Step through sculptures made of strings, see yourself reflected in what seems to be a volcano of glass, walk through a towering rusted spiral, gaze into huge, endless geometric pits, and imagine who wrote each of a set of 4,000 vintage postcards.  Where else can you do all these things but at the amazing Dia:Beacon?

I’ve attended college in the Hudson Valley for four years, and only now, in my final semester, have I at last managed to visit Dia:Beacon, the sprawling contemporary art installation museum in Beacon, NY (located about an hour or so from New York City).  Dia:Beacon has all the greats of contemporary art, including Richard Serra, Gerhard Richter, Donald Judd, and Agnes Martin, as well as a number of artists I’d never heard of before, but whose art fully engrosses you.

Fred Sandback, Untitled from Dia:Beacon website

The museum is a playground of optical illusions.  The stark white galleries immediately present you with the eye-numbing neons of Dan Flavin and then the meticulously layered pencil murals of Sol LeWitt, who seems a Dia favorite.  Throughout your journey through the huge, echoing Dia warehouse, you constantly wonder: What is real? What am I looking at? What is this space?

Fred Sandback’s string sculptures (a view, at left) ask these questions playfully, creating larger-than-life rectangles and triangles that you know are flat and empty, but at the same time have deceiving depth, leaning against gallery walls as if discarded by the artist. On Kawara’s room of dated paintings from his ongoing Today series is a pristinely executed inquiry into time that manages to be both intimate and distant; the air is even ionized, and it feels somehow lighter as you inhale and exhale within the space.

Michael Heizer, North, South, East, West, from Dia:Beacon website

Meanwhile, the gaping holes of Michael Heizer’s North, South, East, West (right) are an exploration into illusions of infinity, simultaneously mesmerizing and terrifying.  And one could spend hours in Zoe Leonard’s You see I am here after all exhibition — reading the text and studying the subtle differences in printing of the 4,000 vintage postcards of Niagara Falls, collected by the artist over the course of the year, getting lost in the stories of this place and forgetting any sense of space around you altogether.

(Not to be missed, by the way, is their bookstore, which, though small in size, houses a treasure trove of books on art, design, and theory from around the world.)

All in all, the collections of the Dia, much like the installation art in general, defy description, and beg instead to be experienced. And after all, isn’t that the point?

Dia:Beacon, Reggio Galleries, 3 Beekman Street, Beacon NY 12508 | Zoe Leonard’s You see I am here after all exhibition is on view until September 9, 2009

Here’s one more reason I have to go to Tokyo, and soon.  The Museum Lab, a joint project between the Louvre and Dai Nippon Printing, is an experimental space in Tokyo, Japan that combines the high art of the Louvre with brand new technology.  Exhibitions change every four to five months, and focus on one sole artwork, surrounded by multimedia setups that present extensive research on the painting or sculpture by the Louvre art historians.

The current exhibition is on The Slippers by Samuel von Hoogstraten.  Because you have to pay to get into the Museum Lab “museum” area, the descriptions on the websites are teasers rather than thorough, but are nonetheless quite intriguing… You can learn about the Dutch Golden Age and its painting style, step into the room van Hoogstraten presents–exploring the importance of perspective  for the artist (see above image), and even a space where you can share your own interpretations of the symbols/objects within the work.

I’m completely fascinated by these creative blends between art and technology–so I really wish I had the extra cash to take a trip to Tokyo and check out this museum!  Hopefully this experiment will continue for a while (there have been four previous exhibitions, including a Gericault and a Titian) so we can all continue to see what new innovations this space can create.  I’ll certainly have my eye on it–I wonder if any of these technologies will be offered or will catch on and be developed for other museums around the world?

Museum Lab website

Listen at NPR’s ‘Museums in the 21st Century’ series webpage.
Via Museum Blogging.

Yoga in the Galleries, at the Ackland Art Museum

Meandering aimlessly through museum websites earlier this summer, I came across a description of an exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum called Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product.  It wasn’t the name that drew me in, though — no, being the sucker for good, beautiful design that I am, it was an image of a French porcelain plate decorated with the various colors and glazes offered by the company.  If you are at all like me — that is, if you love paper, patterns, color combinations, interior design, lace, typography, things handwritten or things letterpressed, or really anything, for example, that’s ever been showcased on the lovely blog design*sponge — then you absolutely must go see this beautiful little exhibit.

Sample Book: The Della Robbia Papers, designed by O.W. Jaquis and published by P.P. Kellogg Division, United States Envelope Co., 1926. Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Image from exhibition website.

This is the story of the little exhibit that could.  It was supposed to close a month or two ago (or so the young woman at the admissions desk told me), but is staying open through September 1, and if you are in the New York area, you would do yourself a favor to go and see it.  It’s not perfect, and there are no brochures anymore and no catalogue ever created, but these tiny, delicate, carefully-cut scraps of paper, rolls of handmade lace, and hand-numbered wallpaper samples cluster in the basement gallery in an array of beautiful colors that spread around the room.  It will take you about a half-hour, an hour if you stretch it and read every description, to go through the exhibition; it’s a short trip, but well worth it.  I wish the section on the “origin of the sample book” had been first — it would have provided, perhaps, a better introduction — but it’s irresistible either way to anyone who’d like to look at a lovely collection of objects.  They range from samples of painted porcelain, to Japanese wallpapers, to lace, to artist’s tools.

Sample book: A Descriptive Handbook of Modern Watercolor Pigments, written by J. Scott Taylor and published by Winsor and Newton, Ltd., late 19th century. Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Image from exhibition website.

One of my favorite objects was this group of paper samples (above, left).  Zoom in on the image to see a close up of the paper — the colors are named the most exotic, strange words: burnt sienna is “tobacco”, a dark sky blue is “gobelin”, and my favorite, a gray-lavender, is “gloaming”.  If you need any word inspiration, this is the exhibit to go to — many of the samples, colors, and patterns are named with some lusciously descriptive words, like the “honeysuckle” or “bramble” patterns (above, right) by Morris & Co.

Also nice to check out at the Design Museum is the garden in the back.  The garden is as big as the floor of the museum.  Unfortunately, while they change exhibits (the Rococo show just ended), there’s only a small room with a selection of works from the permanent collection and this show that are open; but they have Friday night cocktails in the beautiful, sprawling garden.  Can you tell from this review how much I love this charming little museum?  Don’t even get me started on their great website, which has a blog, Youtube channel, and extensive websites on each of their exhibits… just get there yourself and immerse yourself in a world of samples!

Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product, at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, 2 East 91st St., New York City. | Now through September 1, 2008.

View of galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, New Hampshire. (Credit)

The Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, New Hampshire, is actually North America’s oldest museum in continuous operation. Dating back to 1772, it is owned and operated by Dartmouth College, and was founded just 3 years after the college itself. With nearly 65,000 objects in its permanent collection, this small museum boasts quite an impressive range of art. There’s a bit of everything, from Ancient Near Eastern reliefs, to American landscapes, to European paintings, and even some home furnishings.

While there are no “world famous” pieces in this museum that most would have heard of, I find it refreshing to wander this quiet museum and not worry about when you will get to the “Mona Lisa” of this college art museum. You get to really look at the art and take it in for what it is, not what you have heard about it. There is a substantial amount of their collection on display, and makes for a well rounded yet not overwhelming experience.

The King and the Genie, Relief from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud, 883-859 BCE, Gypsum (Credit)

While there are many gems in the permanent collection, my favorite thing to see is the group of reliefs from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud, Assyria, dating back to circa 883-859 BCE. Ashurnasirpal II was the King of Assyria from 884-859 BCE, and inhabited this palace in present-day Iraq. These over life-sized reliefs made of gypsum occupy a vast wall in one of the galleries, and show a variety of figures, including a King and a Genie. What I find most interesting is that if you look up close, you can see bands of cuneiform (an ancient style of writing) that proclaim the laws of the kingdom. These reliefs stick to the custom of depicting figures solely in profile, and are easily relatable to Egyptian and other Eastern art from that timeperiod. This impressive grouping remains powerful, even removed from its original context, and gives a sense of grandiosity that the original palace must have had. The museum has informative pamphlets that go into depth about the reliefs, the laws they proclaim, the figures they depict, and the provenance of the works themselves.

Maud Sulter, Terpsichore, 1989, dye destructions print. Arts Council Collection, London. Photograph courtesy of Maud Sulter and the Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London. On view in the exhibition Black Womanhood. Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, New Hampshire (Credit)

In addition to the vast permanent collection, the Hood Museum also presents about eight special exhibitions each year, as well as two teaching exhibitions each term. To quote the Museum itself, “The exhibitions program of the Hood Museum of Art represents one of the most important means by which the museum fulfills its primary mission: to foster a greater appreciation of the visual arts as a medium for the expression of ideas and cultural values. The exhibitions presented by the museum are intended to contribute to scholarship in art history and related disciplines and to offer insight into the artistic production of many different historical periods and cultures.” The current exhibitions are entitled “Black Womanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies of the African Body” (April 1-August 10, 2008) and “Ruscha and Pop: Icons of the 1960s” (April 12-June 15, 2008).

Perhaps the most interesting exhibition program that the Hood has (at least to me, as an undergrad Art History major…) is called A Space for Dialogue. This program, started 7 years ago, allows the Senior Interns at the Museum to curate Mini-Exhibitions in the entrance lobby to the museum itself. There have been over 38 since 2001, each accompanied by a brochure written by the intern, and ranging in themes from Consuming Life: On Ideals of Beauty and Assuming Identity in a Culture of Fear to Picturing Family in the “South”: Legacies of the American Civil War. These exhibitions use works from the permanent collection that have not been displayed recently to create a provocative and thoughtful statement as well as give the Seniors a chance to get some hands-on curatorial experience. The full title of this program is: A Space for Dialogue: Fresh Perspectives on the Permanent Collection from Dartmouth Students, and it truly creates a venue for interaction not only between the students and their selected works of art, but also between the viewers, the students, and the museum itself.

Gods of the Modern World, detail of mural cycle The Epic of American Civilization. Detail of mural by José Clemente Orozco at Baker Library, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. (Credit)

The museum is located just off “The Big Green” at the heart of both Dartmouth College’s campus as well as the college town of Hanover, New Hampshire. It is situated next to the Hopkin’s Art Center, and just off the main street where you can find Lou’s (a classy ‘50s style diner, which is also the best place for breakfast in the area) as well as many cute shops and restaurants. Just across the green is the Baker Library, home to Jose Clemente Orozco’s massive mural project entitled The Epic of American Civilization. These works of art depict an intricate and compelling narrative that covers the history of the Americas, beginning with the Aztecs’ migration into central Mexico and ending with the development of our modern industrial society. Located in the Reserve room in the lower level of the library, these vibrant murals (comprised of 24 individual scenes and covering approximately 3,200 square feet) are a must-see for anyone in the area.

Overall, the Hood Museum of Art is a wonderful place to simply enjoy art. As long as you go with an open mind and an eye that is not looking for a Manet or Michelangelo, I truly believe anyone can really enjoy this peaceful and accessible collection. The special exhibitions are always worth a look, and the Museum Staff are very friendly and more than happy to answer any and all questions.

View of Hood Museum of Art from courtyard (Credit)

Hanover, New Hampshire is pretty far off of the beaten path for most, but the Upper Valley is a great place for a weekend retreat. In the summer, there are endless outdoors activities and even a Drive-In nearby. The Fall offers breathtaking views and hikes as the mountains seem to burst into flame with the changing foliage. In the winter, this cute college town turns into a winter wonderland with lots of local skiing and plenty of raging fireplaces to keep you warm. Lastly, in the spring, (or what we call “Mud Season”) the expanses of blooming flowers and rushing rivers offer a wonderful escape into nature.

It isn’t common to find such an impressive range of art outside of a major city, and I believe the location of the Hood Museum of Art, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, adds to its character of quiet and removed contemplation. It is a sanctuary of sorts, where you can really relax, take a deep breath, and open your eyes to truly see what is in front of you.

More information on any topic discussed above, as well as complete information on current and upcoming exhibitions, can be found on the Hood Museum of Art’s official website.