Art © 2022 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
T he present work, Painting (AS) (#5) Totem, is an example from the artist’s Totems series, whereby the AS is an acronym for Benglis’ contemporary, Alan Shields, with whom she was friends with during the period when this work was made. This lesser known series represents a pivotal point in the artist’s career as it directly preceded Benglis’ more famous sparkle knots and was instrumental in the artist’s larger body of work, as many of the same ideas that were part of this exploration would go on to reappear in Benglis’ more recently executed paper sculptures. As with Lynda Benglis’ early wax paintings, the small Totems, such as Painting (AS), are made to measure approximately the same length of her arm. Their distinctive vertical linear form showcases the influence of Barnett Newman and his signature and conceptual stripes, better known as “zips.” Benglis met Newman early on in her career and took inspiration from his work which would appear in sculptural form in the Totem series.
