- Currier Museum of Art
- Dec 18, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 22, 2025
Luminous. Surprising. Iconic. Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s invites you to rediscover the modern master who explored the possibilities of color with gumption, vision, and a passion for experimentation. This exhibition is on view from March 5 through August 9, 2026.
Category: Abstraction, Color, Contemporary, New England
Credits
Left: Jules Olitski, Pizzazz, 1963, spray can and acrylic on canvas, 26 1/8 × 19 7/8 inches. Jules Olitski Art Foundation, VT. Photography by Adam Reich. © 2025 Jules Olitski Art Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Center: Jules Olitski works with a spray gun in his studio on Bear Island, New Hampshire. Photo Credit: Dawn Andrews
Right: Jules Olitski, No. 7, 1968, aluminum with acrylic air-drying lacquer, 108 × 174 × 44 inches. Jules Olitski Art Foundation, VT. Photography by Adam Reich. © 2025 Jules Olitski Art Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
“Well, Tony, what I would like in my painting is simply a spray of color that hangs like a cloud but does not lose its shape.” - Jules Olitski, 1964
About the exhibition: In the 1960s, American artist Jules Olitski (1922-2007) exhibited his large-scale abstract Spray paintings and sculptures to critical acclaim. Olitski's sumptuously colored canvases, coupled with his bold and experimental painting methods, fueled the artist's public reception. His innovative technique involved the use of industrial spray guns to apply mists of acrylic paint to canvas, creating the effect of ethereal fields of suspended color. Sixty years since their inception and inspired by Olitski's masterpiece Shoot (1965) from the Currier Museum of Art’s collection, Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s features a selection of paintings, a sculpture, and works on paper, as well as rarely exhibited archival materials from the Jules Olitski Foundation.
Sponsorship:
This exhibition is generously supported by Dr. Emily Leff, with additional support by The Wolf Kahn Foundation, and the Currier’s Susan E. Strickler Exhibition Fund.
Credit: Jules Olitski, Shoot, 1965, acrylic and pastel on canvas, 94 × 98 inches. Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH, Museum Purchase: Gift of the Friends and the National Endowment for the Arts, 1977.40. Photography by Morgan Karanasios. © 2025 Jules Olitski Art Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
The organizers:
This exhibition is organized by Bruce McColl, Director of Curatorial Affairs, in collaboration with Alex Grimley, Modern Art scholar, at the Jules Olitski Foundation.
Credit: Jules Olitski, Pink Fancy, 1965, acrylic on canvas, 72 × 67 ½ inches. Collection of Lauren and Bradley Poster, VT. Photography by Adam Reich. © 2025 Jules Olitski Art Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
The catalog:
The exhibition is accompanied by an 84-page catalog published by Scala Arts Publishers, Inc., that highlights the ravishing color and monumental scale of Olitski’s sprays. Olitski’s historic sprays are complemented by a selection of contemporary paintings by Heather Hutchison, Jane Swavely, Joseph Marioni, and John Zurier, who also explore color, light and space in paintings that foreground perception and sensation. The paintings are highlighted and contextualized by two companion essays by the exhibition curators, Bruce McColl, the Currier’s Director of Curatorial Affairs, and Alex Grimley, Modern Art scholar, from the Jules Olitski Foundation. A detailed timeline of Olitski’s career in the 1960s including rare archival materials from the Jules Olitski Art Foundation’s archives offer a vivid look at this exciting period. The catalog includes a foreword and introduction, respectively, by Dr. Jordana Pomeroy, Director of the Currier Museum of Art, and Lauren Olitski Poster, President of the Jules Olitski Foundation.
Related exhibitions:
Jules Olitski’s historic works will be complemented by an exhibition of paintings by contemporary artists, Heather Hutchison (b. 1964), Joseph Marioni (1943-2024), Jane Swavely (b. 1959), and John Zurier (b. 1956) who explore color, light, and space in abstract works that foreground perception and sensation. Like Olitski, their artistic practices are defined by innovative approaches to painting, as they seek painterly equivalents of intangible natural phenomena.