The Shape of Space

The Shape of Space currently on view at the Guggenheim Museum consists of various artists from different movements. The cohesive theme is geometry referenced or used to show space. There are particular curatorial issues where the show continues to be added upon from April to July, leaving many blank walls and a feeling of seeing work, that has been shown before- except hung next to different works. Bluntly put, don’t pay the full admission price until the show is fully hung.

The Guggenheim Guide briefs the visitor on the theme and some of the artworks currently on view. It references the historical artistic endeavor to portray space through cubism, linear perspective, and minimalism. The first work to stand out is Sarah Morris’s Mandalay Bay (Las Vegas) (1999). It references contemporary geometric abstraction based artists such as Julie Mehretu and many of the younger painters emerging from school. It stands out particularly because of its larger size compared to the rest of the works, and it precise, bright color palette. Strangely enough, it is hung next to Agnes Martin’s White Stone (1965), which is from the minimalist movement and addresses space in a very different fashion. Agnes chose a minimal white oil paint on linen with a small grid motif drawn into the surface. Sometimes minimalist art can be a bit heavy on the conceptual side, but in this particular case, the minimalist work of Martin and Morris next to eachother creates a dialogue between space and the lack of space tied together with a grid theme. One can begin to put together a consistent theme climbing the Rotunda Gallery, difficult to distinguish unless the visitor is an avid Guggenheim Guide reader or is keen on grids and geometry. Not until seeing these pieces side by side does one appreciate the work of Carl Adre or Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. How backwards does this idea feel? Moholy-Nagy in particular have two pieces hung that have both a quality of contemporary work and an old pioneer of the tradition of geometric abstraction. He used new materials like plexi-glass and painted planes in space, but also used the wall behind as another use of space with the shadow on the wall. Piotr Uklanski’s Dance Floor (1968) is somewhat overbearing for a museum setting. The constant hip-hop pop music plays in the background while colored squares below light up in various grid patterns. It receives most of the attention in the exhibit, but somehow people are missing their “thug get-ups” and a stiff drink in their hands. However, can appreciate Uklanski’s take on urban culture in 1968, but by adding contemporary hip-hop music to the work today, makes it latent with unprocessed cultural commentary and seems indirectly out of context with the date on the plaquard. It is difficult to imagine the artist isn’t sitting home now, laughing to himself about blaring hip-hop in the Guggenheim for the first time.

All of the artists chosen visually deal with geometry and space but what is most interesting is not the works chosen, or the curatorial theme developed by the institution, but how it references contemporary art trends. It is urban, architectural, contest capitalism and is old, yet somehow new and fits in New York. Perhaps this collection of works can be personally identifying for what has happened in the past and validates the forward trend of its re-emergence today. It will be interesting to return to the show when it is fully hung, and hopefully it will develop into a fully processable show, that does not wreak of – we had nothing else to hang up, so why not.