Creative Labor: Selections from the Hechinger Collection
February 2-25, 2018
Creative Labor: Selections from the Hechinger Collection
Creative Labor: Selections from the Hechinger Collection brings together a cross-section of diverse works by fifteen visionary artists from the Hechinger Collection, which was gifted to International Arts & Artists by John and June Hechinger in 2003. The collection’s contemporary prints, drawings, paintings, and sculptures represent a variety of 20th-century art which uses tools as art, exploring the line between utility and artistry.
This special exhibition features work by: Berenice Abbott, Yuri Avvakumov, Tom Christopher, Jim Dine, Henryk Fantazos, Ke Francis, Werner Hoeflich, Jacob Lawrence, Harlan Mathieu, Mineo Mizuno, Claes Oldenburg, Jeff Spaulding, William T. Wiley, and Bill Wilson.
About the Hechinger Collection:
In the 1980s, John Hechinger’s booming chain of hardware stores led him to purchase a new company headquarters. He found the offices to be efficient, but sterile. The barren space sparked an initiative to beautify the headquarters which launched Hechinger’s acquisition of a tool-inspired collection of diverse 20th century art.
The complete Hechinger Collection, featuring nearly 400 works of art, celebrates the ubiquity of tools in our lives, transforming utilitarian objects into fanciful works of beauty, surprise, and wit. Selections from the Hechinger Collection are on view in International Arts & Artists’ offices. IA&A has also toured selections of the Hechinger Collection to exhibiting institutions throughout the United States, including Tools As Art (2001-2008), Tools in Motion (2005-2013), and ReTooled (2014-2019). Our new exhibition, Making Your Mark, presents 50 works on paper that explore the intricacies of each medium, highlighting the rich variety of materials and methods used when making a print or drawing.
