Tulane’s Newcomb Art Museum brings world-renowned artist, alumna Lynda Benglis home with landmark works previously unseen in Louisiana

Renowned Louisiana-born artist and Tulane University alumna Lynda Benglis will return to her roots through a major new exhibition at Tulane's Newcomb Art Museum, exploring how her Gulf Coast upbringing, family history and formative artistic experiences helped define one of the most distinctive careers in American art.

"Lynda Benglis: Elemental," on view Jan. 21 through May 20, 2027, brings together nearly 40 of Benglis' works spanning 1961 to 2024.

Best known for her outdoor fountains and poured sculptures, Benglis, a 1964 Newcomb College graduate, 2016 Tulane honorary degree recipient and native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, is celebrated for free-flowing forms that are playful and visceral, organic and abstract. The exhibition traces her development from her early years and education in Louisiana through the wide range of materials and techniques that have characterized her career.

"As Newcomb Art Museum celebrates the 30th anniversary of its home in the Woldenberg Art Center, we are reflecting on the institution's historical legacy and the ways it has contributed to the formation of artists," said Maurita N. Poole, executive director and chief curator of the Newcomb Art Museum. "'Lynda Benglis: Elemental' offers an extraordinary opportunity to explore that legacy while also examining how New Orleans and the Gulf South helped shape one of the most influential artists of our time. The exhibition reminds us that place is not simply a backdrop to artistic achievement, but an active force that leaves a tangible imprint on creative lives."

"Lynda Benglis: Elemental" examines how the artist's family, surroundings and education informed her sensitivity to place, resources and physical experience. While exploring Benglis' artistic beginnings, the exhibition also considers her mother's Mississippi roots and her father's connections to Southwest Louisiana and Greece.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is "Contraband," a monumental "fallen painting" that Benglis created in 1969 with fluorescent-pigmented latex. On loan from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the work has never been displayed in her home state of Louisiana.

"Being in New Orleans is like a dream. I would have seen things differently at another school," Benglis said. "I think, for me, New Orleans emphasized an indulgence, which was good for my art. I'm back at school again."

Produced in partnership with the artist's studios in New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico, "Lynda Benglis: Elemental" is organized by Laura Blereau, curator of exhibitions at the Newcomb Art Museum.

"This exhibition asks how a young woman from Lake Charles became Lynda Benglis, the pioneering sculptor we know today. By looking closely at her formative years in Southwest Louisiana and New Orleans - particularly the people and ideas that shaped her artistry - we can better understand her extraordinary evolution and achievements. Presenting this story at the Newcomb Art Museum is especially meaningful because Benglis began her artistic journey here, in this very building," Blereau said.

The exhibit also follows Benglis' experimentation with an extraordinary range of materials and media, from latex, video and paper to metal, glass and ceramics. Works spanning more than six decades demonstrate how observation, touch, movement and the physical qualities of materials have remained central to her art.

A richly illustrated exhibition catalog published by Dancing Foxes Press is forthcoming in 2027. It will include contributions from Blereau and art historians Adrian Anagnost, Alex Landry and Tina Oldknow.

Over her illustrious career, Benglis has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts grants, among other commendations. Her work is held in extensive public collections, including the Guggenheim in New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art in New York; Tate, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Recently digitized archival photographs and documents help tell Benglis' story alongside rare works she created while attending Newcomb College. Artworks and books by selected artists and scholars who taught Benglis in the early 1960s provide further context for her early years.

"I liked the artists that taught at Newcomb. They were real artists, so I felt very lucky to have gone to Newcomb. Hal Carney, for instance, was a Newcomb artist; Pat Trivigno, Ida Kohlmeyer. Jim Steg was a printmaker. He was technical and very good, so I learned a lot, actually. They all encouraged creativity, and I was lucky," Benglis said.

Benglis' ties to Louisiana remain visible across New Orleans. She created "The Wave of the World" for the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans. The sculpture is now located in the Big Lake at New Orleans City Park. Her work also appears along the Poydras Street corridor and in collections at the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.