Robert Indiana retrospective opens in Venice during Biennale Arte

The largest retrospective ever dedicated to Robert Indiana in Italy is on view at the Procuratie Vecchie in Venice, coinciding with the Biennale Arte. The exhibition, titled "The Sweet Mystery," traces the artist's career chronologically and biographically, from his early days at Coenties Slip in Lower Manhattan to his iconic LOVE sculptures. Curated by Matthew Lyons and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the show features 40 works that reveal how Indiana's forms evolved from assemblages into standalone symbols. Highlights include the early work "The Sweet Mystery" (1960–1962), the diptych "Eat/Die" (1962), and multiple versions of LOVE, including a gold Italian "AMOR" (1998–2001). The exhibition also presents "The Electric American Dream" series and "Ash" (2017), a bronze cast honoring those who died of HIV/AIDS. Indiana, born in New Castle in 1928, moved to New York in 1954, changed his surname from Clarck to Indiana as a tribute to his home state, and died in Vinalhaven in 2018.