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# Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis Examine the 600 Million Year History of Their Studio Space
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/lenka-clayton-and-phillip-andrew-lewis-examine-pittsburgh-studio-space-history/
- Published: 2021-09-23T18:02:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:03:19.000Z
- Description: Through "Historic Site," an 8-foot-tall plaque and Historic Sight, a year-long rotating exhibition in Pittsburgh, the Black Cube Fellows investigate how history is constructed, remembered, and retold.
- Author: Black Cube
- Tags: Announcement, Black Cube, Exhibition Announcement, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Sponsored, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-large, #Import 2025-11-24 09:11 (2021, 2022, part 1)

During their fellowship with the nomadic art museum Black Cube, artists [Lenka Clayton](https://bit.ly/3hWFe3e?ref=hyperallergic.com) and [Phillip Andrew Lewis](https://bit.ly/3zwXg1O?ref=hyperallergic.com) developed three interconnected projects.

Inspired by a small, bronze plaque on their Pittsburgh studio commemorating it as the city’s first incline station, the artists wondered what else happened before and after this historic moment. They spent a year researching and speaking with experts (a curator of the Anthropocene, the director of the National Aviary, a geomorphologist, a botanist, a cinema historian, a city historian, and many neighbors) to uncover the location’s broader history from 600 million years ago to the foreseeable future. This was compiled into a lengthy text and cast in bronze in the form of a new absurdly tall plaque, ["Historic Site,"](https://bit.ly/3zvXfvd?ref=hyperallergic.com) now permanently installed as a companion to the original.

At the same building, the artists opened a new project space, [Gallery Closed](https://bit.ly/3AzoJRR?ref=hyperallergic.com). The gallery is simultaneously always closed and open; exhibitions are visible 24 hours a day through two street-facing windows. Gallery Closed’s inaugural exhibition, [*Historic Sight*](https://bit.ly/3ksbLQc?ref=hyperallergic.com), will unfold over the course of a year, featuring 27 artists who will each visually respond to a different word from the "Historic Site" plaque. The exhibition presents a plurality of voices engaged in abstract and poetic play, collectively challenging the traditional authority of a singular historical narrative.

***Historic Sight* Artists**  
[Rosa Barba](https://www.rosabarba.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Melissa Catanese](http://www.melissacatanese.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Raven Chacon](http://spiderwebsinthesky.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Cooking Sections](http://www.cooking-sections.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Mark Dion](https://art21.org/artist/mark-dion/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Michael Dumontier](https://www.instagram.com/stoppingoffplace/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Jimmie Durham](https://whitney.org/exhibitions/jimmie-durham?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Jason Fulford](https://www.jasonfulford.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Philip Glass](https://philipglass.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Jim Goldberg](https://jimgoldberg.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Ann Hamilton](https://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Pablo Helguera](http://pablohelguera.net/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Taraneh Hemami](https://www.taranehhemami.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Jonathan Horowitz](http://jonathanhorowitz.us/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Maira Kalman](https://mairakalman.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Nina Katchadourian](http://www.ninakatchadourian.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Micah Lexier](http://www.micahlexier.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Carlos Motta](https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/carlos-motta?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Ed Panar](https://edpanar.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Cornelia Parker](https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/cornelia-parker-2358?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Jon Rubin](http://www.jonrubin.net/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Keris Salmon](https://kerissalmon.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Alessandra Sanguinetti](https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/alessandra-sanguinetti/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Tamara Shopsin](https://tamarashopsin.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Alec Soth](https://alecsoth.com/photography/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Kerry Tribe](http://www.kerrytribe.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Deborah Willis](https://debwillisphoto.com/home.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

Visit [galleryclosed.org](https://bit.ly/3AzoJRR?ref=hyperallergic.com) or follow [@gallery\_closed](https://bit.ly/3AwEPf8?ref=hyperallergic.com) on Instagram to learn more.

**For further details, see** [**blackcube.art**](https://bit.ly/3zvXfvd?ref=hyperallergic.com)**.**

*Presented by Black Cube through the Sabrina Merage Foundation Artist Fellowship. Additional support by Pittsburgh Office of Public Art.*