USA Bound

28 May 2019

On our way to Washington D.C. we stopped off at Glenstone in Maryland which opened in 2006 as a way to experience art within nature and minimal architecture. There was so many gems that would make any art collector quiver in their boots. Charles Gwathmmey designed the first museum building, followed by Thomas Phifer who created 50,000 sq. ft. of pavilions.

The architecture was influenced by the Ryōan-ji Zen temple in Kyoto, The Menil Collection in Texas which I visited two months ago, and Denmark’s Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

USA Bound
The buildings make use of the natural light and landscape. This is the reading room
USA Bound
The water court is a breathtaking 18,000 sq. ft. water garden
USA Bound
The founder’s, Emily & Mitch Rales, art collection varied from Roni Horn to this monumental Andy Warhol. The high quality of art was constant, with an array of Louise Bourgeois drawings and sculptures
USA Bound
The recent graduate, Liam, tries the Tony Smith for size. Me being the ever proud mom
USA Bound
In D.C. at Von ammon co. it was great to catch Tabor Robak’s new work. I admired ‘Cheap-O-Zest’, however…
USA Bound
…’Minijumbo’ was my favourite. The work, as usual, is exciting and draws you in
USA Bound
We head to New York and I luckily had time to check out the Whitney Biennial, so much to see. I was fascinated by the work of Ragen Moss, born in 1978, their sculptures look like hanging bodies with layer upon layer of different materials
USA Bound
Brian Belott’s work was playful as usual, putting sculptures into rectangular blocks of ice and inserting them into industrial freezers
USA Bound
Lucas Blalock’s art was abstract and obscure, using Photoshop to create a sense of dimensional space. This work, ‘Bananas’, made us all feel a little uncomfortable
USA Bound
I enjoyed Janiva Ellis’s mysterious ‘Uh Oh, Look Who Got Wet’
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Todd Gray fascinates me. His photographs explore the complex interrelation of blackness, diasporic identity and history. With a career spanning 45 years, Gray was Michael Jackson’s personal photographer in the 1970s and early 1980s
USA Bound
Simone Leigh was also chosen to participate in the Biennial. Leigh looks at many different sources, from the female figure, to West African architecture, engaging with Black feminist thought. I was at a dinner to celebrate her work and she was surrounded some of the most important female writers and teachers of today
USA Bound
Like Brian Belott, Josh Kline was using industrial fridges in his work. Always looking to science fiction, Kline envisages what catastrophes might happen in the future. This photo sculpture deals with climate change
USA Bound
Eric N. Mack’s sculptures are made up of a variety of fabrics which move across the room. Quite lovely and abstract
USA Bound
Before I headed home I had time to drop by Alicja Kwade’s Roof Garden Commission at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
USA Bound
‘ParaPivot II’, a monumental and ambitious structure creating its own universe