James Turrell, Skyspace at Rice University, Houston, TX, 2011. Courtesy Rice University.
Included in this week’s roundup are James Turrell’s skyspace, William Wegman’s NASA art, Paul Pfeiffer’s time-based work, a fall Robert Adams retrospective, and more.
- James Turrell is the mastermind behind a new skyspace on the Rice University campus (Houston). The skyspace will be characterized by a flat-topped, 72-square-foot pyramid housing a seating area for viewers. The recent Rice skyspace groundbreaking comes on the heels of the acquisition of a dozen light-based Turrell works titled Vertical Vintage that trace the arc of the artist’s exploration of artificial light. This acquisition, along with the over 100 Turrell works in the MFAH collection, will further support a 2013 Turrell retrospective being organized in collaboration with the Guggenheim and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
- Janine Antoni is one of several artists to introduce Lynn Hershman Leeson’s new documentary, !Women Art Revolution (!WAR) that reaches beyond the boundaries of cinema and extends to new technology and media, as well various collaborations with educational institutions, artists, scholars, and social media architects. The film will be shown at the IFC Center in New York City from June 1 through June 8.
- Paul Pfeiffer‘s work is in one of the galleries devoted to video installations as part of an exhibition inspired by American artist John Cage’s 1952 composition 4′33″. Silence and Time explores the work of contemporary artists who have addressed issues of absence, presence, and temporality through their creative process. Drawn primarily from the holdings of the Dallas Museum of Art and local collections, this new exhibition is on view at the Museum from May 29 – August 28.
- Matthew Ritchie speaks on the “historic, conceptual, and practical uses of systems,” with particular reference to his recent collaborative project The Morning Line in its interaction with viewers, documented in film footage of visitors’ interactions with the pavilion in its recent installation in the dense urban center of Istanbul. This presentation was part of “Systems, Process, Art, and the Social” event held last February, as part of MIT’s Festival of Arts, Science and Technology (FAST).
- William Wegman is among several artists whose works will be showcased until October 9, 2011 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. NASA | ART displays more than 70 artworks in different art forms such as drawings, photographs, sculpture and media art from collections of NASA and the National Air and Space Museum.
- Jeff Koons was honored by FEGS, a Jewish communal organization that deals with employment, job training, and counseling. Koons’s work with FEGS has earned him the group’s first “Voice of Art Award” at the organization’s 10th Annual Partnerships for a Changing World Benefit Dinner. The fundraising event took place May 24. FEGS recognized Koons for his commitment to the artistic expression of those with disabilities.
- A Robert Adams retrospective will make the first stop at the the Denver Art Museum (DAM). Robert Adams: The Place We Live, A Retrospective Selection of Photographs features more than 200 black-and-white photos spanning Adams’s 45-year career, showcasing the artistic legacy of the American photographer and his longstanding engagement with the contemporary Western landscape. The exhibition, organized by the Yale University Art Gallery, will be on view September 25, 2011–January 2, 2012 in the Museum’s Gallagher Family Gallery.