The Heinz Architectural Center of Carnegie Museum of Art presents White Cube, Green Maze: New Art Landscapes, curated by Raymund Ryan, examining, for the first time, six new art sites that share the common thread of moving beyond the traditional “white cube” gallery space. Featuring the photography of noted architectural photographer Iwan Baan, the exhibition endeavors to explore the radical possibilities of art sites emerging from collaborations across a range of artistic and architectural approaches.

White Cube, Green Maze: New Art Landscapes opens September 22, 2012

What constitutes an art institution? How are visitors expected to experience art? Who creates this experience, and to what extent does the architecture of the building or its exterior landscaping mediate this? Traditionally, the architecture of art institutions has been monolithic; the exterior architecture has often been monumental and authoritative, while the interiors – whether with blank white walls or by invoking classical architecture — distance the visitor and the art from time and context. By breaking apart the monolithic building, the institutions surveyed in White Cube, Green Maze: New Art Landscapes represent a departure from the traditional museum gallery space, as well as from expectations of how a gallery should be experienced. If the “white cube” refers to critic Brian O’Doherty’s 1976 critique of hermetic, often minimalist 20th-century galleries, the “green maze” signals the role of landscape and the breakdown of the hierarchical museum experience, freeing visitors to roam and discover, and presenting artists and curators with far more options than those offered by more traditional institutions.

On view from September 22, 2012, at The Heinz Architectural Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, White Cube, Green Maze examines six sites, each a unique expression of the ambitions and collaborations of patrons, architects, landscape architects, artists, and curators. Fragmenting traditional monolithic museums, these sites encourage exploration and non-linear experiences. They often re-use existing buildings and yet affirm the importance of the spaces between the buildings themselves, and sometimes break down distinctions between “inside” and “outside”.

Several of these sites have already achieved recognition, while others are only emerging as important models; all demonstrate the same tendencies to open-endedness, and to a close intertwining of art, design, curatorial vision, and the environment. According to curator of architecture Raymund Ryan, “These evolving institutions, appearing almost simultaneously at  radically different sites around the world, are forming a new typology that mixes professional disciplines and offers the visitors choice and surprise.”

The six sites or institutions presented in White Cube, Green Maze: New Art Landscapes are:

• Raketenstation Insel Hombroich, near Neuss, Germany, including built projects by Erwin Heerich, Tadao Ando, Álvaro Siza Vieira, and Raimund Abraham
• Benesse Art Site Naoshima, Japan, including built projects by Tadao Ando, Hiroshi Sambuichi, Kazuyo Sejima, and Ryue Nishizawa
• Inhotim, near Belo Horizonte, Brazil, inspired by the landscapes of Roberto Burle Marx and including built projects by Arquitetos Associados, Rodrigo Cerviño Lopez, and Rizoma Arquitetura
• Jardín Botánico, Culiacán, Mexico, with architectural interventions by Tatiana Bilbao and landscape design by TOA–Taller de Operaciones Ambientales
• Grand Traiano Art Complex, Grottaferrata, Italy, with projects in design development by Johnston Marklee and by HHF architects and with landscape design by Topotek1
• Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, USA, designed by Weiss/Manfredi

White Cube Green Maze features newly commissioned photographs by Iwan Baan, whose “work, while still showing architecture in flattering lights and from carefully chosen angles, does away with the old feeling of chilly perfection” –The New York Times. The exhibition space engages visitors with a “green-maze” of its own, encouraging them to roam among plans of each site, presentation models and maquettes by emerging and leading architects, original sketches by artists participating at the sites around the world, and historical documentation of sites prior to re-design. These installations, designed by MGMT, emphasize the many voices contributing to each institution or site. Following the presentation at Carnegie Museum of Art, White Cube, Green Maze will travel to Yale School of Architecture Gallery, where it will be on view from February 14 to May 4, 2013.

An accompanying book, co-published with University of California Press, and also designed by MGMT, includes an introductory essay by Raymund Ryan, contributions from Inside the White Cube author Brian O’Doherty and landscape writer Marc Treib, and additional photography by Iwan Baan.

Support

Generous support for White Cube Green Maze: New Art Landscapes was provided by the Jaffe Family Foundation. Support for this exhibition was provided by the Drue Heinz Trust, which also provides generous support for the operations and other programs of the Heinz Architectural Center. General operating support for Carnegie Museum of Art is provided by The Heinz Endowments and Allegheny Regional Asset District. Carnegie Museum of Art receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Carnegie Museum of Art

Located at 4400 Forbes Avenue in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art was founded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1895. One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, it is nationally and internationally recognized for its distinguished collection of American and European works from the 16th century to the present. The Heinz Architectural Center, part of Carnegie Museum of Art, is dedicated to enhancing understanding of the physical environment through its exhibitions, collections, and public programs. For more information about Carnegie Museum of Art, call 412.622.3131 or visit our web site at www.cmoa.org.

Contact:

Jonathan Gaugler
412.688.8690
gauglerj@carnegiemuseums.org