The Chinati Foundation/La Fundación Chinati is a contemporary art museum located in Marfa, Texas, based upon the ideas of its founder, artist Donald Judd.
Mission The specific intention of Chinati is to preserve and present to the public permanent large-scale installations by a limited number of artists. The emphasis is on works in which art and the surrounding landscape are inextricably linked. As Judd wrote in the foundation's first catalogue in 1987:
It takes a great deal of time and thought to install work carefully. This should not always be thrown away. Most art is fragile and some should be placed and never moved again. Somewhere a portion of contemporary art has to exist as an example of what the art and its context were meant to be. Somewhere, just as the platinum iridium meter guarantees the tape measure, a strict measure must exist for the art of this time and place.
History The Chinati Foundation is located on of land on the site of former Fort D. A. Russell in Marfa, Texas, and in some buildings in the town's center.
Donald Judd first visited Marfa, Texas, in 1971, and moved himself from New York to Marfa as a full-time resident in 1977. Construction and installation at the site began in 1979 with initial assistance from the Dia Art Foundation in New York. The Chinati Foundation opened to the public in 1986 as an independent, non-profit, publicly funded institution.
Chinati was originally conceived to exhibit the work of Donald Judd, John Chamberlain and Dan Flavin. However, the idea of the foundation developed further and its collection was enriched over years, and now the permanent collection has expanded to include Carl Andre, Ingólfur Arnarsson, Roni Horn, Ilya Kabakov, Richard Long, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, David Rabinowitch, and John Wesley. Each artist's work is installed in a separate building or outdoor area on the museum's grounds. In addition to the permanent collection, regular temporary exhibitions feature modern and contemporary art of diverse media.
It was Judd's goal at Chinati to bring art, architecture, and nature together in order to form a coherent whole.
In October 2013 the foundation finalized plans for untitled (dawn to dusk), a , C-shaped concrete structure by Robert Irwin,Tessa Solomon (1 July 2022), Jenny Moore to Step Down as Director of Chinati Foundation in Marfa ARTnews. to join Chinati's permanent collection. Opened in July 2016, Available as a PDF on the foundation's website. this installation utilizes Fort D. A. Russell's ruined former hospital, rebuilding the structure within its original footprint while incorporating several architectural interventions to modify the building's dynamics of light and space.
Also in 2022, the Chinati Foundation—along with the Central Marfa Historic District in Marfa—was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places.Wallace Ludel (6 May 2022), Centre of Marfa, Texas, including 11 buildings repurposed by Donald Judd, added to US National Register of Historic Places The Art Newspaper.
Directors 1994–2010 Marianne StockebrandThe Whole Judd 2011–2012 Thomas Kellein 2013–2022 Jenny Moore Available as a PDF on the foundation's website.Tessa Solomon (1 July 2022), Jenny Moore to Step Down as Director of Chinati Foundation in Marfa ARTnews. 2023–Caitlin Murray
Collection +ArtistWorkCarl AndreWords, 1958–1972 Chinati Thirteener, 2010Donald Judd100 untitled works in mill aluminum, 1982–1986 15 untitled works in concrete, 1980–1984
The Arena, 1980–1987Ingólfur Arnarssonuntitled works, 1991–1992Ilya KabakovSchool No. 6, 1993John ChamberlainVarious works, 1972–1983Richard LongSea Lava Circles, 1988Dan Flavinuntitled (Marfa project), 1996Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van BruggenMonument to the Last Horse, 1991Roni HornThings That Happen Again, Pair Object VII (For a Here and a There), 1986–1988David RabinowitchElliptical Plane in 3 Masses and 4 Scales III, 1971–72 6-Sided Bar III, 1969Robert Irwinuntitled (dawn to dusk), 2016John WesleyAl Capone Flouting the Law, 1970 Chateau, 1983
Choir, 1988
Day Titanic, 1984
Hannah in Shades, 1989
Hunting Dogs, 1985
Jack Frost, 1971
Mattress Cloud, 1981
Panoply: Eight Silkscreens Inspired by the Splendours of the Great War, 1971
Six-Legged Sheep, 1993
Tour de France, 1982
Community The Chinati Foundation sponsors art and education programs, establishing close links to the local community and other cultural institutions and universities in the United States and abroad. Started by Judd in 1989, Chinati's Artist in Residence Program provides artists from around the world an opportunity to develop and exhibit their work in a stimulating environment."Artist in Residence". Chinati Foundation. Retrieved 2017-06-03. Its Internship Program offers students from a variety of disciplines hands-on museum experience."Internships". Chinati Foundation. Retrieved 2017-06-03. Each summer the museum hosts art classes for local students. Chinati has been producing an annual newsletter in English and Spanish since 1995 (some of the back issues are available at the Chinati bookstore and all can be downloaded at foundation's website."Newsletter". Chinati Foundation. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
Residencies
John Beech (artist) 1998
Visiting The Chinati Foundation has reopened, after being closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The closest airports to Marfa are in El Paso and Midland/Odessa. It is about a three-hour drive from either airport.
Further reading Ackerman, James S., and Chinati Foundation. 2000. Art and Architecture. Marfa, Texas: Chinati Foundation. Andre, Carl, and Chinati Foundation. 2000. Art in the Landscape. Marfa, Texas: Chinati Foundation. Bell, Tiffany, Dan Flavin, and Chinati Foundation. 2002. Light in Architecture and Art: The Work of Dan Flavin. Marfa, Texas: Chinati Foundation. Chamberlain, John, and William C. Agee. 2009. It's All in the Fit: The Work of John Chamberlain. Marfa, Texas: Chinati Foundation. Antliff, Allan, and Donald Judd. 2009. The Writings of Donald Judd. Marfa, Texas: Chinati Foundation. Stockebrand, Marianne, Donald Judd, and Rudi Fuchs. 2010. Chinati: the vision of Donald Judd. Marfa, Texas: Chinati Foundation. Stockebrand, Marianne. 2020. Chinati: the vision of Donald Judd. Marfa, Texas: Chinati Foundation.
Notes and references
External links
The Chinati Foundation/La Fundación Chinati The Judd Foundation The Dia Art Foundation