Guggenheim

 Today I got a  message from my friend Maria asking if I was up for a trip to the Guggenheim to see the Cecilia Vicuña show. I was able to hop in the shower and then hustle on over to Museum Mile (the L then the 4) right in time. We went to the Bluestone Lane cafe before to have iced chai and yak, then ambled over to the museum. I had been planning to buy a membership which would then allow me to take a guest for $5 because the entry fee is  $25 and a membership is $75 but Maria has  privileges from working at Pratt and was able to get both of us in for free! 

The Vicuña show was very worthwhile. It included a large installation of three quipu, hanging installations in red, black and white, of fiber, wool, felt and gauzy textiles.

We stayed and looked at the Kandinsky show, and a small but fascinating installation by Eva Hesse. I had forgotten that Kandinsky was a co-founder of Der Blaue Reiter and I found myself most moved by his earliest work. The Hesse show, "The Hesse show, "Expanding Expansion," was of a large piece she had made out of latex and cheesecloth--fabric-like panels suspended between poles. With time, what was supple and textile-like latex has hardened and deteriorated such that the very act of hanging the piece might mean its destruction; the show documents the debates over restoration and artistic intention as well as the decision to go ahead and try to restore the piece to the point that it could be displayed again.