Open and Shut Artists’ Doors

We come into contact with doors every day, but we rarely stop to consider their symbolic or metaphorical value. The artists in Open and Shut: Artists’ Doors created works of art that compelled us to do just that. The six large-scale sculptures included in this exhibition each used a door or doorway as a basis for exploring a variation on a similar theme. Incorporating doors that could actually be opened, shut, and/or passed through, these sculptures evoked memories both of doors we have seen, read about, or gone through before and of the feelings that those doors inevitably sparked.

Doors play a fundamental role in providing us access to — or blocking us from — the spaces we inhabit. The sculptures in this exhibition investigated our complex relationship to the built environment and created exciting environments around and through which visitors could move. Open and Shut: Artists’ Doors was organized by Molly Polk and Barbara Robertson and featured Richard Garrison, Ann Kremers, Julia Morgan, Neal Parks, Sue Rees, and August Ventimiglia.

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