Exhibits in the Artifact Walls

Where: American History Museum

When: through February 11, 2013

I went over to the American History Museum on Monday, as I had just discovered that three exhibits in the artifact walls were coming down that day.  Not much in the way of advance warning; I had looked at the exhibit listing over the weekend, and realized I only had one day to see these.

I understand that displays have to come down in order for new things to go up - how else would I have years' worth of shows to see?  What I don't quite get is why we visitors don't get a bit more notice.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the website doesn't always have up-to-date info; I may have to dig around a bit and figure out how to get better intelligence...

When I arrived at American History, I found out that one of the displays (which I gather was on the Mexican Revolution) was already down.  A disappointment, but no use crying over spilled milk.  I had two displays to see, and see them I would.

The first, called Sweet & Sour, was on Chinese food in the United States.  There are more Chinese restaurants in the US than McDonalds, Burger Kings and Pizza Huts combined.  I would never have guessed that - McDonalds in particular seem to be omnipresent.  What began as places for immigrants to get some familiar dishes in a new country, became dining spots with a hint of the exotic for those not from China and today are as mainstream as tacos and spaghetti.  In fact, one of the hallmarks of Chinese restaurants, the fortune cookie, is not Chinese at all.  It's an American invention, influenced by Japanese cuisine.  The iconic Chinese food takeout box is known as an oyster pail outside the US, which was its original use.

The second display, COBOL, was about the computer language.  COBOL was originally proposed by Mary Hawes of Burroughs in 1959 and devised by a committee of computer programers.  It was the first language that could run on different brands of computers.  The UNIVAC was one of the first two computers to run COBOL.  I was reminded of Emirac, the computer in Desk Set, one of my favorite movies.  We've come a long way since COBOL, but we wouldn't have come anywhere without it.

Verdict: These displays are down now, so I can't recommend checking them out.  You never know what you'll see in these cases, however, so it's always worth a look on your way in or out of the museum.

Portraits of President Barack Obama

Where: National Portrait Gallery

When: through February 25, 2013

Timed to coincide with the inauguration, the Portrait Gallery is showing this set of two portraits of Barack Obama, one serious and one smiling.

There's something about larger than life photos that are a bit disturbing to me, but these are very good.  They capture the friendly, approachable side of the President that I think is, in part, responsible for his appeal, along with the serious, it's time to get down to work and act like adults side, that must frequently experience frustration with the political nonsense of Washington.  The artist, Chuck Close, is famous for his large scale heads, and these are certainly large scale!

I was struck by how many people were looking at the portraits - more than I usually see in this museum.  I can only imagine they were tourists in town for the inauguration, who wisely decided to add a day of sightseeing to their trip.  I was happy to see them enjoying themselves at the Smithsonian, posing for photos with the portraits, the way I used to see tourists with those cardboard cutouts of famous politicians by the White House, when I worked in that neighborhood.

Verdict: Easy to add this on to a trip to either the Portrait Gallery or the American Art Museum, and the timing couldn't be better.

A Century Ago They Came as Sovereign Leaders

Where: National Museum of the American Indian

When: through February 25, 2013

There's something terribly sad about this exhibit.  It's concerned with  the participation of six Native American chiefs in Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inaugural parade.   The chiefs came with the intention of bringing the hopes and grievances of their people to the attention of the United States government, in order to negotiate government to government, but those planning the parade asked them to participate only in order to add a "picturesque touch of color" to the proceedings.  A Washington Post reporter described them as "like Remington's pictures, only endowed with life and motion."  The concerns and problems of Native Americans were of little interest to Washington's elite.

Theodore Roosevelt had a complicated relationship with Native Americans.  Although there were many individual Native people with whom he was friendly, he felt that the persistence in a tribal identity was futile.  Tribes should become integrated with mainstream American society.  Of course, not everyone is interested in giving up their entire way of life to fit in better with those they blame (with good reason) for making that way of life untenable.

Each of the six chiefs had a particular reason for traveling to Washington, and this exhibit highlights each one.  Geronimo (the only one of the chiefs I'd heard of before) came to advocate for the release of his people, the Chiricahua Apache from captivity following numerous battles with the U.S. Army.  His people were finally released from Fort Sill, in Oklahoma, in 1912, three years after Geronimo's death.

Verdict: This small show is very interesting, and sheds light on a part of American history that I, for one, knew little about.

Ai Weiwei: According to What?

Where: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

When: through February 24, 2013

So after hearing about this show for a couple of months, I finally had an opportunity to see this major exhibition of works by the Chinese conceptual artist, Ai Weiwei.  I was concerned that it would be nothing but crazy stuff (this is the Hirshhorn, after all), but in fact, there were several items I thought were quite good.  Don't get me wrong, it's not a collection of landscape paintings, so if oddness does not appeal, you may wish to stay away.  Overall, there were more things that I found interesting than ridiculous.

The bicycle sculpture pictured here is actually on the first floor of the Hirshhorn, so don't miss this just because it's not with the main part of the show.  When you make your way to the second floor, you'll hear a voice reading aloud what I later discovered were the names of the children killed in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan.  This recording runs for three hours, and the list of the names takes up the entire left wall - you'll see it as you come up the escalator.  On the ceiling is what looks like a snake, but upon closer examination is a chain of backpacks in various sizes, appropriate for schoolchildren.  90,000 people were killed or are still missing as a result of this earthquake - it's hard to imagine the loss of so many lives.

In the first room of the show, there are prints of photographs of the construction of the Beijing Olympic Stadium, the "bird's nest," that was designed by Ai.  The photographs cover the entire walls and the floor, so you feel as if you are completely immersed in the building.

In the next rooms, there are very large wooden sculptures, made of reclaimed wood from Chinese temples that are (apparently) in the shape of China.  The problem is that you can only see this if you're looking down on the sculpture from above, so until I read the commentary on the wall, this point was lost on me.   It occurs to me that the set-up in the African Art Museum would be great for these - the area where you look down on the show in the second floor from the first floor.  Sadly, this is in the Hirshhorn, where they have no such arrangement.

There are also a couple of videos - they look like traffic cameras, and are about as interesting. Happily, I was distracted from these offerings by three small brown houses, made of tea!  They are literal teahouses.  Crazy it may be, but it's the kind of crazy I like.  I really admire the creativity of that.  Another great work is "Moon Chest."  It's seven large chests made of Huali wood; they align so that if you look through the holes towards the bottom (these were at about my eye level), you can see the phases of the moon.  This is quite difficult to describe, but if you go to the show, you'll see what I mean.

Ai also makes use of old vases in his work.  He takes urns and pots that are thousands of years old and paints over them.  On one vase, he had painted the Coca-Cola label.  "Is this desecration?" I asked myself.  More to the point, is it trademark infringement?  My love of antiquities was at war with my appreciation of the recycling he's doing.

There are many more items on display, but I won't write you a laundry list of everything.  Do note that the show continues on the 3rd floor with two more pieces.

Verdict: This is a show of truly unusual art.  Much of it is a reminder of the Sichuan earthquake and an indictment of the government's actions.  I think it's worth a trip.  You can see all of it fairly quickly, if you don't linger, but you could also spend a couple of hours, if you studied everything.

Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads

Where: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

When: through February 24, 2013

This installation is outside of the museum itself, in the center courtyard.  This picture gives a very good idea of what you'll see - very large animal heads on tall poles.  I couldn't help but be reminded of the way the English used to put the heads of their dead enemies on spikes to warn other potential rebels of the cost of threatening the status quo.

Of course, I have no idea what the message of these heads may be.  Since Ai is a dissident artist, there may be some aspect of this work that is meant to evoke thoughts of governments quashing rebellion.  On the other hand, it might just be a way to create representations of the Chinese Zodiac.

Since I was born in a Dragon year, I paid particular attention to that head.  It's more fanciful than the other heads - not surprising, since it's the only creature that isn't real.  It's also more elaborate than the others, perhaps in an effort to show the fire-breathing power that is part of the dragon myth?

If you're headed to the Hirshhorn (perhaps to see the big Ai Weiwei show inside), it's a nice complement to see this as well.  You can even make time on your way to the Air and Space Museum or to the Castle; it only takes a few minutes to walk around the circle of heads.

Verdict: How often do you get to see zodiac animals on spikes?  Go have a look.

Enlightened Beings: Buddhism in Chinese Painting

Where: Freer Gallery of Art

When: through February 24, 2013

Aside from what's on exhibit, I like going to the Freer, because I love the building and the atmosphere of quiet.  I can actually feel my entire body de-stress just by walking in the door.  There's no better time to visit the Freer than over the holidays, as it's fairly empty (as compared with the more popular museums that are jammed with people fleeing their relative-filled houses), and the visitors who are there don't run or shove or yell as they make their way about the rooms.

This exhibit, which focuses on depictions of the Buddha and his closest followers in Chinese painting, is not one of my favorites.  The pieces are quite dark, which makes it hard to appreciate the details of the art.  Also, although they are quite old, I've been spoiled by the "Roads of Arabia" show, and am now impressed only by things that are thousands of years old.

That having been said, it's still worth a trip to see this show, if for nothing else than that it's well laid out, and you get to see several scrolls, which I enjoy.  You only get to see a piece of each scroll, as space does not permit them to unroll the entire piece, but I like their storybook quality, and fancy that if I go to enough shows, I'll get to see everything, just in bits and pieces.

One really old thing on display is a carving of Guanyin (one of the bodhisattavas - enlightened beings who put off their journey to nirvana to aid humans on their own path to enlightenment) made of fossilized mammoth ivory - more than 32,000 years old.  Not that's what I call an antiquity!  The carving is also excellent - amazing detail throughout.

Verdict: If you enjoy the Freer, go see this.  If you're looking for vibrant colors, give it a miss.

Lalla Essaydi: Revisions

Where: National Museum of African Art

When: through February 24, 2013

For this exhibit, we leave behind the world of sub-Saharan Africa and journey to North Africa, specifically to the world of Lalla Essaydi, a Moroccan-born woman who lived in Saudi Arabia before moving to France and eventually to the United States.  The world in which she lived prior to her time in the West was the world of the harem, where opportunities for women were, and continue to be, non-existent.  Her art depicts the limits placed on women - how they are treated as objects and made to "blend in" with the surroundings.  She has said that her art would not be possible without considerable distance from her homeland, and one cannot doubt that this is the case.

Essaydi has achieved considerable international acclaim as a photographer, but is also an accomplished painter and creator of multi-media installations.  All of these are on display here in her first solo exhibition.  Yet again, the Smithsonian has provided me, and all who visit its museums, with the opportunity to see things not on public display before.

In her "Harem" series of photographs (one of which is pictured above), we see one or more women wearing garments that exactly match the painting on the walls.  They are barely distinguishable from their background.  Obviously, this is meant to show how marginalized the women in these situations are, but I was also reminded of a chameleon, a creature who can blend in to escape its predators.  Do the women hide their true natures from their masters, to preserve some sense of themselves as human beings?

Another series of photographs is the "Three Silences of Molinos."  Based on a poem by Longfellow, which extols the virtue of the silence of thought, the silence of speech and the silence of desire, Essaydi compares this idea to the way in which women are treated in her homeland.  I was reminded of sitting in yoga class, being told to quiet my mind.  In this context, there's nothing wrong with not thinking about the day-to-day worries of life in order to focus on the breath, but when you're never allowed to have your own thoughts or opinions on any matter, you can see how stifling this would become.  Women are treated as property and their ideas, their wants, are accorded no value.

In many of Essaydi's photographs, the women have writing on their skin and on their garments.  This is an act of defiance, as women are not allowed to learn calligraphy.  This is a way to demonstrate that women can and will learn and use their intellects to create art and to speak out.

Essaydi not only depicts the suffering of women in her homeland, she also shows the views of Europeans towards the Middle East, not unlike the work of Jananne al-Ani.  Essaydi takes well-known European paintings and reworks them into photographs, featuring "exotic" North African women.  One of her works, a photograph showing another side of "La Grande Odalisque" by Ingres, hangs in the Louvre.

The multi-media installation is called "Embodiment."   It consists of hanging fabrics with her photographs silk-screened on them, and a video showing several small children playing.  This piece is Essaydi's way of dealing with her childhood memories of life in the Middle East.  For all of us, adulthood takes us to another country than that we inhabited as as child, but for her this is more true than for most of us.

The final room of the show focuses on her paintings.  They are reworkings of Orientalist paintings - similar to the earlier set of photographs.  She overturns the idea of the exotic and desirable North African woman who exists only to please men.  Like al-Ani, she makes you consider your assumptions about the Middle East and those who live there.

Verdict:  It's actually hard to look at Essaydi's photographs, knowing that the lives she depicts are real, but the exhibit is excellent and well worth a look.  

Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Where: Sackler Gallery

When: through February 24, 2013

This enormous exhibit uses archeological finds to tell the history of Saudi Arabia from prehistoric times to the present.  This show is filled with antiquities, so if you're as much a fan of these as I am, you won't want to miss this.

Prior to the establishment of Islam in the 7th century, Saudi Arabia was the sole cultivator of incense (including frankincense and myrrh - very seasonal), and roads led from Saudi Arabia to other parts of the inhabited world.  Once Islam had taken hold, the roads led from other parts of the Islamic world to Mecca.  Whether for trade or for religion, Saudi Arabia seems to have been a center of travel in this region for a very long time.

The show is set up chronologically, so we begin thousands of years ago.  In the first room, there are several steles.  I'm not sure if it's the dramatic lighting, or their inherent power, but they make quite an effect.  Archeologists believe that they may have been used in funerary rites - perhaps they are representations of the deceased?  Further on, we see tools, some as old as 1.3 million years.  Amazingly enough, the arrowheads on display look as if they could have come from North America - just goes to show that good ideas are not the possession of only one group of people.

For the first time on public display, we see carvings found by a camel herder in 2010.  These carvings are of animals, and have caused archeologists to re-think the timeline around the domestication of various beasts.  These date to 7000 BCE, and although the carving is not so skillful as others I've seen, the fact that people were taking the time and effort to carve anything so long ago is amazing.  It makes you realize that the desire to create art, something beautiful, just for the sake of looking at it, is universal and not a modern concept.

The show is huge - on two levels and multiple rooms on each floor.  There are pieces from an island off the coast of Saudi Arabia, possibly the original home of the Dilmun civilization, celebrated in Mesopotamian texts, and later located in Bahrain.  There is a discussion of the lost city of Gerrha, more prosperous than other cities of the time, now vanished.  Lovely jewelry shows an Hellenic influence, another result of trade.  Several colossal figures dominate one of the rooms on the lower level; even if you're merely skimming the exhibit, you don't want to miss these.

Verdict: This is a show well worth your time.  If you only have a lunch hour, you'll need to move quickly.  To see everything, you'll need 1.5 - 2 hours, easily.

Shadow Sites: Recent Work by Jananne al-Ani

Where: Sackler Gallery

When: through February 10, 2013

This show is a combination of still photographs and two videos.  Al-Ani's work focuses on exploring photography's claim to objectivity, and how people's perceptions of other people or other places are shaped by what they see in photographs.  In 1991, during the first Gulf War, the media portrayed the Middle East as one vast desert.  Obviously, there is a lot of sand in the Middle East, but that's not all there is.  Was it easier for those of us watching from the United States to forget the human cost of this conflict because we didn't really see much of it on TV?  I remember thinking at the time that the depictions of the missiles made them look like video games.

Al-Ani was inspired by this incomplete media coverage of the 1991 war, as well as photographs from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers, which are held in the archives of the Freer/Sackler to create video works examining widely held views of the Middle East.  The photographs in the first room of the show are from the archives.  They depict a striking but desolate landscape, and show very few people.  From these photos, Westerners got the idea that the Middle East was nothing but an arid desert, inhabited by only a few nomads.

The next two rooms contain al-Ani's videos.  The first one is entitled "Guide and Flock."  It's footage of a man in Arab dress walking down a road.  He's carrying a bag,  but we never see what's in it.  There's an inset in the screen, playing another video, this one of a street with a flock of sheep standing beside it.  Every few seconds, traffic goes by.  I'm not entirely sure what this video is trying to show - that there are people and industry in the Middle East, not just dusty roads and sheep?

The second video is "Shadow Sites II."  This is a series of aerial photographs.  The camera is at a distance from them to begin, then gradually moves in closer.  Just as you're about to get a good sense of what's on the ground, a new aerial image appears, and the process begins again.  I watched for a while, but frankly, got a bit tired of never seeing what's in the photo.  Perhaps that's the point?

I won't say I didn't like this show - I just couldn't quite figure out the point.  I was glad to be reminded of my reservations about the first Gulf War coverage, something to keep in mind when I see war coverage today.  Other than that, I'm at a bit of a loss.

Verdict: Not sure that this is worth a trip on its own to the Sackler, unless you're a great fan of aerial photography.

40 under 40: Craft Futures

Where: Renwick Gallery

When: through February 3, 2013

By way of celebrating the Renwick's 40th anniversary, this exhibit celebrates 40 craft artists under the age of 40; it is a look at the future of craft.  The commentary on the exhibit indicates that the theme of the artists is using craft to make a better world.  I'm not sure I picked up that idea from every piece I saw, but I really enjoyed this show, so I'm not going to quibble.

In the first room is an item I can only describe as looking like the love child of a space pod and an upholstered chair.  It's called "Mementos of a Doomed Construct"; the artist is Stephanie Liner.  I found the piece a bit startling; I walked up to it and found there was a mannequin inside, which I was not expecting.  There's also a picture on the wall, placed so that you can see it through the window in the "pod."  It seems as if, all of a sudden, you're surrounded by people.

Other pieces I enjoyed were:

• "Impressions" by Sebastian Martorana - it looks like a pillow, but is made of marble
• "E-Waste Project" by Christy Oates - beautiful marquetry
• "Fibers and Civilization" by Sabrina Gschwandtner - quilts made from films about fiber de-accessioned from the Fashion Institute of Technology library
• "Knitting is for Pus****" by Olek - an entire room covered in knitted camouflage

I can't finish this post without commenting on the "Enlightenment Room" by Nick Dong.  It's a room; you enter one person at a time.  When you close the door, you can barely see, but take a seat on the "throne" at the back.  I won't describe what happens next, so as not to spoil the experience for anyone planning to attend the show, but it's odd.  I think the Renwick could have done a better job at telling you to go into the room, and they could have set up some sort of indicator to tell you that someone else is in the room.  Also, there's really nothing that alerts you to the fact that there's no "end" to the experience.  It ends when you stand up.  I'm all for crazy, over-the-top art, but I can't say I feel more enlightened...

Verdict:  Well worth the trip over to the White House area.  I always enjoy the shows at the Renwick, and will add this one to my list of fun exhibits.  Plus, you can see the work progressing on the grandstands for the Inaugural parade on your trip.

In the Tower: Barnett Newman

Where: National Gallery of Art, East Building

When: through February 24, 2013

I've taken to calling the National Gallery's Tower space "the little Hirshhorn in the sky."  Those of you who know my views on the Hirshhorn will know that's not a compliment.  Up the narrow spiral staircase we go, only to have odd things presented to us as our reward at the top.

The name Barnett Newman was not familiar to me, but when I arrived in the Tower, I realized immediately that I had seen his work before.  I noted in my journal, "Haven't I seen this set of lines on canvas already?"  Indeed I had - these are the "Stations of the Cross," a set I'd seen when they were on display in another exhibit space in the building years before.  These offerings had not improved either with age or with the climb to see them.  When I say they're lines on canvas, I'm not exaggerating for comic effect - that's what they are.  Some of the lines are perfectly straight (I found out in the smaller room that he used tape to make the borders clean, somehow that seems less like art, and more like painting the walls and making sure you don't smudge the woodwork), others are blurred - but there's nothing to suggest the Stations of the Cross, or anything else for that matter.  Much as I dislike naming a painting "Untitled," perhaps that would have been a better name for these.

For these Tower shows, you get one set of pieces in the main room and another set in the smaller room that also serves as an elevator lobby.  It's an awkward space, and must be terribly difficult for the curators to use.  There's a video of Newman being interviewed in the smaller space, which, for fans of his work, would be interesting.  An item that caught my eye was "Yellow Painting"; can't disagree with that description - it's a painting and it's plenty yellow.

Verdict: If you like Newman, by all means, run right out and see this (making sure to take care on the stairs).  Otherwise, do an extra 5 minutes on the treadmill and get your exercise that way.

Modern Lab: The Box as Form, Structure, and Container

Where: National Gallery of Art, East Building

When: through February 18, 2013

Yet another trip to the Modern Lab, yet another show that leaves me scratching my head.  This one focuses on the idea of the box; as the information at the entrance says, "Art objects do not exist alone; they are subject to accumulation, display and rearrangement."  Indeed, what's more fun than buying things, displaying them and then tweaking the display?  Some of the items in the show were in boxes, some of the items were boxes themselves, but thematically, it seemed a bit weak.  To me, it didn't live up to the promise of the introduction.

I've decided that the Modern Lab is a bit beyond my ken.  I try to go with an open mind, but I find myself thinking, "I don't get it."  The one piece I did examine for several minutes was "Cardboard VII" by Robert Rauschenberg, which is a lithograph on cardboard.  I couldn't quite figure out what it was: was it on cardboard or was it merely a picture of the cardboard?  In parts, it seemed to be one thing and in other parts, it seemed to be the other.

Perhaps the most memorable piece, sadly, not in a good way, was Anthony Caro's "Study for National Gallery Ledge Piece."  People, listen to me, please, this is random doodling.  That's all it is.  It's not a study for anything.  I don't care how famous the artist is, scribbles are not art.

Verdict: Give it a miss - it's a small room of odd items.  The fact that they're all in boxes doesn't really change that.

From the Library Citizens of the Republic: Portraits from the Dutch Golden Age

Where: National Gallery of Art, West Building

When: through February 3, 2013

Hard as I find it to believe, I'm already seeing exhibits that will be closing in February 2013.  I always try to stay a bit ahead of the closings, so I'm not scrambling to see things at the last minute, but it does make me realize how quickly 2012 is drawing to a close... 

Lots of exhibits closing in February, but none at all so far in March; I know that will change, but still, it's odd to look through the list of shows and see no mention of an entire month.

I combined three small exhibits at the National Gallery into one visit last week; this is the first one I saw.  The Gallery has two spaces in which to display items from their library - one is the library itself in the East Building; the other is a small room in the West Building.  I'm almost always the only person in the West Building area, which, as long-time readers of this blog will know, is an experience I find restful.  I might have benefited from some other viewers this time, as I'm not  entirely sure what I saw.  Based on the title, I'm assuming these are portraits of Dutch people from the 1600s, but other than that, your guess is as good as mine.  Usually, there's some sort of explanation affixed to the wall - I always look for that first whenever I go to see an exhibit, but this time, nothing.  There was a fairly substantial brochure available for visitors to peruse, but I really didn't want to read through pages of closely-written text.  It would have taken me as long to do that as to look at the pictures.

One thing that struck me as I looked at the portraits - it makes no difference how high up in society these Dutch people were, they all looked like shopkeepers.  I'm sure it's simply because I knew they were Dutch that I could see all of them standing behind a counter, offering me fish or fabrics, but there's something in their countenances that makes one think: prosperous merchant.

Verdict: If you miss it, you're not missing anything wildly exciting, unless you're a great fan of Dutch portraiture.