Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's Collaborative Works at Pace Gallery

Pace Gallery in New York is presenting 'Claes & Coosje: A Duet,' an exhibition showcasing the decade-spanning collaboration between Claes Oldenburg (born 1929, Stockholm) and Coosje van Bruggen (1942–2009, Groningen). The pair met in 1971 when van Bruggen was a curator at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; they married in 1977. Their partnership evolved from intellectual exchange into a full artistic practice in the 1980s. The exhibition highlights van Bruggen's crucial yet often overlooked role in creating the monumental pop sculptures that defined Oldenburg's career since the early 1960s. Central to the show is 'Dropped Bouquet' (2021), a giant bouquet of wildflowers depicted mid-fall, evoking a melancholic and uncanny atmosphere. It was the last work conceived together and was created for this occasion. The exhibition spans two floors, featuring early collaborations like preparatory models for 'Spitzhacke' (1982) shown at dOCUMENTA7, works from the 1990s and 2000s such as 'Inverted Collar and Tie' (1993) and 'Typewriter Eraser' (1998), studies for 'Soft Shuttlecock' (1995) installed at the Guggenheim Museum for their 1995 retrospective, and drawings and study materials for 'Il Corso del Coltello,' a large-scale Swiss Army knife resembling a boat, commissioned and realized with Germano Celant and Frank Gehry, installed in the waters of Venice. The exhibition runs until May 9, 2021, at 540 West 25th Street.