The Museum of Modern Art in New York City is dismantling its architecture and design galleries, as well as its spaces dedicated to photography and drawing, according to the Architect’s Newspaper.
Ahead of its Diller Scofidio + Renfro renovation and expansion, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City is dismantling its architecture and design galleries, as well as its spaces dedicated to photography and drawing, according to the Architect’s Newspaper. The museum plans to integrate these third-floor works throughout the entire collection during the construction period. (There is no word on what the museum will do after the building is complete.) The reconfiguration, however, seems to be more than just a practical response, as it also reflects the museum’s recent bend towards boundary-crossing displays — a trend that Ann Tempkin, a chief curator, has called “unlearning what we’ve learned.”
“How do we become more nimble — willing to peel open departmental practices?” MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry recently said. “Yes, we can change. There was no tablet from Moses that said this is the way we have to be structured.”
Still, some critics are more orthodox. MoMA was the first museum to dedicate a department to architecture and design, and has a history of putting on groundbreaking shows, like the recent “Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980” or “Talk to Me” in 2011. According to the Architect’s Newspaper, MoMA will still continue to organize traveling or loaned exhibitions dedicated to the genre.
Noelle Bodick
Blouinartinfo.com