York Factory A - Frank Stella

Where is it?

Concourse A

Stella's York Factory A is on view near Hudson Booksellers.

About the Art

The arcs and curves of York Factory A, a work of Stella’s Protractor Series, are loosely based off of decorative Persian designs. Frank Stella had just returned from a visit to Iran before beginning the Protractor Series and was deeply impacted by the interweaving circular city plans that resembled “snakes swallowing their tails.”

The Details

Artist

Frank Stella

Date

1972

Medium

Painting (acrylic on un-primed canvas)

Dimensions

9' high x 27' wide

Did you know?

Frank Stella was an early practitioner of nonrepresentational painting, undermining centuries of the artistic belief that paintings are to act as windows into a three-dimensional space inhabited by lifelike and realistic figures and subjects.

About the Artist

Stella is known to frequently challenge the classifications of an art movement. His impersonal and distant black striped paintings of crisp, clean lines questioned the existential and gestural angst of the Abstract Expressionists. As an artist, Stella seemed to follow the natural progression of artistic evolution. Dynamism, texture, and scale moved Stella from his monochrome palette to his adopted bright pastels. He later incorporated non-sculptural elements onto the canvas, and most recently, abandoned the canvas altogether.

"I like real art. It's difficult to define 'real' but it is the best word for describing what I like to get out of art and what the best art has. It has the ability to convince you that it's present – that it's there. You could say it's authentic [...] but 'real' is actually a better word, broad as it may be." – Frank Stella

Short Bio

Stella’s incessant artistic growth has cemented his position in the history of American modernism, participating in the developments of Minimalism, Post-Painterly Abstraction, and Color Field painting. His work is housed in collections around the nation including at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Similar Artwork

At the Airport

Visit another piece in the Sea-Tac Airport by a Color Field painter, Sam Gilliam's Yellow Fog. Follow the link below in the Connected Stories module.

York Factory A - Frank Stella

Frank Stella's colorful abstract painting is among the highlights of Sea-Tac's extensive art collection.