Robert Therrien: This is a Story on view at The Broad until April 5, 2026
WestHollywodToday.blogspot CA January 20 2026 #TheBroad
By Karen Ostlund
American artist Therrien (1947–2019) is famous for his large-scale sculptures—towering stacks of vertigo-inducing dishes, giant beards, enormous folding chairs and oversized cooking pots and pans.
He is also known for transforming everyday, familiar objects into massive, surreal sculptures.
The Broad presents Robert Therrien: This is a Story, the largest museum exhibition of the late artist’s widely-adored work to date, on view today, until April 5, 2026.
Free admission on Thursdays, https://www.thebroad.org/art/generals/robert-therrien-story-free-thursday
Therrien’s meditations on scale and material are a deeply influential and well-known approach within the field of contemporary sculpture, significant to The Broad’s own identity as a museum, and long admired by visitors of all ages.
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| The sculpture "No title (room, pots and pans 1)" is a large-scale installation created by American artist Robert Therrien between 2008 and 2015. The artwork features oversized cooking pots and pans, crammed into a red-painted room. |
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| The sculpture "No Title (Table and Three Chairs)" by Robert Therrien is made of four objects: one table and three chairs, which are arranged around the respective sides of the table, drawn out slightly to leave a space between the table edge and chair leg. The colossal sculpture stands over ten feet high, tall enough for viewers to walk beneath. |
A fan favorite since The Broad first opened, is "Under The Table (1994)"—the very first artwork installed at the museum—has drawn visitors from around the world, bringing childhood memories of hiding beneath a table.
"While Under The Table" will continue to be free to view as part of general admission, Robert Therrien: This Is a Story expands the world of everyday objects made extraordinary, with even more towering tables, oversized plates, and whimsical dishes to explore.
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| Robert Therrien’s "beards" sculptures are large-scale, often monumental,
installations of fake beards crafted from materials like polished
steel, aluminum, plastic, and human hair. Created between 2007 and 2014, these works often hang on wardrobe racks, referencing to theater and the artist’s self-portraiture. Inspiration of beards came from photographs of sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. |
Featuring more than 120 works spanning five decades, the exhibit offers unprecedented access to the artist’s exploration of scale, memory, and perception. He operated out of a studio space, just miles from downtown Los Angeles, for nearly thirty years, beginning in 1990.
Many of the works on view, including those created just before Therrien’s death in 2019, have never been featured in museum exhibitions before.
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| In 1998, Therrien made "No title (black beds)", which is a sculpture of
two plastic and enamel beds placed end to end, curling upward in an
arch, which appeared first in the artist's 2000 LACMA show. |
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| No Title (Stacked Plates)" by Robert Therrien is a large-scale sculpture
installation featuring a tall stack of oversized white plastic soup
dishes. The soup plates are stacked high and tilted at unnatural angles, to change the viewer's sense of scale. The design is modeled after kitchenware, popular in mid-20th-century American roadside diners. |
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Location; 221 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
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