Who wouldn't want to have one of the most expansive collections of contemporary art in the world at their disposal? The "Ways of Seeing" series of exhibitions at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden lets a few select guest curators have this unique opportunity. The guest curators peruse the thousands of works housed within the Hirshhorn Museum's collection, establish a thematic direction for their installation and select works to be displayed that embody this theme.
The second installation of the "Ways of Seeing" exhibit opened recently at the Hirshhorn. Art collectors Giuseppe and Giovanna Panza chose this exhibit's pieces of work from the museum's collection to reflect upon the theme of conceptual, contemporary art in post-World War II America and Europe.
To create this collection, the Panzas chose works by artists from their private collection and artists they have admired, including Donald Judd, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still and Antoni Tápies. These works utilize a wide range of mediums, such as oil paint, sand, rock sculpture and collage. This exhibit also includes installation works.
"Ways of Seeing" is filled with eye-catching pieces set against intentionally stark white walls. The rooms are not designated by artist or by medium, so there is not an obvious flow within the exhibit. An example of this is evident in how one of the galleries in this exhibit houses both Antoni Tápies' "Black sand over Black" (1961) and Joseph Beuys' "F.I.U. Blackboards." While Tápies work is a mixed medium oil painting of black paint and sand, Beuys piece is an installation piece of two black canvasses propped against a wall with a pail of water between them.
While this exhibit seems to be disjointed, there are noteworthy works, such as Mark Rothko's "Blue, Orange, Red." This piece clearly typifies Rothko's style and contentious association with the Abstract Expressionists of the late 1940s; a clear testament to the theme of this collection. The juxtaposition of this enormous piece and the blank gallery walls allows Rothko's use of complimentary colors to have an almost ethereal three-dimensionality.
Another piece that should not be missed is Clyfford Still's "1950-M No.1." This enormous canvas is, like Rothko, indicative of the artist and his style, as well as a direct meditation on the Panzas' theme; it is an abstract oil painting of primarily blue oil paint. However, there are indications of a lower level of paint evidenced by the red dashes in the center and on the edges of the piece. This is a signature technique utilized in most of his paintings during this period.
While this exhibit is a meditation on conceptual and contemporary art of the post-War period, it is also a reflection on Giuseppe Panza's personal view of what art should be.
Panza is quoted on the walls of the gallery, having said "Art is an expression of idea and emotions. The study of the relationship between the mind and what we do is art." This view is clearly evidenced in the emotional pieces within this collection, making it an individualistic and personal experience.
This exhibit will be on display through Jan. 11 at the Hirshhorn Museum in conjunction with "The Panza Collection," which is on display in the adjacent gallery.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
