Tag: metmuseum

Wangechi Mutu’s Metropolitan Museum of Art Facade Commission

The Metropolitan Museum of Art may be closed to deter the spread of COVID-19 but one of its most exciting new commissions is still on view outside.  In never-filled niches designed to hold statuary, Wangechi Mutu has installed four bronze sculptures of powerful women wrapped in coiled garments that the artist describes as ‘living, tactile and fleshy’ but which also act protectively.  Polished disks (here, at the back of this figure’s head) echo traditional ornament worn by women of status in many African cultures.  Though inspired by caryatid sculptures in which women support a burden (from prestige stools to the Vanderbilt mantlepiece) these queenly and otherworldly figures are leaders, not servers.  (On view outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art through June 8th, 2020).

Wangechi Mutu, ‘The Seated’ (one of four sculptures in the series), bronze, 2019.

Alicja Kwade at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Berlin-based Polish artist Alicja Kwade explains that the invitation to install a piece on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art was like being asked to crown the summarized history of humanity in the galleries below.  In response, she created a steel framed structure that symbolizes human systems and which incorporates stones sourced from India, Finland, Italy, China and beyond.  From the roof, viewing the New York’s rising skyline is unavoidable; Kwade draws in the surroundings as part of her artwork, inviting visitors to consider neighboring buildings as symbols of capitalism, a structure that can be examined as readily as the ones she erects. (On view through Oct 27th).

Installation view of Alicja Kwade’s ‘Parapivot’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, summer 2019.

Mark Bradford in ‘Epic Abstraction’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hung in the spot long occupied by an iconic Jackson Pollock drip painting, and inspired by Clyfford Still’s monumental abstractions, Mark Bradford’s mixed media on canvas artwork declares that non-representational art is still cutting-edge in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s ‘Epic Abstraction’ rehang.  The bleach and water degraded layered paper surfaces of ‘Duck Walk’ reference Chuck Berry’s famous dance move, also adopted by ballroom voguers, maintaining Pollock’s scale and dynamic movement while prompting alternative considerations of race, gender and history.  (Ongoing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Mark Bradford, Duck Walk, mixed media on canvas, 2016.

Gianni Versace in ‘Heavenly Bodies’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gianni Versace’s 1991-92 jacket, featuring a Madonna and child embroidered in crystals, draws on the gold tile and opulent patterning of Ravenna’s Byzantine architecture.  Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s stunning ‘Heavenly Bodies’ Costume Institute exhibition, the garment joins icons from the Met’s collection in a contemporary reinterpretation of opulence.  (On view on the Upper East Side through Oct 8th).

Gianni Versace, Jacket, autumn/winter 1991-92, green silk tulle, embroidered polychrome silk thread, gold silk and metal thread, polychrome faceted crystals, green seed beads, and gold metal hardware.

Tanabe Chikuunsai IV in ‘Japanese Bamboo Art’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Japanese artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV created this stunning woven bamboo sculpture on-site at the entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s current show of bamboo art from the Abbey Collection, announcing the amazing craftsmanship and inventiveness on display in this exhibition. (On view through Feb 4th).

Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, The Gate (Mon), installation view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2017.