- Dec 18, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 23
Luminous. Surprising. Iconic. Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s invites you to rediscover a modern master who explored the possibilities of color with gumption, vision, and a passion for experimentation. Now on view through August 9, 2026.
Category: Abstraction, Color, Contemporary, New England
Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s is on view through August 9, 2026. Photo by Morgan Karanasios.
“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 in partnership with the Jules Olitski Art Foundation.
Upcoming events and programs:
Spray Day
A creative day centered around Spray and Painting in Color
Sunday, April 19
2 to 5 PM
Need a day immersed in creativity and artistic conversation? Join us for an enlivening Art Talk with contemporary artists Heather Hutchison and Jane Swavely, followed by a music performance of John Luther Adam’s "Red Arc/Blue Veil" and a tour of the exhibition with Bruce McColl, Director of Curatorial Affairs.
In collaboration with the Saint Anselm College Fine Art Department
$5 for members; $25 for not-yet-members (includes museum admission)
Mother's Day Concert
May 10
2 to 3:30 PM
Treat the moms and mom-figures in your life to a unique concert in the Currier auditorium inspired by Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s. Presented in collaboration with Saint Anselm College Fine Art Department, enjoy a luminous performance of works by Hildegard von Bingen, Germaine Tailleferre, Olivier Messiaen, Morton Feldman, Stefan Wolpe, Kaija Saariaho, and Roxanna Panufnik. Tickets coming soon.
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 and curated by Bruce McColl, Director of Curatorial Affairs, with art historian Alex Grimley, PhD, in collaboration with the Jules Olitski Art Foundation.
Museum visitors enjoy Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s.
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 art historian Alex Grimley, PhD. 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 Art 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.