Guggenheim, New York

After an amusing pedibike tour through the paths of Central Park wrapped in a fluffy blanket, the Guggenheim space greatly contrasted with the reminder of old christmas film locations. After walking past the grand building of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim stood out in its place between the overbearing skyscrapers of the city. I have never seen a building with architecture quite like this one, that in itself was a work of art and reminded me of Colchester's local Firstsite building. The centre of the building was ringing with a spiral sloping walkway adorned with art works and dotted with smaller galleries on each level. The white sloping floors allowed for a gallery experience that I have never before encountered. The gallery flowed well and the open drop of the centre of the building and the sheer size of this space guided you around the works. Which in themselves displayed superior levels of refinement and simplicity. 

The title of the main exhibition was ZERO. The work is from the period after the war, when countries were divided. Artists exhibiting in the space wanted to emphasise this point of a blank slate, a new start, an artists language in tune with hope. The work was very minimal, with single colours and a varied use of the grid. This exhibition took up the entire outer spiral wall space starting and finishing with a large room. As you walked around you could see the relationships of the works on the walls by various artists, connected by their simplicity and minimalist ties with the Guggenheim space. Heinz Mack explored the concept of painting as a self sufficient entity. The works were very light, which when paired with the bright white modern space, emphasised this idea of a new beginning. The final level of the exhibition, the one at the very top, was a display of varying light works, patterns and shapes were etched with light into the walls of the dark room, giving a sense of brightness and hope. 

There were adjoining rooms to the main exhibition space which housed a few varying smaller shows. The one which stood out for me was the work of V.S Gaitonde in the exhibition Painting as process, painting as life. The untitled array of works provoked an air of calmness about the room. The paintings created using tools and rollers were earthy and natural. Working with the idea of the symbolic and the spiritual the artist used vivid colours in which can only be described as visual shrines, whose sizes dominated the white wall space and gave a sense of completion. Each individual piece seemed whole. I must admit I was more enamoured with the space itself than the work inside it, I have never experienced anything quite like it. The exhibition matched the modern space, in which I am sure much older and traditional works would seem out of place, which is something that I felt about the levels in which we encountered these. If I had a chance I would definitely revisit the space again.