Measuring Infinity by Gego at the Guggenheim was an astoundingly intricate show that featured dozens of wire sculptures whose content appeared to be defined by the lighting around it, and very fitting to the creative rebuild that New York City’s art community faces in the coming months.
With the viability art magazines currently in question, writers do have the best chance - now - to create their own outlets. But many seek to be compensated for their work before composing authentically on their own.
Before the Pandemic, I spent more time exploring street art and brand identity than I did visiting art galleries and museums. The dynamic degree of creativity far outpaced the whitewall gallery spaces, where works of contemporary art would seem to lose their voice. However when Mint & Serf launched #COACHXMIRF in Fall 2022 - a collaboration between the graffiti duo and Coach, the gap between artists and consumers was effectively bridged by a US company, confirming that contemporary art is far more appealing when it’s made accessible, in consumable form. Such a pairing used to be an ongoing criticism among art circles. However as generous donations for contemporary art continue to dwindle, collaborations such as these are now more vital.
Ironically Gego’s retrospective felt similarly accessible since the works on view did not appear to strongly anchor themselves into their own materiality. Although Measuring Infinity appeared at the Guggenheim about 6 months later, the artist’s timeless wire works presented a unique prismatic interplay between light, space and shadow. The object itself became somewhat secondary and yet central to one’s overall experience of her work. So it may come as no surprise that I found Sarah Sze’s Timelapse presentation to be highly disorganized, weighed-down and cluttered. Located within the museum’s two top levels Timelapse was emblematic of the disorganization that plagues our multi-tasked lives and still nothing like the gestural street art that is meant to be transitory and outside.
Jill Conner, New York