Tools as Art: The Hechinger Collection

April 27 - June 10, 2007

Curator:
Sarah Tanguy

Exhibition Designer:
Ted Cohen

We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of John W. Hechinger, Sr. for loaning the works of art in this exhibition for this tour. The tour has been organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C. with the collaboration of Sarah Tanguy, curator of the Hechinger Collection. IA&A’s national exhibition programs are generously supported through the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation.

Hammers, saws, wrenches, buckets of paint and many other staples of the archetypal American hardware store are all transformed into works of contemporary art by international artists in Tools as Art: The Hechinger Collection. Featuring a collection of over 65 paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures, the exhibition offers an exacting cross-section of 20th century art. Among the established artists included in the show are Claes Oldenburg, Walker Evans, Berenice Abbott, Arman, Fernand Legér, Jim Dine, Reverend Howard Finster, Ke Francis, Red Grooms, Wayne Thiebaud, Donald Lipski, Tom Otterness, Rico Solinas, Jacob Lawrence, William Eggleston, and William T. Wiley.

In 1978, hardware industry pioneer, John Hechinger Sr., moved the Hechinger Company — a chain of hardware stores started by his father in 1911 — into new corporate headquarters in Landover, Maryland. Hechinger found the corporate building rather sterile, “It struck me that the endless repetition of corridors and cubicles was boring and seemed to rebuke the fantasies that a hardware store inspires. For anyone whose passion is to work with his or her hands, a good hardware store is a spur to the imagination.”

Hechinger already owned Jim Dine’s Tool Box, a suite of ten silkscreen prints that combine tools with images from popular culture and Dine’s personal life. He hung the suite in his office, and immediately noted his associates’ enjoyment. He realized the thematic resonance with his business, and he set out collecting art that highlighted the company’s very livelihood. He explained, “It was the hope that surrounding employees with artistic expressions of the same objects they handled in the tens of thousands would bring a sense of dignity to their jobs.”

Early on, Hechinger discovered the collection’s distinct focus struck a rich and diverse vein in modern art. The Hechinger collection encompasses paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs and folk art, primarily from the post-World War II era. Spanning a wide range of styles and themes, the collection honors the dignity of everyday tools, where form and function are inextricably linked. Tools as Art: The Hechinger Collection is curated by International Arts & Artists.