Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Floored

The trip to the Hirshorn continues...


There is an excellent installation by Jim Lambie on the ground floor. He has covered the entire floor w/ tape and there are a few sculptural pieces (that end up not being able to compete with the floor- the point I imagine, but maybe this happens b/c the space is so heavily trafficked that there couldn't be too much stuff there??), but overall the installation (part of the Hirshorns "Directions" series) is one of the best uses of that space I've ever seen.

From the Hirshorn's website:
Walking into one of Jim Lambie's Zobop striped taped floor pieces is like entering a giant painting. As part of our continuing efforts to give visitors opportunities to experience new works of art, Turner Prize finalist Lambie (b. Glasgow, Scotland,1964) has transformed the Hirshhorn's lobby into a vibrant, colorful, and immersive environment. The artist meticulously adheres vinyl tape to the floor in a geometric pattern that responds to the building's architecture. The floor is further enhanced by a group of sculptures-three new pieces made on site using existing elements and materials found in thrift stores, markets, and pawn shops throughout Washington.

Turns out Lambie is a DJ (a turntablist?)- this makes sense when you see the work. It is charged.

If you go here you can watch a time lapse video of the piece being made. Time lapse videos everywhere!

Upstairs, skulking around the permanent collection I got stuck on this Alex Katz painting that I've been looking at for years. I'm no fan of Katz (and am not going to track down all of the relevant info regarding it) but I am a fan of painters making paintings that are obviously derived from a photographs and damn! I love that floor...

2 comments:

scruffylooking said...

Wow. I was just having a conversation with some friends about painting from photographs vs. painting from the actual thing or person. We all said we did a combination of both, but the painting I'm working on now is solely from a photo. We'll see how it turns out...

Anonymous said...

what about the baldessari cookies?!? love bryan