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Art you can sit on? A reminder.
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[Literally] art you can SIT on: at the BMA till Jan. 4
This is a reminder for EVERYONE all there (fans of Contemporary art and those who loathe it) to please stop by the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) between now and January 4, 2009. Austrian artist Franz West's (b. 1947 -) show, To Build a House You Start with the Roof: Work, 1972-2008 is currently on view. Baltimore Art Examiner Cara Ober blogged about the opening of this exhibit on October 14 and I'm here to encourage you (and myself) to see this show... once, twice, multiple times... before its gone forever.
Did I mention this exhibition is FREE?!
The art critic Robert Hughes said it best when he described museums as "…having very largely supplanted the church as the emblematic focus of the American city." Museums have gone a long way from once being a Kunsthalle for the elite to community center-like spaces that are accessible to the public. In fact, a trip to the art museum is often mandatory in today’s vacation plan. And attendance at Contemporary art museums is also growing...
But… art you can sit on and not get yelled at? As indicated in Ober's article, this is certainly possible. Franz West's first comprehensive survey in the United States of his celebrated career is not to be missed.
The works in this retrospective are exhibited in a "reverse" chronological order, starting with the artist's most recent work - a bold, colorful 25-foot aluminum sculpture appropriately named The Ego and the ID (pictured above). Best of all, this giant looping sculpture has a place for you to "become one with the art" (author's italics).
To Build a House You Start with the Roof: Work, 1972-2008 also includes works of West such as furniture that fuse the culture of bars, cafes and domestic life; papier-mâché groupings, sculptures on pedestals and sculptures that appear to be tipping over. In addition, visitors are also allowed to touch and play with human-scaled plaster sculptures in a space glowing with the violet hue of West's floor lamps.
But wait, just when you thought this exhibition was completely experience focused, think again. The BMA does a great job incorporating an education component to bring this fun exhibition to the next level. The Inactivity Center, which is inspired by West's themes of relaxation and leisure, offers visitors respite from the hustle and bustle of the museum. Here, one can sit down and meditate on the works viewed, read press materials and even use word magnets to create your response via poetry and prose. Docents (affectionally called Friends of Franz) are available to answer any questions you might have about the artist, his life and the works shown in the exhibition.
The best thing about Contemporary art is that it determines its own rules and non-rules. Like many movements in the history of art, Contemporary art now acts as a catalyst to ask questions, experiment and instill meaning (or lack thereof) in order to exploit some kind of physical representation that links both the viewer and creator. The BMA, your typical temple of art which features over 90,000 works of art from ancient to post-modern, is a classic example of how the art museum is constantly transforming and reinventing itself in the world today.
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