The Nasher Museum presented A Material Legacy, an exhibition that explored two distinct legacies: one of contemporary artists’ innovative use of materials, the other of philanthropy and collecting. The artists presented here were the descendants of avant-garde predecessors who emerged a century ago and embraced industrial metals, manufactured objects and other non-traditional materials in the creative process. Comprised almost exclusively of art made in the last 10 years, A Material Legacy reinforceed this lineage and provides a glimpse into the varied approaches and techniques of artists today.

The second aspect of this exhibition recognized a legacy of patronage that began with the founding benefactors of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Raymond and Patsy Nasher. In Dallas, they established NorthPark (1965), a shopping center filled with masterpieces from their collection, and the Nasher Sculpture Center (2003), an art museum dedicated to sculpture, ensuring educational art experiences for the public. Daughter and son-in-law Nancy Nasher and David Haemisegger continue this same philanthropic spirit through their oversight of NorthPark and support of the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Nasher Museum of Art. Over the past decade, they have amassed a significant collection of their own and are sharing selections from it with the public for the first time in A Material Legacy.

The exhibition featured work by artists David Altmejd, Huma Bhabha, Anthony Caro, Tony Cragg, Edmund de Waal, Mark di Suvero, Teresita Fernández, Liam Gillick, Wayne Gonzales, Katharina Grosse, Mark Grotjahn, Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Thomas Houseago, Elliott Hundley, Alfredo Jaar, Anish Kapoor, KAWS, Sol LeWitt, Christian Marclay, Kerry James Marshall, Iván Navarro, Giuseppe Penone, Ken Price, Matthew Ritchie, Julian Schnabel, Richard Serra, Rudolf Stingel, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Kara Walker, Dan Walsh, Rachel Whiteread, Kehinde Wiley and Christopher Wool.

These artists demonstrate an intrinsic material impulse manifest in contemporary art and provide an important legacy of their own for many generations to come.

A Material Legacy: The Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Collection of Contemporary Art exhibition was organized by Marshall N. Price, Ph.D., Nancy Hanks Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. The exhibition traveled to the Princeton University Art Museum, July 30 – October 30, 2016.

This exhibition was made possible by the Nancy Hanks Endowment, Katie Thorpe Kerr and Terrance I. R. Kerr, and Kelly Braddy Van Winkle and Lance Van Winkle.

This exhibition was made possible with generous loans from the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Collection.