Wall Drawing 822

A wall divided horizontally by a curvy line. The top is flat black; the bottom is glossy black.

April 1997

Acrylic Paint

Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt

First Installation
Ace Gallery, New York

First Drawn By
Artistides Dé Leon, Sachiko Cho, Derek Edwards, Naomi Fox, Henry Levine, Sunhee Lim, Jason Livingston, Emil Memon, Travis Molkenbur, Caroline Rothwell

MASS MoCA Building 7
Third Floor

Wall Drawing 822 was first created for a 1997 exhibit at the Ace Gallery at which Sol LeWitt executed wall drawings in paint for the first time. The works shown were monochrome murals, few of which contained the lines and geometric shapes that dominated LeWitt’’s earlier works. In Wall Drawing 822 the artist introduced a new form to his vocabulary – an undulating line that divides the wall in half horizontally. The two halves are distinguished by different finishes: one matte and the other glossy. The draftsmen achieved the glossy finish by applying a shiny varnish over the black paint.

Backstory
To execute the curvy line, the draftsmen first create a grid out of string. The grid, which includes a horizontal line that runs through the center of the wall, acts as a guide to show the draftsmen where to plot various points along the wave. Once plotted, the draftsmen connect these points using a flexible foam stick as a guide. The stick bends to create an even curve, which is traced.