Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 8, 2008|Volume 36, Number 17

Among the architectural visions in "Painting the Glass House" that "signal a possibility of utopia" is this image of a structure atop an iceberg by Daniel Arsham.

In new exhibition, architects envision
‘a future that could have been’

Diverse structures nestled atop an iceberg and a derelict subterranean atrium strewn with debris are among the surreal images featured in the next Yale School of Architecture exhibit, titled “Painting the Glass House: Artists Revisit Modern Architecture.”

The show features two-dimensional images in various media (including video) that were created by 16 young artists to represent their view of modern architecture. The exhibition is curated by Jessica Hough and Mónica Ramírez-Montagut of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum of Ridgefield, Connecticut, which is co-hosting the exhibit.

Modern architecture is generally identified with buildings by Le Corbusier, Philip Johnson, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright, which represent a period driven by developments in technology, engineering and the introduction of industrial materials such as iron, steel, concrete and glass. Architects at this time engaged in a practice that not only incorporated structural innovations, but that also encouraged social change, note the curators.

The artists featured in the exhibition “are less interested in the built structures themselves and what it might feel like to be inside one, and more interested in the philosophy and idealism they represent,” says Hough. “The way in which the buildings signal a possibility of utopia is essential — a future that could have been.”

Ramírez-Montagut adds, “This melancholic remembrance comes at a time when great works of modern architecture are at risk due to neglect, deterioration and demolition. Underlying all the artworks is a feeling of deep admiration for the architects who sought to elevate culture and bring it to the broad masses, yet their sense of failure is also prevalent; the artists’ knowledge of modern architecture’s crisis and demise tints their works with some kind of nostalgia.”

The show will feature works by Alexander Apostol, Daniel Arsham, Gordon Cheung, David Claerbout, Angela Dufresne, Mark Dziewulski, Christine Erhard, Cyprien Gaillard, Terence Gower, Angelina Gualdoni, Natasha Kissell, Luisa Lambri, Dorit Margreiter, Russell Nachman, Enoc Perez and Lucy Williams.

Both The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and the Yale School of Architecture will present a portion of the exhibition in their galleries, and viewers are encouraged to visit both venues.

The exhibit will be on view Feb. 11-May 9 in the Yale School of Architecture’s temporary gallery space at 32 Edgewood Ave. The installation at Yale is designed by Dean Sakamoto, director of exhibitions at the School of Architecture. The gallery is open to the public free of charge Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. It is closed on Sunday.

The show will be on view March 9-July 27 at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 258 Main Street, Ridgefield. For information on The Aldrich, visit www.aldrichart.org.

A book related to the exhibition is being co-published by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Mills College Art Museum and Yale University Press.

In conjunction with the opening of the exhibit at Yale, the School of Architecture will host a panel titled “Painting Toward Architecture, Architecture Toward Painting: A Conversation in Honor of Robert Slutzky 1929-2005” at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, in the McNeil Lecture Hall of the Yale University Art Gallery (entrance on High Street). Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature noted artist Peter Halley; Yale School of Art Dean Robert Storr; The Cooper Union Dean Anthony Vidler; and Professor Joan Ockman of Columbia University (moderator).

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