The Concentric Influences of Sol LeWitt: Foundations, Pivots and Place
5 June to 29 August 2026 | Free
RMIT Gallery, 344 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Hours: Tue–Fri 11am–5pm, Sat 12pm–4pm (closed public holidays).
'The Concentric Influences of Sol LeWitt: Foundations, Pivots and Place' positions Australia at the centre of an ambitious global dialogue on conceptual art, influence and the circulation of ideas. Instigated and directed by Dr Irene Barberis, the project demonstrates how Australian scholarship and curatorial innovation can actively shape international discourse surrounding one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.......
Curated by Irene Barberis with Helen Rayment.
The Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing is generously loaned by the LeWitt Family and Estate.
This exhibition is presented by RMIT University at RMIT Gallery.
Since first meeting in NewYork in 1974, Sol LeWitt and Irene Barberis maintained a friendship that spanned decades. LeWitt’s mentorship and his ongoing influence and presence in her work led to her 2019 residencies in LeWitt’s studios: Chester, USA,
Spoleto and Praiano, Italy.
In the Chester studio Barberis documented all that she saw creating over 800 artworks that form part of the ongoing international LeWitt/Barberis research project.
The first of two volumes records Barberis’ three-month stay in the Chester Studio.
It reproduces some of her thousands of photographs in a format inspired by LeWitt’s own gridded photo essays and is the first complete published documentation of the space.
Collectors, artists and historians will delight in Barberis’ unique ‘camera and brush’ responses to LeWitt’s Chester studio space. The intimate nature of Barberis’ undertaking is echoed by personal observations by Lucy R. Lippard, author and friend of LeWitt, and Janet Passehl, artist and curator of the LeWitt Collection. The book measures, 24cm x 24cm, 264 pages, plus cover, and is available exclusively from Metasenta Publishing
