"Bobby Anspach: Everything is Change"
This summer, the Newport Art Museum will present Everything is Change, the first museum solo exhibition celebrating the groundbreaking work of Bobby Anspach. The exhibition emphasizes the late artist’s unique ability to create a sense of connection and community through his immersive, sculptural installations and will feature a selection of Anspach’s innovative works, including his Place for Continuous Eye Contact sculptures, known for their transformative use of light and sound.
The exhibition will open during Free for All Saturday on June 21 from 12 to 3 p.m., and be on display through September 28, 2025.
Everything is Change offers an artist’s perspective on an artist, shaped by guest curator Taylor Baldwin, an artist, associate professor, and graduate program director in the Rhode Island School of Design Sculpture Department. Baldwin’s approach is deeply personal and is informed by a first-hand understanding of Anspach’s evolution. Baldwin was Anspach’s former professor and advisor at RISD, and he provides an intimate look into Anspach’s work through this exhibition, emphasizing themes of connection, transcendence, and reflection.
“Bobby Anspach had an unfailing belief that art was capable of creating a sense of unity, empathy, and understanding in viewers,” said Taylor Baldwin. “That is the kind of optimism and faith in creative expression that the art world - and indeed the world beyond it - really needs more of in this exact moment."
Everything is Change centers around two of Anspach’s signature sculptures—one designed as a solo experience for deep introspection, and another facilitating a shared experience between two people making eye contact. These works use carefully crafted optical and lighting effects to create an altered perception of space and time, immersing participants in a heightened state of presence. By fostering direct human engagement, these pieces highlight Anspach’s belief in connection as a means of healing and transformation.
“With Everything is Change, the Museum invites visitors to consider how art reflects and reshapes human connection,” said Danielle Ogden, artistic director of the Newport Art Museum. “Bringing Bobby Anspach’s work into this historic space underscores our mission to explore how contemporary art can spark deeper connections within our community. His work pushes the boundaries between technology and human intimacy, reminding us that even in a digital age, person-to-person connection remains essential and irreplaceable.”
Anspach’s approach, rooted in DIY aesthetics and high craft, blended common materials with a profound conceptual rigor, creating works that initially appear scrappy and chaotic but ultimately dissolve into seamless, otherworldly environments. This work underscored the importance of shared experience and human intimacy, aligning powerfully with the Newport Art Museum’s historic home setting.
Complementing the sculptures are several works made in concert and conversation with these central pieces. Colorful paintings, preparatory drawings, a stop-motion animation, and surreal sculptures describe Anspach’s vision of extravagant sensory experience, productive disorientation, and urgent social imperatives. The exhibition will also feature a new, 10-minute documentary film from Julia Barrett Mitchell. Debuting as part of Everything is Change, the film will use archival footage to illuminate the life, inspirations, and creative vision of Anspach in his own voice.
Additionally, Eluvium, Anspach’s longtime collaborator and composer, will serve as the sound curator for the exhibition. Eluvium will create an ambient soundscape for the relaxation room designed by Lauren Rottet, reinforcing Anspach’s ethos of creative communion and sensory engagement. The room will reflect Rottet’s holistic approach to design—one that seamlessly integrates art, architecture, and sensory experience. Influenced by the Light and Space movement, Rottet carefully considers materiality, form, and illumination to craft an environment that transforms with shifting light, offering visitors a space to rest, reflect, and connect before and after experiencing Anspach’s work. Featuring pieces from her Rottet Collection—thoughtful products that can stand alone as functional works of art—the room will embody a symphony of design, where every element is composed with intention.
Set within the Museum’s historic John N. A. Griswold House—one of the first American Stick Style buildings and a National Historic Landmark—the exhibition underscores the synergy between the Museum’s architectural heritage and Anspach’s focus on human engagement and healing through art. The intimacy of a domestic space provides a compelling backdrop for a body of work centered on connection, reflection, and shared experience.
The Museum will host a dynamic series of programs engaging the community and featuring leading voices across art, design, music, and wellness. Major programs include the events for Newport Design Week, a sound bath performance by Eluvium, and lectures from the exhibition’s curator Taylor Baldwin and Dr. Stephanie Hartselle, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University.
EXHIBITION DETAILS
Location: Newport Art Museum, John N. A. Griswold House
Curated by: Taylor Baldwin (RISD)
Design Partner: Lauren Rottet (Rottet Studio)
Sound Advisor: Eluvium (Matthew Robert Cooper)
Exhibition Dates: June 21 - September 28, 2025
