The Woman’s Board Grand Staircase

The Woman’s Board Grand Staircase – Art Institute of Chicago

Another visit to that great museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, to see some of the new exhibitions, visit some favorites, and see what works the curators have brought out or installed in new locations. I found a new installation when I went to see how the light was working in the Grand Staircase.

We were there just before a couple of new exhibitions were opening, but as always, there was no shortage of exciting, challenging, thought provoking works to see and think about. In the modern wing for example, a few highlights include many beautiful works, all within close proximity to Barnett Newman’s 1968 Lace Curtain for Mayor Daley: Sylvia Plimack Mangold’s 1976 In Memory of My Father, Alex Katz’s 1969 painting Vincent and Tony, Ed Ruscha’s City, from 1968, Vija Celmins’ Explosion at Sea, 1966, and David Hockney’s 1968 painting, American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman). This grouping was in one section of the galleries, and walking into the next gallery were other truly exciting works.

Of the temporary exhibitions, two stand out: Amar Kanwar: The Lightning Testimonies, and Violence and Virtue: Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes. If you can visit the museum before January 2014 you can see these powerful and poetic works. And if you won’t be in Chicago before then, here is a link to the current exhibits: http://www.artic.edu/exhibitions.