Joan Jonas drawings responding to Maine land art project
The Farnsworth Art Museum, in collaboration with the Holt/Smithson Foundation, presents Joan Jonas: An Island Departure, with Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson, an exhibition presenting a newly commissioned body of work by artist Joan Jonas (born 1936). The exhibition will be on view from October 4, 2025 through February 2026.
Jonas’s new drawings stem from an invitation by Holt/Smithson Foundation to respond to a unique episode in land art history: on September 30, 1971, Nancy Holt (1938–2014) and Robert Smithson (1938–1973) purchased a tidal island off the coast of Maine sight unseen. Little Fort Island, a small island close to Harrington, Maine, is the starting point for a series of five artist-commissions developed by the Foundation, titled The Island Departure: Point of Departure. This conceptual and material island provocation is an ongoing inquiry into themes of ownership, transience, and collaboration, explored in 2025 with the Farnsworth.
“Joan Jonas’s response is a powerful meditation on the passage of time, artistic legacies, and the ever-changing contours of place,” said Jaime DeSimone, Chief Curator of the Farnsworth Art Museum.
“Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson transformed the world of art and ideas. Since our inception, working with artists has been at the heart of Holt/Smithson Foundation’s activities,” said Lise Le Feuvre, Executive Director of Holt/Smithson Foundation. “Working with Joan Jonas is very special: she was a thinking partner with Holt and Smithson in their own lifetimes and we can literally see her in some of the historical artworks by Holt and Smithson we have chosen for An Island Departure. Islands are special places whose edges are never at rest; they are sites for the imagination and tangible locations with distinct biographies. Joan has long paid attention to the edge of the sea, and here at the Farnsworth we bring her ideas to a place and to the people who live beside the ever-changing waterline.“
Jonas engages in a dialogue across time and space with Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson, reflecting on the poetic possibilities of an island that is perpetually in flux. Her drawings will explore the shifting boundaries of the land, the ephemeral nature of artistic pursuits, and the enduring resonance of the conceptual gesture made by Holt and Smithson in acquiring the land. The exhibition brings Jonas’s contemporary vision into conversation with artworks by Holt and Smithson relating both to the island and their friendship with Jonas. The careful selection illuminates new interpretations of place, perception, and legacy.
Joan Jonas (b. 1936) is an innovator of video and performance art, whose groundbreaking practice has shaped contemporary art for over five decades. Known for blending storytelling, myth, and new media, her work explores identity, perception, and the natural world through layered, multimedia installations. From her early performances in New York’s SoHo scene to her recent environmental works, Jonas continues to redefine the possibilities of art with a dynamic visual language that is both deeply personal and globally resonant.
Nancy Holt (1938-2014) and Robert Smithson (1938-1973) were pivotal figures in the land and conceptual art movements, known for redefining how art engages with place, time, and perception. Holt’s innovative site-specific installations and use of media explored systems, language, and our relationship to the environment, while Smithson’s earthworks and writings examined entropy, geology, and the boundaries of knowledge. Together, their visionary practices continue to influence how artists approach landscape and meaning today.
Joan Jonas: An Island Departure is organized in partnership with Holt/Smithson Foundation and co-curated by Farnsworth Chief Curator Jaime DeSimone and Lisa Le Feuvre, Executive Director of the Holt/Smithson Foundation. The Island Project originated from a larger series initiated by the Holt/Smithson Foundation, inviting artists to respond to the island and continue its story through new work.
ABOUT THE HOLT/SMITHSON FOUNDATION
Nancy Holt (1938-2014) and Robert Smithson (1938-1973) transformed the world of art and ideas. Holt/Smithson Foundation develops their distinctive creative legacies. Collaborating with artists, writers, thinkers, and institutions, Holt/Smithson Foundation realizes exhibitions, publishes books, initiates artist commissions, programs educational events, encourages research, and develops collections globally from its headquarters in New Mexico.
ABOUT THE FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM
Named by the Boston Globe as one of the finest small museums in the country, the Farnsworth Art Museum offers a nationally recognized collection of works from many of America’s greatest artists. It is open year-round as the only museum dedicated solely to American- and Maine-inspired art. Through its remarkable collection of nearly 16,000 works, inventive exhibitions, wide-ranging intellectual resources, and energetic educational programming, visitors from around the world gain a deep appreciation of the ongoing story of Maine’s role in American art.
More information about the museum can be found at www.farnsworthmuseum.org.
By Chadd Scott