Untitled (Polly's pie II)

Grotesque. Erotic. Joyous. Audacious.

These are just some of the many adjectives that have been used to describe Lynda Benglis’s polyurethane foam sculptures. Although this work almost looks like it was created by accident, it actually required a lot of control to make. Benglis produced this brown, flat sculpture by pouring a liquid material in layers to create amorphous shapes that preserve every trace of her process when it sets. The work suggests skin or bodily fluids, and seems to fuse painting and sculpture while sitting in neither category.

Benglis is one of the artists who come under the umbrella terms of Post-Minimalism. The term “Post-Minimalism” was coined by the American critic Robert Pincus-Witten, and refers to a reaction against Minimalism and its hard geometries by many artists in the late 1960s and ‘70s. Although these reactions were varied, Post-Minimal artists generally abandoned the impersonal, neutral Minimalist object in favour of more expressive forms. Benglis specifically responded to the closed edges and austerity of Minimalism by producing fluid works that ooze sensuality.