MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS: NYC SPRING AND SUMMER 2014

On Tuesday I gave you a quick rundown of the public art projects I am most excited about this summer. Today I want to share some of the museum exhibitions happening in New York in the next couple months that are highlighted on my calendar. Here's what I am looking forward to:

Jeff Koons: A Retrospective Exhibition, The Whitney Museum | June 27 - October 19 | "This exhibition will be the artist's first major museum presentation in New York, and the first to fill nearly the entirety of the Whitney's Marcel Breuer building with a single artist's work. It will also be the final exhibition to take place there before the Museum opens its new building in the Meatpacking District in 2015."

Ai Weiwei: According to What?, The Brooklyn Museum | April 18 - August 10 | "Ai Weiwei is one of China's most prolific and provocative contemporary artists. Featuring over forty works spanning more than twenty years, Ai Weiwei: According to What? explores universal topics of culture, history, politics, and tradition, showcasing the artist's remarkably interdisciplinary career as a photographer, sculptor, architect, and activist." (image from here)

Mel Bochner: Strong Language, Jewish Museum | May 2 - September 21 | "Across a selection of more than 70 works, Mel Bochner: Strong Language focuses on the artist's career-long fascination with the cerebral and visual associations of words. In his spectacular recent paintings, Bochner juxtaposes the vernacular and the proper, the formal and the vulgar, and the high versus low, using terms often appropriated from Roget's Thesaurus." (image from here)

Lygia Clark: The Abandonment of Art, 1948-1988, Museum of Modern Art | May 10 - August 24 | "The Museum of Modern Art presents a major retrospective devoted to the art of Lygia Clark (Brazilian, 1920-1988), the first comprehensive exhibition in North America of her work. Lygia Clark: The Abandonment of Art, 1948-1988 comprises nearly 300 works made between the late 1940s and her death in 1988. Drawn from public and private collections, including MoMA's own, this survey is organized around three key themes: abstraction, Neo-Concretism, and the 'abandonment' of art. Each of these axes anchors a significant concept or constellation of works that mark a definitive step in Clark's career. While Clark's legacy in Brazil is profound, this exhibition draws international attention to her work. By bringing together all parts of her radical production, the exhibition seeks to reintroduce her into current discourses of abstraction, participation, and a therapeutic art practice."

13 Most Wanted Men: Andy Warhol and the 1964 World's Fair, Queens Museum | April 27 - September 7 | "50 years have passed since an up-and-coming Pop provocateur named Andy Warhol sparked a minor scandal at the 1964 New York World's Fair. As part of a prominent set of public commissions for the Philip Johnson-designed New York State Pavilion's exterior, Warhol chose to enlarge mug shots from a NYPD booklet featuring the 13 most wanted criminals of 1962 . . . . Later in the summer of 1964, Warhol produced another set of the Most Wanted Men paintings with the screens he had used to make the mural and nine of these are assembled in New York for the first time since their creation, forming the core of the 175 or so objects in the exhibition."

The Roof Garden Commission: Dan Graham and Günther Vogt, The Metropolitan Museum of Art | April 29 - November 2 | "This installation by Dan Graham is the second in a new series of site-specific commissions for the Museum's Roof Garden. Comprising curves of steel and two-way mirrored glass set between ivy hedgerows, Graham's structure is part garden maze, part modernist skyscraper facade. Viewers who enter the work are transformed into performers; in glimpsing their own reflections, they are also made acutely aware of the act of looking."

Which shows are you looking forward to? Anything I missed?

FIREFLIES

You may have noticed that I am a bit out of it these days . . . time seems to be zooming by at lightning speed: my wedding is only about three weeks away! Since I have been spending every moment of free time checking off my endless wedding to do list items, I may have to warn you that I will be posting much less frequently than normal. But I promise I won't abandon you!

With that said I have been struggling to find inspiration that is not wedding-focused to share with you guys. In fact the only thing, of late, that I have found to be suitably jaw-dropping to post here is an exhibition at my museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, on the work of Japanese-born artist Yayoi Kusama. Not only is she the queen of polka dots (see above) but she has a work installed on the first floor of the museum that is positively incredible. Called Fireflies, it is a shimmering room of light and reflection that you are allowed to experience, by yourself, for one magical minute. It is so lovely it is hard to explain, so go see it yourself!

Learn more about the exhibition here.

GLENN LIGON: AMERICA

Last night I went to the opening of a new exhibition at the Whitney Museum entitled Glenn Ligon: America. Ligon, a mid-career conceptual artist based in New York, creates work that deals with American history, literature, society and race. The work in the show runs the gamut from neon installations to paintings to drawings and, honestly, everything in the galleries looks absolutely stunning. Each and every piece is thoughtfully grouped and presented and, despite the variety of work in the show, everything appears uniformly elegant and fresh.

Do yourself a favor and a) read more details for the show here, b) read a review of the show here, and c) plan a visit to see it all here.

DAVID SMITH: CUBES AND ANARCHY

For the past several months I have been working on an amazing exhibition—David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy—as part of my job at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The show opened yesterday and, if I do say so myself, it looks great! The idea behind the exhibition is to trace the artist's geometric impulse throughout his career, trying to debunk the myth that Smith was purely an Abstract Expressionist who only turned to concrete form at the end of his life. With that said, the show features exquisite examples of the artist's work from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his rarely exhibited, but thoroughly fascinating, photographs.


David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy is on view until January 8, 2012. Learn more about the exhibition here.


Image credits (bottom three works):

David Smith (1906-1965)

Zig III, 1961 (detail)

Painted steel

93 x 124 x 61 in. (236.2 x 315.0 x 154.9 cm)

The Estate of David Smith, New York, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

© The Estate of David Smith/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

Photo by Jerry L. Thompson

David Smith (1906-1965)

Cubi I, 1963

Stainless steel

124 x 34 ½ x 33 ½ in. (315 x 87.6 x 85.1 cm)

Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Special Purchase Fund

© The Estate of David Smith/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

Photo © Detroit Institute of Arts/licensed by The Bridgeman Art Library

David Smith (1906-1965)

Untitled, 1963

Spray enamel on paper

14 x 19 in. (35.6 x 48.3 cm)

Jon and Mary Shirley

© The Estate of David Smith/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

Photo courtesy of the Estate of David Smith, NY

ENGAGEMENT PARTY: DECOR

My sincere apologies for disappearing at the end of last week. I have been working on an exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art—interning, doing research, etc.—for nearly three years and it finally opened last week! I just needed an a little down time after all that excitement. I will do a proper post about the exhibition soon, but in the meantime, you can read about it here.

So, without further ado, here's my last post about my engagement party, hosted in Connecticut on Saturday, June 25, 2011.

As you already know, I love balloons. Love! The bigger the better! So I bought several dozen super big balloons that fit my blue theme. These happen to be 24" diameter, but I also bought some that were 36" diameter but just didn't get a chance to blow them up (things get busy right before a party!). I did a bunch of research to find the best prices, since balloons that big tend to get expensive, so if you are in interested in where I bought them just say so in the comments!

Everything I read online about big balloons made me nervous about how much helium I would need to fill these babies up. In the end I decided to just buy a 'party kit' at my local Target: a big box that contains regular 10" balloons, ribbon and a disposable helium tank. The tank actually went a lot further than I thought it would, so I would highly recommend that solution to anyone looking blow up a few balloons at a time.

Of course we had to have tons of flowers. These were mixed bouquets that I assembled from blossoms bought a local farmer's market and (surprisingly!) our local supermarket. Normally I like arrangements that are very structured, but I was actually quite happy with the free-flowing looseness of these vases; I think it suited the mood of a casual afternoon get together by the beach.

A couple weeks before the party I decided I wanted to have a lettered banner (like these) to hang on the front of the house. After deciding on my text (which mirrors the language used on our wedding website and save the date), I simply designed an Adobe Illustrator document which contained 3-4 outlined letters on each page (you don't need design software to do this, but if you print out letters through Microsoft Office programs just make sure you use an outlined font). Then I printed them on heavy blue cardstock and cut out each letter. And to ensure the garlands didn't rip in the breezy outdoors, I added a couple of eyelets in each letter a matching shade of blue and strung the whole thing on blue and white baker's twine. If I do say so myself, I think they looked pretty great!

The drinks and table, of course, also had to fit the 'blue' theme. As I mentioned here, we used Ikea polka dot curtains and super cute polka dot glasses to add a little pattern and fun to the party. I also bought these Kikkerland straws for a reasonable price at an online store called the Gray Goose.

A party wouldn't be a party without some atmosphere! We bought a couple strings of these string lights (only in clear bulbs) from Target that look delightfully vintage and elegant and only cost $12.99 for a 24 foot strand!! Though I forgot to take a photo of them at night, I can attest that they cast a beautiful (and surprisingly strong) glow.

Lastly, I personalized some of these $4 Ikea stoppered water bottles with big vinyl stick on letters (I bought these 4" versions) to spell out celebratory phrases and our initials. Top photo, left to right: 'HELLO', 'T', 'LOVE' and 'K'. Not only do the stickers stay on super well, but they also look wick the condensation off the bottle in a beautiful water. And the bottles can be reused over and over again. I mean, really, who wouldn't smile when served water from a bottle that says 'hello'?

Hope you liked the recaps (and sorry they took so long!). If you have questions about anything feel free to ask a question in the comments. If you don't, well, we will be back to regular posting tomorrow!

LONDON UNDERGROUND: ARTISTS' TUBE MAP

        

          



        

Boy is New York behind the times! Apparently the London Transport Authority has been commissioning artists to design the cover of their underground map since 2004. How cool is that? And the artists they have worked with are big names: such as David Shrigley, Liam Gillick, Barbara Kruger and now (bottom-most image) Yayoi Kusama. Oh and did I mention that the Whitney Museum is hosting a Kusama retrospective this summer? As the queen of polka dots, Kusama is pretty much my artistic hero. I can't wait to see the show!

In the meantime, I would advise you to check out all the other artist maps for Art of the Underground here.

REMEMBER ME?

I'm alive! I bet you were starting to worry there. Me too! There are a lot of changes brewing over here at O.I. headquarters. Besides finishing my orals last month, I have decided to leave my job at the Whitney Museum and return to my studies full time. That means a whole lot more time to work on my dissertation and, hopefully, a lot more energy left over to buff up the O.I. I already have a long "honey do" list going, including a new personal website, revamped portfolio and, of course, a facelift for this very blog.

But in the meantime, I haven't forgotten about you! I will try to post here and there for the rest of the month but can promise to be back in full action by June when I am a free agent again!

WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND

Whoa, where did this week go? I have a theory that short weeks at work are actually the craziest; at least for me, I have less time to cram in more work than usual to make up for my hedonistic laziness over the long weekend. Pair that with a very busy exhibition schedule here at the Whitney Museum and I am wiped!

Do you have anything fun planned this weekend? My in-laws are coming to visit and, given the beautiful weather forecast, I am hoping to take them here and here (maybe with a stop here for a cookie in between). Hope you are going to be taking advantage of the crisp fall air wherever you are!

For those of you who are stuck inside for the next couple days, or just want some procrastination inspiration at work today, here are some fun things to keep you busy:

I don't care that this place is in Minnesota, I want to go there now.

This is hilarious (and kinda disappointing) at the same time.

I need to stockpile this and this in black or red. (Won't they look great together?)

This looks super useful, and I think I would make it my mission to top the Today Show (there version is boring!).

I have been a die-hard reader my whole life and I did not know half of these things.

I need to learn all of these (and these). Now. And I need to try to use them without giggling.

I got in on this (so smart!) and wish I had gotten in on this (cool!).

If only Nemo's Dad had had access to this . . .

Okay, maybe Facebook isn't all evil . . .

Have you seen my friend Lily's blog? It's beautiful! And so is her artwork!

This woman is incredible. We would all be lucky to have even half of her poise, grace and downright awesomeness.

And now for something completely different (only in New York!)


Have a great weekend, all! See you on Monday!


Photo taken by me, last month, at the Eastern Market in D.C. Check out more of my Instagram photos here.

STRING IT UP: GABRIEL DAWE

Holy cow. How incredible are these thread installations by artist Gabriel Dawe?!! I love the misty planes of color created simply by stringing up sewing thread in big open spaces. Wouldn't they look beautiful in a big soho loft or at a museum? I may have to try to pull some strings (haha, get it?) to get them at the Whitney!

See more of Dawe's work here. And if you like these, you might like this stuff too.


(thanks to plenty of colour for the tip)