Following in quick succession of his first colour-drenched foray at Galerie Perrotin in New York last autumn, Daniel Arsham has transformed the High Museum of Art in Atlanta with three site-specific installations. The exhibition, entitled ‘Daniel Arsham: Hourglass’ continues the artist’s commentary on how we view history through the exploration of physical artefacts. In the case of contemporary times, these artefacts take the form of sporting memorabilia, boom boxes, keyboards and others such.
At the High Museum, Arsham combines audio, sculpture, architecture and performance in the creation of his trio of interrelated environments. In the lobby, performers routinely turn a display of oversized hourglasses to reveal everyday objects, which Arsham has cast in precious and semi precious stones. Finely crushed crystals serve as sand that run through each vessel to reveal and conceal the sculptures within. In the background, audio of a child’s voice describing the objects being unearthed is piped through the hall.
Upstairs, Arsham has created an intricate Japanese Zen garden, rendered in monochromatic blue and completed by a pagoda, petrified trees, tatami mats and delicately raked sand. Dyed rice paper and wooden joinery adorn the walls to complete the sense of timelessness in the room. This tone is continued by a performer, donning traditional robes, raking prescribed patterns into the sand, while a voice overhead describes the environment.
In contrast, the gallery adjacent to the Japanese garden is a cavernous setting festooned with sculptures of contemporary sports equipment, such as footballs, basketballs and baseballs, all cast in purple amethyst – a work reminiscent of the installation at Galerie Perrotin in New York.
These vibrant bursts of colour can be attributed to Arsham’s use of special lenses to correct his colour blindness – one of the reasons why his earlier work was largely confined to a palette of grey tones.
‘Life is definitely more nuanced, but I’m not sure it’s more interesting. I feel like I’m inside a game – an overly saturated world,’ says Arsham. ‘But now I’ve arrived at a point where I’m using colour as another tool in my work. This is a unique project for me in that there is a ton of color, so I think it’s going to be really interesting to see audiences react.’
‘Daniel Arsham: Hourglass’ coincides with two upcoming collaborations between Arsham and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO). As the Woodruff Arts Center’s 2016–17 Phil Kent Creative Fellow, Arsham will partner with the ASO to design stage environments for Christopher Theofanidis’ commission Creation/Creator and Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera Orfeo et Euridice. The former will be staged in Atlanta later this month, while Orfeo et Euridice will take place in May.
Each installation combines performance, audio and sculpture. The Japanese garden features a performer (Arsham is seen here), donning traditional robes, raking prescribed patterns into the sand
A detailed view of the interior of the pagoda which features tatami mats, dyed blue rice paper and blue wooden joinery that all work to create a sense of timelessness
In the adjacent gallery, Arsham has created a cavernous setting festooned with sculptures of contemporary sports equipment in purple amethyst
Finely crushed crystals serve as sand that run through each vessel to reveal and conceal the sculptures within
Footballs, basketballs and baseballs, cast from the glittering, colourful crystal, adorn the walls
In the lobby, a display of oversized hourglasses are routinely turned to reveal everyday objects within
INFORMATION
‘Daniel Arsham: Hourglass’ is on view until 21 May. For more information, visit the High Museum of Art website
ADDRESS
High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 3030
-
The Park: step inside Jeremy King's mid-century dinerOne of several 2024 openings from restauranteur, Jeremy King, food critic Ben McCormack books in at The Park
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
-
Misfires and Monstrosities: three vehicular design disasters that show taste is in retreatFrom a multi-million dollar piece merchandise to a wretched Rolls-Royce, these are the low points of the year in transportation design
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
-
Intimacy, violence and the uncanny: Joanna Piotrowska in PhiladelphiaArtist and photographer Joanna Piotrowska stages surreal scenes at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania
-
First look: Sphere’s new exterior artwork draws on a need for human connectionWallpaper* talks to Tom Hingston about his latest large-scale project – designing for the Exosphere
-
Marc Hom reframes traditional portraiture in Cooperstown, NY‘Marc Hom: Re-Framed’ has taken over the grounds of the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, planting Samuel L Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and more ‘personalities of the world’ into the landscape
-
Alexander May, founder of LA studio Sized, on the joys of creative polymathyCreative director Alexander May tells us of the multidisciplinary approach that drives his LA studio Sized and its offspring, a 5,000 sq ft event space and an exhibition series
-
50 of America’s top creatives, photographed by Inez & VinoodhPhotographed exclusively for Wallpaper* by Inez & Vinoodh, we present a portfolio of 50 creatives driving the current discourse on American culture and its dynamic evolution
-
Nona Faustine confronts the past in New YorkArtist Nona Faustine reframes New York's colonial past in an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum
-
How the west won: Ivan McClellan is amplifying the intrepid beauty of Black cowboy cultureIn his new book, 'Eight Seconds: Black Cowboy Culture', Ivan McClellan draws us into the world of Black rodeo. Wallpaper* meets the photographer ahead of his Juneteenth Rodeo
