Carnegie Museum of Art presents White Cube, Green Maze. New Art Landscapes, an exhibition on view from September 22, 2012. White Cube, Green Maze examines six sites, each a unique expression of the ambitions and collaborations of patrons, architects, landscape architects, artists, and curators. Fragmenting traditional monolithic museums, these sites encourage exploration and non-linear experiences. They often re-use existing buildings and yet affirm the importance of the spaces between the buildings themselves, and sometimes break down distinctions between “inside” and “outside”.
Sketch of PACCAR Pavilion at Olympic Sculpture Park by Weiss/Manfredi. Courtesy of Weiss/Manfredi
Several of these sites have already achieved recognition, while others are only emerging as important models; all demonstrate the same tendencies to open-endedness, and to a close intertwining of art, design, curatorial vision, and the environment. According to curator of architecture Raymund Ryan, “These evolving institutions, appearing almost simultaneously at radically different sites around the world, are forming a new typology that mixes professional disciplines and offers the visitors choice and surprise.”
The six sites or institutions presented in White Cube, Green Maze: New Art Landscapes are:
Raketenstation Insel Hombroich, near Neuss, Germany, including built projects by Erwin Heerich, Tadao Ando, Álvaro Siza Vieira, and Raimund Abraham
Benesse Art Site Naoshima, Japan, including built projects by Tadao Ando, Hiroshi Sambuichi, Kazuyo Sejima, and Ryue Nishizawa
Inhotim, near Belo Horizonte, Brazil, inspired by the landscapes of Roberto Burle Marx and including built projects by Arquitetos Associados, Rodrigo Cerviño Lopez, and Rizoma Arquitetura
Jardín Botánico, Culiacán, Mexico, with architectural interventions by Tatiana Bilbao and landscape design by TOA–Taller de Operaciones Ambientales
Grand Traiano Art Complex, Grottaferrata, Italy, with projects in design development by Johnston Marklee and by HHF architects and with landscape design by Topotek1
Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, USA, designed by Weiss/Manfredi
White Cube Green Maze features newly commissioned photographs by Iwan Baan, whose “work, while still showing architecture in flattering lights and from carefully chosen angles, does away with the old feeling of chilly perfection” –The New York Times. The exhibition space engages visitors with a “green-maze” of its own, encouraging them to roam among plans of each site, presentation models and maquettes by emerging and leading architects, original sketches by artists participating at the sites around the world, and historical documentation of sites prior to re-design. These installations, designed by MGMT, emphasize the many voices contributing to each institution or site. Following the presentation at Carnegie Museum of Art, White Cube, Green Maze will travel to Yale School of Architecture Gallery, where it will be on view from February 14 to May 4, 2013.
An accompanying book, co-published with University of California Press, and also designed by MGMT, includes an introductory essay by Raymund Ryan, contributions from Inside the White Cube author Brian O’Doherty and landscape writer Marc Treib, and additional photography by Iwan Baan.
For more information, call 412.622.3131 or visit www.cmoa.org