A close-up view of “Wall Drawing No. 309” in progress, showing the distinct red and yellow color blocks with precise crayon lines carefully plotted according to LeWitt’s instructions. (Image courtesy of UMOCA)

New Sol LeWitt murals keep going up almost 20 years after his death. They’re new and yet old, some of the initial conceptions dating back to 1968. That’s when LeWitt first conceived of what are known as “wall drawings,” though they often take the form of massive wall to ceiling murals. For decades now, including after the artist’s death in 2007, these works continue to be realized in the present, in places like Boston, Venice, Buenas Aires and Salt Lake City.

On the eve of the NCECA conference, where it will play a major role as host to several exhibitions and as a neighbor to the conference’s focal point at the Salt Palace Convention Center, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art’s entrance is cluttered—with scaffolding, paint cans and tape. Lots of tape, little bits of it, carefully plotted across the entrance’s east wall, which has been painted in three large, equal blocks of color: red, yellow and blue.

LeWitt was a key figure in what Lucy Lippard has described as the dematerialization of the art object. LeWitt famously asserted that “the idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” But in a realization like what is happening at UMOCA, the machine must become corporeal as it does in the form of Gabe Hurrier and Chuck Landvatter. Hurrier, a New York City-based artist who is contracted through Paula Cooper Gallery, has been working on installations since 2004. He knew LeWitt and was trained under the artist’s original installers. When he first began working on wall drawings, he became fascinated with the idea of becoming the hand of “the absent artist” (see here). Landvatter is a Salt Lake City artist who is used to painting large murals. He says he’s always been a fan of LeWitt. And now of Hurrier. “Gabe has a level of precision in craftsmanship that I’ve never seen. It’s totally unmatched. The process is meticulous.”

Chuck Landvatter (left) and Gabe Hurrier meticulously measure and mark the wall for Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing No. 309 at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. The installation follows precise instructions written by LeWitt in 1978. (Image courtesy of UMOCA)

The pair are realizing “Wall Drawing No. 309.” Conceptually, the work has been around since LeWitt wrote his set of instructions in 1978. On the three equal parts of the wall, the instructions call for the following to be executed in crayon:

1st part: On the red part, a yellow straight, a yellow not straight, and a yellow broken line; and a blue straight, a blue not straight, and a blue broken line; 2nd part: On the yellow part, a blue straight, a blue not straight, and a blue broken line; and a red straight, a red not straight, and a red broken line; 3rd part: On the blue part, a red straight, a red not straight, and a red broken line; and a yellow broken line.

Conceptually, the work has existed since LeWitt wrote his set of instructions in 1978. The instructions are not as strict as blueprints, as they become adapted to larger or smaller spaces, and as Lippard has argued they allow the artwork to transcend traditional notions of originality and presence.

Local audiences may remember when The Utah Museum of Fine Arts hosted a LeWitt drawing in 2019. “Wall Drawing #309,” (1970) was realized by chief drafter Roland Lusk with the help of six University of Utah students. The work was purchased by the museum in 2014  from The Phyllis Cannon Wattis Endowment Fund

“Wall Drawing No. 309” comes to UMOCA as part of the National Gallery of Art’s Across the Nation program, which commemorates America’s 250th anniversary, brings notable works from the National Gallery’s collection to regional museums across the country, expanding access to significant artworks and fostering connections with diverse communities. “UMOCA is honored to partner with the National Gallery of Art to bring Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing No. 309 to Utah as part of ‘Across the Nation,’” said Laura Allred Hurtado, UMOCA’s Executive Director. “As a non-collecting institution with continuously rotating exhibitions, UMOCA is a fitting home for this ephemeral installation, reflecting our commitment to art as a dynamic and evolving experience.”

The work will be completed in time for Salt Lake City’s Gallery Stroll on Friday, March 21, and will remain in the museum’s lobby until March 2027.

A close-up view of “Wall Drawing No. 309” in progress, showing the distinct red and yellow color blocks with precise crayon lines carefully plotted according to LeWitt’s instructions. (Image courtesy of UMOCA)

Shawn Rossiter

The founder of Artists of Utah and editor of its online magazine, 15 Bytes, Shawn Rossiter has undergraduate degrees in English, French and Italian Literature and studied Comparative Literature in graduate school before pursuing a career in art.