by Nick Rogers
On the one hand, the new Whitney Museum building feels like it was a chance to have a beautiful and interesting looking building from such a capable and imaginative architect, but instead they went with a structure that would fit right in on the side of the highway in Stamford, Connecticut. Justin Davidson refers to it as “a missed opportunity of monumental proportions”, but Jerry Saltz argues, “the genericism of the building suggests that what matters to the Whitney isn’t vanity, grandeur, showboating, celebrity, or destination architecture — it’s what goes on under its auspices.”
The building, designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, may look like a crew of evil corporate scientists sailed an ocean liner from the moon and hit bang on into the shore and crash-landed in the Meat Packing district, but let’s remember it offers a great permanent collection of timeless American Art. Amongst which there are some names that even the casual art lover can recognize; Kenneth Anger, Jean Michelle Basquiat, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, John Cage, Jeff Koons, Jackson Pollock, EE Cummings, William de Kooning, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Mapplethorpe, Georgia O’Keefe, Mark Rothko, Barbara Kruger I can go on but theres a comprehensive list here. Museums are places where you want to be face with authenticity and theres no denying the Whitney is the purveyor and caretaker of the American Art canon. Funny considering the museums history. It was started as the Whitney studios on 8th street by sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney to house works by exclusively American artists that were rejected by the institution. A patron of her peers, she offered the Met 2 million dollars to build a new wing for her artworks and they rejected the offer. At that time she was forced to carve herself a niche by starting a museum dedicated exclusively to American Art.
Though it is built a bit cold and uncomfortable looking from the outside, it will still, no doubt, pull in tourists by the bushels like Jupiter pulling in meteors. With the warm weather securely in place it’s a great destination for visiting tourists to the neighborhood rich with restaurants and theaters. Visiting the Whitney and walking the old elevated train line turned promenode that pulls in 6 million visitors per year, the Highline can be a great day out if you can stand the crowds. The ground floor of the museum offers a free preview show as well as some sweeping views of the city, allowing visitors to look upon the city as a piece of art itself. Inside it will serve the needs of an expanding gallery much better than the old location, likely boost sales and attendance, and house more of the gallery’s artworks than ever before. With future plans to turn the sanitation building next door into a park, the new museum is poised to be a smash hit for tourist and locals alike.
The opening will be celebrated this Friday by a projection of 20 of the Whitney’s works onto the Empire State Building, which has a developed light show in place to celebrate sporting events and other festive occasions. Tickets are now $22 dollars (from $20 at the old location), but in comparison to the $25 admission at Guggenheim and Moma its slightly more affordable overall. Some more good news, they extending their hours to 6 days per week instead of 5 days (staying open until 10 pm on thurs fri and sat nights until Sept 27th). Also, Friday nights will be pay what you wish from 7-10pm.
