An entry from awesome new Marketing intern Cortney:
The first time you see the Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing Retrospective, you will miss a lot of it. This is definitely a multi-visit kind of space. On the first visit some of the drawings will stand out to you. Their playfulness and skill level, or their color palate and geometric patterns. Something will get to you and you will think you have found a favorite. And the second time you will want to visit your favorite again. Like 31 flavors of ice cream, you should probably try the other 30, but geez Rocky Road is so tasty! On the way there you will inevitably be confronted with a new mistress, a sly wall drawing that laid in wait on your first trip, only to shine so bright the second time around that you stop dead in your tracks to stare. The same will happen on the third and fourth trip, until you have been fully seduced by three floors worth of wall drawings.
After the peacocks of the bunch have strutted by, after you have examined the delicate lacework of the shier types, after you have stared at hypnotic puzzles until your eyes burned, then and only then will you actually be able to pick a favorite.
The following are accounts of favorite wall drawings chosen by myself and a few of my fellow interns.
Em (Performing Arts): Wall Drawing 422
The room (or wall) is divided vertically into fifteen parts. All one-, two-, three-, and four-part combinations of four colors, using color ink washes.
“My favorite LeWitt’s are subtly clever, without gimmicks. I enjoy the simplicity of the wall labels, which give such clear explanations of the process by which the works were created. In this painting, LeWitt instructs the painters to use all 1, 2, 3, and 4 color combinations of gray, blue, yellow, and red. Walking down the wall and picking out which color combinations are which is a mini-puzzle, and together all these combinations make a satisfying and interesting composition.”
Corin (Kidspace): Wall Drawing 797
The first drafter has a black marker and makes an irregular horizontal line near the top of the wall. Then the second drafter tries to copy it (without touching it) using a red marker. The third drafter does the same, using a yellow marker. The fourth drafter does the same using a blue marker. Then the second drafter followed by the third and fourth copies the last line drawn until the bottom of the wall is reached.
“My favorite Wall Drawing is # 797 (copy line using markers). This is my favorite because it is so fun to look at, it is very different from far away and up close. I also love that it is a unique material for LeWitt and the way the first black line mimics the mountainscape of the Berkshires that can be seen out the windows facing this drawing.
Of course it’s hard to play favorites!”
Nida (Design): Wall Drawing 85
A wall is divided into four horizontal parts. In the top row are four equal divisions, each with lines in a different direction. In the second row, six double combinations; in the third row, four triple combinations; in the bottom row, all four combinations superimposed.
“I’m quite fond of Sol Lewitt’s Wall drawing 85 because it requires a little more scrutiny than some of the others. From a distance it appears as though Sol (first name basis, yes) has asked his draftsmen to use 15 colors on the wall in a particular pattern. But, approach this one closer and you’ll notice that it’s merely a color mixing of 4 colors. It’s just the primary colors and black in a primary application to create something quite astounding; a few different fine lines mix across a massive white wall forming so many beautiful colors.”
Cortney (Marketing): Wall Drawing 821A
A white square divided horizontally and vertically into four equal parts, each with a different direction of alternating flat and glossy bands.
“This wall drawing is among some of my favorites in the collection, the images where LeWitt calls for the contrast of glossy and matte paint to articulate shapes. There is an almost identical version of this painting done in black, but I prefer the white on white. Because the paints are white—the exact white of all of the walls—there are viewing angles in the room that render this drawing invisible. At certain times, however, like on a sunny day, the light in the room makes the entire thing pop off the wall. I barely noticed this drawing on my first few visits (cloudy days no doubt), but when I finally really saw it, I couldn’t get enough.”
Rachel (Performing Arts): Wall Drawing 614
Rectangles formed by 3-inch (8 cm) wide India ink bands, meeting at right angles.
“It’s simple, sleek, and turns a huge white wall into something intriguing. Not that plain white walls don’t have their charms, but ordinary thick black rectangles attached to each other turn an ordinary wall into something extraordinary. It’s not in your face, but it’s present. There’s no snootiness about this art, it doesn’t belong in a multi-million dollar penthouse with Hudson views. Anyone can recreate it to show the world, as I well know. It’s painted onto a wall in my house, surprising most who happen upon it. Art exclusivity is obsolete, LeWitt makes it available.”
(Bloggers note: Rachel came to her favorite not through continuous visits of the space, but by a prolonged private seduction in her living space. Clever move, Wall Drawing 614. Very clever.)
Nida (again): Wall Drawing 1260
Scribble: Square without a square.
“I’m framed! I love it!”
Clearly there are many reasons to love a LeWitt Wall Drawing. And we will all probably have new favorites next week. Join in the fun! Get to MASS MoCA and get seduced!
-Cortney
PS. If you loved Cortney’s pics of the interns jumping in front of their favorite drawings, check out the super fun blog Jumping in Art Museums.
The U.S. Mint has asked Governor Deval Patrick to select one preferred and three alternate Massachusetts national sites to be featured on the reverse of a quarter in 2010. Governor Patrick is calling on the people of Massachusetts to help with this decision.
