Hirshhorn Gallery
Museum: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sculpture Garden: 7:30 a.m. to dusk
7th and Independence SW (museum entrance on
Independence)
The Hirshhorn gallery, a donut
shaped building on the mall’s southern edge, houses the Smithsonian’s
collection of modern and avant-garde art.
With works by luminaries like Anselm Kiefer, Eva Hesse, Damien Hirst,
and Andy Warhol the museum is a good choice for anyone hoping to be exposed to
the contemporary span of the global art world.
Spiral up the two floors of galleries until you find yourself at a large
resting room on the top floor looking out on the mall. Leather couches provide a rest for your legs
and a large working table allows you to pull out your laptop, inspired by the two
Sol LeWitt prints that frame the room.
Then descend down through the museum’s sculpture filled inner ring to
the basement, housing a theater, audio-visual galleries, and Barbara
Lautenburg’s room-wide text art project Belief+Doubt,
running through 2014.
The outdoor grounds of the museum
also display an extensive sculpture collection, both around it’s perimeter and
in the sunken garden on the mall. In the
donut’s center is a large plaza and central fountain with a number of table and
chairs, often home to a special sculpture exhibit as well. The giftshop, located in the museum’s
basement, contains a good collection of art books, t-shirts and jewelry. Ask in the lobby for an impromptu 30 minute
tour between noon and 4 p.m., or visit the museum at 12:30 p.m. M-F for a
gallery talk.
Overall, the Hirshhorn is worth a
visit (or re-visit), even for non-arty types, as it is a world-class collection
of modern works and can be fully explored in under an hour and a half. Like most art museums, it may not be suitable
and/or induce boredom from small children, but with pieces large, strange, and
at times disturbing, all but the most petulant of adolescents should be
satisfied. And if not, tell them they
are uncultured and to go send text message on the 3rd floor couches.
No comments:
Post a Comment