Lita Albuquerque’s works from Antarctica, Stellar Axis, open from 27 March through 18 August, 2024.
In 2006, artist Lita Albuquerque led an expedition to the farthest reaches of Antarctica near the South Pole to create Stellar Axis: Antarctica. The expedition was aided by a grant from the National Science Foundation and was the first and largest ephemeral artwork created on the continent. The resulting installation consisted of an array of 99 fabricated blue spheres. Each placement corresponded to the location of one of 99 specific stars in the Antarctic sky above, creating an earthly constellation at the earth’s pole. As the planet rotated and followed its orbit, the displacement between the original positions of the stars and the spheres drew an invisible spiral of the earth’s spinning motion.
For her solo exhibition at the Anderson Collection, one of the surviving 99 spheres will be on view amid a bed of salt accompanied by a selection of photographic works from the Antarctica installation, a video documenting the artwork, and one painting from the Auric Field series.
Apr. 24, 2024 | 6:30 p.m.
North Lawn, Anderson Collection at Stanford University
Read more on the site of the Anderson Collection at Stanford University.
