Renwick Opens and Exhibits WONDER

 The Renwick Gallery here in Washington, D.C. just completed a top to bottom renovation and reopened this weekend with an amazing exhibition called "Wonder". I went to see it today. It features whole galleries and other spaces given over to a single artist for a single installation. The idea of the exhibit was to draw upon the venerable tradition of the Dutch curiosity cabinet; a practice revived from ancient Roman times in the northern Renaissance whereby collectors of various natural curiosities would display them in special cabinet as a source of wonder and prestige.

 My other thought about going out into a crowded venue today was to show solidarity with the people of France by not being afraid. Granted a very small gesture, but what else can I do?

Renwick: Exhibit: WONDER ~ Installation #1 of 9

 John Grade's contribution is called "Middle Fork (Cascade)". He found a tree, an ancient Red Cedar and through some hard to comprehend process involving aluminum foil, recreated it in sections and then hung them together like an amazing mobile. It floats, and even gently sways with the motions of the people in the room. The craftsmanship of the component parts is so like sculptor Martin Puryear's oeuvre. Hollow, it gives you such intimate venues for discovery. At one point, I nearly felt like just crying.

Renwick: Exhibition: WONDER ~ Installation #2 of 9

 You enter another gallery to discover a RAINBOW! Made by artist Gabriel Dawe, it is the result of countless strands of sewing thread aligned in a prismatic order and they criss cross at one point. The optical illusion created is stunning. The pictures don't do it justice. As you move, all of the color become etherial and you feel like you could just walk right through it. Magical! It's called "Plexus A1".

Renwick: Exhibition: WONDER ~ Installation #3 of 9

 Artist Tara Donovan used styrene index cards to create this fantasy construct reminiscent of termite mounds, or those amazing interstellar glowing gas formations discovered by NASA's Hubble Telescope called "The Pillars of Creation", or even the mountains in the Zhangjiajie National Forest in Hunan Province in China. Whatever, you find yourself feeling like a giant exploring a fascinating and utterly probably landscape of Tara's imagination. Amazing.

Renwick: Exhibition: WONDER ~ Installation #4 of 9

 The next installation that I want to highlight is that of Jennifer Angus who took insects as her medium and transformed an entire room to an homage to death (and by extension, life?). Mesmerizing (and way too crowded). She called it "In the Midnight Garden".

Renwick: Exhibition: WONDER ~ Installation #5 of 9

 One of the installations was created by artist Patrick Dougherty (and crew). He took thousands of Willow Osier shoots and wove them over the course of a month into onion shaped 'nests' or huts. Open and available to be explored from every angle, you feel like you have discovered some indigenous abandoned village. Titled "Shindig" there is then this additional idea that rather than simply being habitations, they are themselves alive and dancing! They are beautiful and intriguing from the intricate construction to the whimsical design. What joy! The first three pictures were taken by me, the fourth is from the catalogue showing the artist during their construction.

Renwick: Exhibition: WONDER ~ Installation #6 of 9

Artists Maya Lin of the Vietnam War Memorial fame transformed a room into a map of the Chesapeake Bay made from marbles. Strange and beautiful at the same time. Can you find where DC is in the second or fourth photos? Or Philadelphia in the fifth?

Art I'm Seeing #26

oldquilt
Originally uploaded by Randuwa

I don't know what it is with me a timing lately. This is the third art exhibit that I've intended on seeing and finally end up there on the final weekend of the show.

"Going West! Quilts And Community" at the Renwick Gallery is a collection of 50 quilts from the mid 19th through the early 20th centuries around the theme of migration westward. The works run the gamut of quality and creativity. Considering that the quilt is first and foremost a utilitarian form of artistic expression, the works in this exhibition also cover the spectrum of wear and tear.

As a body of work, the history of the fabrics, motifs, and techniques were far more interesting than the actual designs with one notable exception: embroidery. Many of the quilts feature some of the finest quality hand embroidery that I've ever seen.

If you missed the show, there is a fine catalogue which will continue to be available after all the quilts are safely returned to the myriad of tiny museums and historical societies scattered across the plains states.