Hasta La Ideas

An interesting read by the NY Times critic Edward Rothstein yesterday about an age old problem in the museum industry that the writer calls “identity” but could possibly also be referred to as “perspective.” Taking two recent exhibition openings, one in Queens at the New York Hall of Science and another in Philadelphia with the newly opened President’s House, Rothstein sees that both set out to tell history but wound up revising it by omitting certain pieces of information or focusing too strongly on others. The critic sees this as something he calls ‘the identity museum’ or ‘identity exhibition,’ and serves as a response to the many empire-collects-from-other-cultures-to-demonstrate-their-worldly-might types of museums, and which, he explains, are “designed to affirm a particular group’s claims, outline its accomplishments, boost its pride and proclaim, ‘We must tell our own story!’” Of course with any telling of history, in any medium, it’s impossible to capture every angle and is a constant challenge within the museum industry. It’s a great read and if you find yourself wanting more after reading, know that your local library is likely filled with Benjamin and Foucault.

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The start of this winter has brought a lot of news surrounding Andy Warhol, from the foundation named after the famous artist pulling their funding from the Smithsonian to the long-time director of the museum in his name deciding to retire. Now some more news and on a much sadder note: it’s been released that Warhol’s brother, John Warhola, who helped found both the aforementioned institutions, passed away on Christmas Eve. John had raised his brother and even helped to pay for his college, then later, after the artist’s death, helped found the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and served as its vice president for more than two decades. Here’s a bit from a conversation the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had with Warhola’s son:

“My uncle was saying to my father, ‘I’m leaving you this responsibility, to make sure the foundation is run the right way and achieve what I want it to achieve,’” Donald Warhola, 47, of Cranberry, said. “My father was very diligent in his responsibilities. He was proud to be the vice president of the foundation, and he really took on the role of historian.”

…”My father was the source for who Andy Warhol was as a person and human being. He really enjoyed sharing information about Andy,” Warhola said.

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The Groninger Museum in the Netherlands has re-opened following a renovation including areas designed by Studio Job, Maarten Baas and Jaime Hayón.

Above and top: Job Lounge by Studio Job

Studio Job created the entrance hall (above), featuring stained-glass windows and furniture inlaid with skeletal images.

Above: Mendini Restaurant by Maarten Baas

Maarten Baas redesigned the Mendini Restaurant, including handmade furniture from his Clay project (see our earlier story).

Above: Mendini Restaurant by Maarten Baas

Jaime Hayón created an information centre where hoods rise up from the tables to shelter computer monitors.

Above: Info centre by Jaime Hayón

Photographs are by Peter Tahl.

The information below is from the museum:

GRONINGER MUSEUM REOPENS AFTER REVITALIZATION

After a renovation project which took over 8 months, the Groninger Museum will reopen its doors to the public on Sunday 19 December. The entire building has regained its original lustre and and its colours have been fully restored. Several rooms have been thoroughly renovated by the top designers Maarten Baas, Studio Job and Jaime Hayon. They designed, respectively, the Mendini Restaurant, the Job Lounge and the Info Center, the ultramodern digital visitors’ information centre. Total cost of the operation: nearly 6 million Euros.

Above: Info centre by Jaime Hayón

Interior

The Groninger Museum can hold its own with other top museums in the Netherlands and Western Europe. To hold this position requires constant innovation and improvement. As a starting point for their spectacular new design of the reception hall Job Lounge, Studio Job took the typical 19th-century private gentlemen’s clubs, frequented by their characteristic members, all smoking and wearing top hats.

Above: Job Lounge by Studio Job

The Info Center, the new visitors’ information centre, was designed by the young Spanish artist Jaime Hayon, whose work has featured worldwide in the major art and design publications. The Mendini Restaurant on the museum’s premises was refurnished by Maarten Baas, who derived his inspiration from his Clay collection. The furniture objects in this collection have a metal frame and are made of industrial clay. Baas designed a series of new Clay models especially for the Mendini Restaurant. They are entirely handmade.

Above: Job Lounge by Studio Job

Subsidizing institutions: Gemeente Groningen (Local Council), Provincie Groningen (County Council) Samenwerkingsverband Noord Nederland (Cooperation Northern Netherlands)

Main contractor: Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma.

See also:

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More about Studio Job	More about Jaime Hayón	More about Maarten Baas

(Photos from left: Koichi Inakoshi, Monica Feudi, Ronald Stoops. All courtesy V&A.)

As if the Design Museum’s imminent Wim Crouwel fest wasn’t reason enough to plan a spring or summer trip to London, the city’s Victoria and Albert Museum will celebrate the 30-year career of fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto with a retrospective that will run from March 12 to July 10, 2011. And it’s no ordinary show. Curated by the V&A’s Ligaya Salazar and designed by longtime Yamamoto collaborator Masao Nihei with graphic art direction by Peter Saville, the retrospective will feature more than 60 garments in the museum’s main exhibition court as well as 20 more on mannequins sprinkled among the treasures of the V&A: here a deconstructed suit in the Norfolk House Music Room, there a Shibori-dyed gown communing with Renaissance sculptures. The main space will provide context to the womenswear and menswear looks with a chronology of excerpts from Yamamoto’s fashion shows, films, and performances as well as highlights from key collaborations, including those with photographer Nick Knight (who will produce the image for the exhibition poster), M/M Paris, choreographer Pina Bausch, and, presumably, Adidas. Meanwhile, the Yamamoto-mania will extend beyond the V&A, with companion exhibitions at the two London sites of the Wapping Project. Now if only we could convince the V&A to have John Waters (a great Yamamoto fan) do the audio guide…

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Though overshadowed by the ongoing Smithsonian/National Portrait Gallery controversy on the other side of the country, new LAMOCA director and former New York gallery gadabout, Jeffrey Deitch, is still catching heat for his decision to paint over a street artist’s mural, commissioned by the museum, nearly as soon as it was finished, fearing public outcry over its imagery. Beyond general anger on the web, the LA Times‘ Culture Monster blog reports that a mural has gone up elsewhere in Los Angeles, affixed to a street art-friendly restaurant, showing Deitch as an Iranian ayatollah. Instead of a staff, he holds “an extension pole with a paint roller at the end.” The Times also talks to a number of artists who are upset over the whitewashing, but notes that several are keeping quiet about the matter so as to not hurt their chances of getting their work into the museum. Whatever the case in the community, in just the five months since he took over at the LAMOCA, Deitch received some low marks for his first exhibit and now has, at least temporarily, ostracized a portion of the local arts community. He’s certainly making for a trial-by-fire debut.

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