SFMOMA Deinstalling Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings
Sunday August 24, 2008
Fans of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will want to know that their eight-year window of opportunity to see the gigantic Sol LeWitt wall drawings in the Museum's five story atrium are coming to a close. Officials announced on Thursday, July 22 that the drawings will be deinstalled Wednesday, September 17, 2008. "Deinstalled," in this case, appears to mean painted over in order to make way for two new installations from the traveling Martin Puryear retrospective, on view from November 8, 2008 to January 25, 2009: Some Tales (1975-78) and Ladder for Booker T. Washington (1996).
And after the Puryears have moved on? Artist Kerry James Marshall, the first recipient of SFMOMA’s new Atrium Commission, will be creating two large-scale (28-by-32–foot) history paintings featuring Mount Vernon and Monticello, as part of Marshall's continuing dedication to the themes of racial identity, urban experience, and the Civil Rights movement. LeWitt fans, don't you despair. Sol left detailed instructions on how to recreate these particular pieces and two preparatory drawings here and here. Now, all you'll need are some acrylic paints. (And a couple of really, really big walls.)
Image credit:
Sol LeWitt (American, 1928-2007)
(Left) Wall Drawing #935: Color bands in four directions and (Right) Wall Drawing #936: Color arcs in four directions, 2000
Acrylic
Dimensions variable
Purchased through a gift of Phyllis Wattis in honor of Gary Garrels, Elise S. Haas Chief Curator and Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 1993-2000
Collection San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
© 2008 The LeWitt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Photo: Ben Blackwell
Comments
I’m trying to figure out how I feel about this. On the one hand I ‘get’ the art-as-concept/design idea, and I like the notion that anyone can legitimately create their own LeWitt, but on the other, it seems a pity to destroy such a cool piece. That’s what happens with most installation pieces though, isn’t it….
I guess I’m still stuck in the “art=object of (aesthetic) value” mindset.
I’ll admit I have a hard time with it, too, Helen. They didn’t cover conceptual art in art school. You did something and it was either worth framing/archival materials or worth sending to the dumpster–not worth bringing pleasure to thousands and then getting painted over.
Trying hard to get with the … what? 1970s? … but it’s a mental struggle.