Nov 2nd 2012

In the Spirit of Walser

@ Donald Young Gallery

224 S Michigan Ave, ste 266

On view through Friday, November 2nd

After twenty-nine years and nearly two hundred exhibitions, the Donald Young Gallery will close at the end of October with a final reception on Friday, November 2, 2012, 5 PM to 7 PM. This exhibition is the sixth and final in the series In the Spirit of Walser with new work by Rodney Graham and Josiah McElheny.

An influential and internationally known gallerist, Donald Young was admired for his intellectual curiosity and commitment to the artists he represented, a number
of whom he worked closely with for more than three decades.

In 1983, Donald Young established the Donald Young Gallery bringing a unique vision and complex exhibition program to Chicago. He worked with important artists such as Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Jannis Kounellis, Robert Mangold, Sol LeWitt, Martin Puryear, and later Jeff Koons, Charles Ray, James Welling, Josiah McElheny, and Anne Chu. Young became well known for his early involvement with media artists such as Gary Hill, Bill Viola, Rodney Graham, and Joshua Mosley. Young also worked with Bruce Nauman, Richard Serra, and Ulrich Rückriem on numerous large-scale and outdoor projects. The gallery presented significant installations and projects by European artists such as Sophie Calle, Tony Cragg, Cristina Iglesias, Richard Long, Andrew Lord, Thomas Schütte, Rosemarie Trockel, Rebecca Warren and Mark Wallinger. As well, Young was committed to Chicago artists, exhibiting Jeanne Dunning, Ken Fandell, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Laura Letinsky and Tony Tasset.

After a move to Seattle in the early 1990s, the gallery returned to Chicago in 1999. In 2009, the Donald Young Gallery moved to the historic Santa Fe building located across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago.

Prior to his death in April 2012, Donald Young inaugurated an ambitious series of exhibitions that brought together the work of contemporary artists and the Swiss author, Robert Walser (1878-1956). Young invited a select group of artists to create work inspired by Walser’s writings to be exhibited together with archival
material and facsimiles of Walser’s Microscripts. A Little Ramble: In the Spirit of Robert Walser is the result of this collaboration, recently published in collaboration with Christine Burgin and New Directions.

Thank you all for the many adventures, close friendships, and collaborations that we have shared throughout twenty-nine years.

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