Hirshhorn at the Sackler

Where: Sackler Gallery

When: through September 18, 2016

When I approached this photography exhibit, I was greeted by a fixture made of cathode ray tubing hanging from the ceiling - not a good sign I thought to myself.  Happily, this is not an indication of what follows.

Ahmed Mater is a photographer who is documenting Saudi Arabia's transformation from an agrarian society to an oil-based economy.  Like all societal changes, much is gained and much is lost along the way, and Mater's photographs present a view of that.

My favorite photo was one called "Nature Morte."  It's a color photograph with the look of a painting.  It's of a room containing a wonderful red chair with red pillows.  Outside the window, all is light and action and activity.  Inside, all is cool, calm serenity.  A great juxtaposition.

Towards the end of the exhibit is a set of slide viewers.  I think they were meant to show older photographs with newer ones superimposed on them.  Without being able to pick them up and look through, I couldn't really tell.  Touching was not permitted, so I tried to look through, but they were placed at such a low height that even I (not a tall person by anyone's measure) was stooping over to see.  Not a happy placement.

Verdict: Overall, not a bad show.  If you like photography, it's worth a look.

A Little Bit of Everything

Where: National Gallery of Art

When: through September 18, 2016

No one has given more to the National Gallery than the Mellon family.  Andrew Mellon gave the original gift to found the museum and his son and daughter-in-law, Paul and Bunny Mellon, gave an very large gift of artwork that makes up a significant amount of the permanent collection.  Without the Mellons, there would be no NGA, and we would be the poorer for its absence.

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the institution's founding, the National Gallery has put on a show entitled "In Celebration of Paul Mellon," which contains many of the works he gave that are not in the permanent collection.  Many of the works on display are prints on paper, which are too fragile to be out on a regular basis, so this is a great opportunity to see them.

The wall notes at the entrance to the show include this quote from Paul Mellon, "I have never bought pictures as an investment, except as an investment in pleasure..."  So what you're seeing is what the Mellons liked, what they wanted to live with and have in their home.  Mellon described himself as an "incurable collector," and it's interesting to see what he collected.

I was reminded of the Barnes Foundation that I visited in Philadelphia last summer - when you enter a room, it's fun to try to decide how the works go together, since they are not arranged chronologically or by artist or genre.

Verdict: Worth a look - there's something for everyone in this far-ranging collection.

NMAI stages major retrospective for Kay WalkingStick

Where: National Museum of the American Indian

When: through September 18, 2016

True confession: I'd never heard of Kay WalkingStick before I went to this show.  Now, she's one of my favorite artists.  Best known for her diptychs, she had several artistic periods throughout her career, which started in the 1960s and continues to the present.  This exhibit explores them all, starting with her early nudes and ending with her landscapes and paintings of Native places.

I was drawn to the shapes and colors she uses in her early work, especially Hudson Reflections, which I saw repeated in later pieces.  She uses the color red in several works - a red that will not be ignored or overlooked.  It's as if the painting is shouting out, "Look at me!!!  Look at me now!!!"

I also liked her diptychs, which combine abstraction on one side, with realistic landscapes on the other.  It's two views of the same thing; either two completely different paintings put together or, as in the work pictured here, two paintings that form one almost seamless whole.

The only works I really didn't care for were from her Italian period.  She lived there for several years, eventually converting to Catholicism.  Perhaps it's my difficulties with organized religion that biased me against these works, but I have a hard time understanding how someone who could create works depicting such raw female sexuality could also join a church that has not exactly been a champion of women's sexual expression.

Verdict: Overall, a great show, well worth seeing before it heads out of town for a national tour.

Art Show Catalogs

Where: National Gallery of Art

When: through September 16, 2016

There's a summer exhibit at the National Gallery's library, and it's on art show catalogs.

They span the centuries, from the late 1600s through the mid-twentieth century.  As different French artistic societies organized exhibitions, these catalogs provided a record of what was shown, often including pictures of the works.  Thus, they are important sources for art history and works of art unto themselves.

The display takes up two cases; all the catalogs on display are from the Gallery's collection.

Verdict: If you're interested in art history, this is worth a look.

A Book is a Work of Art That You Can Hold and Touch

Where: African Art Museum

When: through September 11, 2016

It was so hot in DC yesterday when I went over to the African Art Museum to see this show that I felt like I'd walked all the way to Africa.  This is our first big heat wave of the summer, and I maintain the first one is always the worst.  One's body is not yet adjusted to the humidity, and one really feels it.  I'm looking forward to the fall...

The easiest way to get to this exhibit is to enter through the Ripley; it's just off the main concourse.  The cool temperatures so far below the ground were a delight, and the ordinarily quiet offices were buzzing with summer camp activity.  As much as the crowds of screaming boys who seem to live full-time at the Air and Space Museum get on my nerves, I do realize that children who have happy memories of the Smithsonian are likely to grow up to be adults who will support its funding (just like me!), so I sincerely hope the campers are enjoying themselves to the fullest.

The exhibit is an interesting one, showcasing a wide variety of different illustrated books.  The curators took a very broad view of what is an "artist's book," so these are books with lovely illustrations, or books where the illustrations are primary, with explanatory text, or books that are works of art in and of themselves.  The thing they all have in common is that they are either by African artists or about Africa.

In addition to the books, there is also a video running, of interviews with several of the artists.  If you have some extra time, this is worth watching.  I noticed that the wall notes seemed targeted to younger visitors, as I've observed in other of the museum's shows.  This is probably a good thing, in that children might not be inclined to go to an art museum (especially if Air and Space or Natural History beckon), so making an effort to make the art accessible to them is laudable.  It might not be what I would choose for myself, but I understand that it's not all about me.

Verdict: A nice exhibit, one that you could see with kids.

A Bit of Old Hollywood at the Portrait Gallery

Where: National Portrait Gallery

When: through September 11, 2016

The Portrait Gallery is offering viewers a walk down memory lane with this exhibit of TIME magazine covers featuring Hollywood stars.

The museum has a collection of the art featured on over 2,000 covers of the periodical, which I'm assuming must be the largest such collection in existence.  It makes for a rich source of exhibits, I'm sure; we've seen others before and will doubtless see more in future.

I do wonder, however, if this gives the publisher some free publicity - are these shows advertisements for TIME?  I realize that the art now belongs to the museum, so it's not as if they're showing works that are on loan from a private collection, which is frowned upon in museum circles.  Still, though, it did cross my mind...

As for the show itself, it's fine.  Nothing ground-breaking, famous Hollywood types that you've seen many times before.  The wall notes suggest that the pictures might stir memories of movies from yesteryear, so clearly, they're not targeting this to the younger set.

Verdict: If you're a fan of Hollywood celebrities, have a look.  Otherwise, not worth a special trip.

A So-So Show

Where: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

When: through September 5, 2016

I'm writing this on July 2 - how has half of 2016 gone by already?  I've seen some very fine things this year - WONDER stands out especially.  I wish I could tell you that this major exhibit of Robert Irwin works is another highlight of the year, but I am unable to do so.

It's certainly not the worst thing I've seen at the Hirshhorn, not by a long shot.  What it is, is forgettable.  I saw this just a few days ago, and I had to consult my notes to recall what I saw.  Usually, I look to my notes to remind me of the title of a particular piece or how to spell an artist's name, not to conjure up any recollection of the show at all.

There are a couple of works like the one pictured - they're really more shadow than anything else.  Not awful, not great.  Then there are some paintings with slashes of color across them; they're known as "pick up sticks" works.  Again, okay, I guess.  Eventually, there are fewer and fewer lines, until we're left with just a painted canvas in a solid color.  Sigh - I call this painting the living room, not art.

Then, we move on to "dot paintings."  These are exactly what you think - tiny dots.  You have to get very close to see them, and then all you're seeing is dots.  It's like some sort of anti-Seurat.  You have the dots, but no overall picture.

The show ends with something that is memorable, but very difficult to describe.  It's a site specific installation that I think is called something like "Squaring the Circle."  The idea is that it's a phony wall, made of scrim, that "squares" the circle that is the Hirshhorn building.  I wasn't sure what I was looking at, and the guards were so concerned that you not touch anything, that I felt sort of uncomfortable walking around it.  I noticed that at the ceiling, the wall seems to appear and fade as you approach and walk by.  Not a good description, I know.

Verdict: If you're at the Hirshhorn for something else, that final room is worth seeing.  Otherwise, you can skip this.  

From Start to Finish

Where: Smithsonian American Art Museum

When: through September 5, 2016

Every so often, I go to an exhibit not expecting very much and am surprised and delighted at what I see.  This Martin Puryear retrospective is one of those exhibits.  It's a collection of the prints and drawings he makes in preparation for his sculptures.  I'm not a big fan of prints and drawings, so I went more out of a sense of obligation (I go to see everything, so I'm going to go see this) than out of a strong desire to see these works, but I walked away a fan.

I think the most successful parts of the show are those in which either a finished piece or a model of the finished piece are shown along with the preparatory materials.  Seeing photographs doesn't really give you a sense of the final product the way a three-dimensional representation does.  This is sculpture after all, and it needs depth to work.

The piece with which I was most taken was "Face Down."  It's a bronze of a human head that is face down.  You don't see the face at all - in fact the thing that makes it a head, rather than a pitcher or other object are the small ears projecting from the sides.  I find that really fascinating all on its own - how one work can be a representation of divergent things, based on a small detail.

Then, to make this even better, in the next area of the exhibit space is a large wooden structure called "Vessel."  I realized right away that this is "Face Down" except in a much larger (and wooden) format.  I didn't notice any wall notes pointing this out, so I looked carefully to see if I was just imagining this, but, to my eyes anyway, the two pieces were identical.  The difference, other than the size and materials used, was that inside "Vessel" are a small wooden ball and a larger wooden(?) ampersand, covered with some sort of mesh with tar on it (I'm probably not describing this properly, but the point is that it's black, where as everything else about the piece is plain wood).

What does this mean?  I don't know, but I'd be very interested to find out.  I'm going to do some research and see if I can fine some analysis or explanation of his works.  They're tremendously intriguing, in that they draw you in, even if you don't exactly understand them.

Verdict: Go see this show - it's large, but not unmanageable for a lunch hour.

Bits and Pieces of American History

Where: American History Museum

When: through late August and early September

I went over to the American History Museum and saw several things, all easily managed in a lunch hour.

The first was a Tucker automobile, a great idea that flopped due to insufficient financial backing.  It stressed its safety features,  but what stuck with me was how great it looked.

Another small display is on the role of glass in science, in the center cases on the first floor.  The Smithsonian has a collection of over 1,000 pieces of scientific glassware, which is pretty impressive.  It makes you realize what a tiny fraction of the institution's collection you see when you go to the museums. 

Also on display at present is Prince's Yellow Cloud guitar, which I think is the guitar pictured in the portrait that was up at the National Portrait Gallery.  The black and white photograph really didn't do this instrument justice - when I say it's yellow, I mean it's YELLOW.

Verdict: If you're at American History, it's worth seeing the guitar and the car.  The glassware, well, that's more of an acquired taste...