Water Zimmerli Museum Sep 01, 2010 - Jan 02, 2011 Review

The Zimmerli’s Water Exhibition addressed the theme of water as not only an essential resource, but a potent metaphor surrounding our lives.  This theme was expressed through the selection of  historical and contemporary  works involving water as a central message, and through curatorial choices, such as the importance of lighting, placement, and painting the walls blue. The curator expresses the importance of lighting for practical and poetic reasons. For example lighting is extremely important for preservation, 19th century drawings  need low lighting levels due to the delicate nature of the coloration of the paper. Lighting is also very important in conveying the artist’s message.  The overhead lighting of Maya Lin’s Pin River is essential to the message because the light creates a river with the pins’ cast shadows.  If the lighting was any other way this meaning would be lost.

The curatorial vision for this exhibition is to create an experimental journey that opens up a series of questions.  The intention of the curator is to provoke the viewer to look for links and echoes across the various pieces, both new and old.  This way,  art history becomes a living experience, just not something to relate to a moment in time. This is extremely interesting, because many of the artists did not make their art for the intention of displaying it in the Water show, but had ideas of water when producing their work.  For example, Xiao Chen intended for people to view and read the Chinese Scrolls in order to express the importance of water,  but probably did not imagine that his work would be in the context of a Water exhibition at the Zimmerli Gallery. 

Some examples of strong pairings are the pieces by Maya Lin. In the right corner wall of the gallery (back and front) you get two views of Maya Lin’s work. I like how the curator put the works by the same artist close to each other because it allows the viewer to find commonalities across the body of work, and helps the viewer mentally organize the visual information.  I think the spacing is good here because both works are in similar proximity but did not overwhelm or distract the viewer. 

The four works from the show I selected to curate are Edward Ruscha’s Sea of Desire 1983, Geoffrey Hendricks’ Sky boots, Tuesday 1992 and his Sky on Sky 1965 Acrylic on canvas and rope, and Alex Katz’s The Swimmer 1974.

Geoffrey Hendricks Sky on Sky 1965

Geoffrey Hendricks Sky Boots, Tuesday 1992

I chose to pick both Hendricks’ pieces because they really complement each other and really package the sky as a material object (one as canvas with rope, and the other a pair of shoes).  I like how both Hendricks’ pieces involve the message of transformation of water. In his Sky on Sky,  Hendricks transforms the sky into a package with rope. Similarly, in his Sky Boots he carries over this transformation into a pair of shoes. I would place these side by side to signal that they are by the same artist and to emphasize their message.

Edward Ruscha Sea of Desire 1983

 I chose Edward Ruscha’s Sea of Desire because I thought his use of image with text is very compelling.  I like how the print is dramatic with the space of the text and image, yet still somehow maintains a sense of humor. I would place this in between Hendricks’ shoes and Katz’s swimmer since it is smaller, 22-1/2 x 30 in., and it would maintain a sense of balance.

Alex Katz The Swimmer 1974

In The Swimmer 1974, I like Alex Katz’s use of monotone and the relationship between the body and water.   Since the image has a strong direction with the profile of a face, I would place it all the way to the right looking inward, instead of all the way to the left where it would be left looking at a corner and feel cramped. 28 1/8 x 36 in.

Overall, I like the relationship between these works signifying the close symbiosis of water and man. The placement of these works would emphasize the importance of water as it pertains to its functionality and expression in everyday life.