The Exhibition Gallery (no name? waiting for a sponsor perhaps?) which now houses a show of sculpture.
At 4,020 sq. ft, the new Exhibition Gallery in the Perelman Building –the one with the sculpture exhibit — is one of the biggest exhibit spaces in the city. The ICA’s cavern is undoubedtly bigger — but it has such a different feel I don’t want to compare it. What this space does resembe, in its generous rectangular space uninterrupted by support columns, is the Icebox Project Space at the Crane, which, at 5,000 sq. ft. is just a little bit bigger.
The sculpture show, here and in the Skylit Galleria, was organized by PMA Director Anne d’Harnoncourt. Both spaces showcase sculpture beautifully.
The Collab Gallery for design objects, along with the Levy Gallery for photography, and the Spain Gallery for costumes and textiles, are lovely spaces for showing art. Here’s a tidbit I learned from Photography Curator Kate Ware — the next show coming into the Levy Gallery will be an Ansel Adams show, but that after that expect some edgy contemporary photography programming.
Virgil Marti wallpaper in the Collab Gallery.
The news for the design collection is that their exhibit space increased from 330 sq. ft. in the PMA to 2,300 sq. ft. Formerly, the design objects were in a squishy narrow room that made anything bigger than a teapot look like Paul Bunyan. Here, the large tables and chairs have plenty of breathing room — while the little objects, in vitrines, get the shelves they deserve. With a layout similar to MoMA’s, the objects, in cases and on platforms, look perky and at their best. Collab‘s been helping the PMA grow the design collection for many years — and this show demonstrates just how great their help has been.
