“Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen: Things Around the House”

A key figure of Pop Art, Claes Oldenburg came to the public’s attention with “soft” sculptures in kapok-stuffed vinyl, depicting ordinary objects—hamburgers, sinks, eggbeaters—in larger than life-size scale. He also became noted for monumental sculptures of giant lipsticks, clothespins and garden trowels, among other items. Starting in the mid-1970s, he began collaborating with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen. They shared a house and studio from 1976 until Van Bruggen’s death in 2009. The 100 objects here represent the maquettes for various projects that the couple kept for themselves, and like the larger works, they are representations of ordinary objects that speak to the poetry of the everyday.