Stella and Rose at the Whitney

I went to the opening of Rachel Rose’s installation at the Whitney this week.  This is the first solo event for Rachel in the US.  It is a really great video and went back later in the week to see it again.

The piece is based on interviews with David Wolf, an astronaut, about his perception of space compared to his re-entry back to this environment.  It is about scent, color, light, etc.  The screen is hung in a way that during the day you can see the movement of people outside the space.  That directly connects to the perception of everything around you.  It is worth sitting through the entire loop of the video.

The other installation right now is of Frank Stella.  The huge space of the Whitney is the perfect place to show his art.  Nothing is small.  The show is a retrospective of his work.  There are over a hundred pieces in the show.

His large sculptures are quite incredible.

The cutouts here that are layered on top of each other are sculpture in itself.

I have to say I much prefer his earlier work that was done on canvas.

Here is another piece from the late 50’s.

I honestly can’t think of another place in NYC where you could see this work with so much light and space.