Charles Hinman creates dynamic works that expand beyond the conventional space of painting through shaped, abstract canvases. For more than 50 years, Hinman has honed his inventive, visual vocabulary by stretching canvas over hand-built, wooden armatures to create what the artist has described as “skin over bones.” Made from a collection of sculptural planes, his canvases are both organic and architectonic, evoking complex gemstones, winged creatures, billowed sails, or even expansive cityscapes, all emerging from the wall.

Charles Hinman: Structures, 1965–2014 was the first museum exhibition of works by the artist in the Washington area and the first survey of his work in more than 30 years. This show began in 1965 when Hinman was based in downtown New York and opened his important second solo exhibition at the Richard Feigen Gallery. From the Feigen show, David and Carmen Kreeger purchased Sails, seen in this gallery, which was reunited for the first time since 1965 with three other paintings from the same exhibition, now in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Charles Hinman: Structures, 1965–2014 continued with other historic paintings from the 1960s and 1970s, including his monochromatic paintings in high relief, his later monumental canvases, and his rarely-exhibited textiles, prints, sketches, and maquettes that reveal the artist’s creative process. The exhibition followed the artist through his tireless experimentations with color and canvas over five decades, as he developed, and then expanded, his innovative approach to painting.