Over the weekend, the nation got a new contemporary art museum: The Momentary in Bentonville, Arkansas. Situated in a repurposed Kraft cheese factory, the new space is the latest outpost of the nearby Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The Momentary’s industrial-strength embrace of emerging art is intended to augment that nine-year-old institution’s focus on art-historical classics, which has made an unexpected cultural tourism destination of Bentonville, previously best known as the home of Walmart (heiress Alice Walton is the prime mover behind Crystal Bridges).
The Momentary kicks open its doors with “State of the Art,” the second edition of what is promised to be a once-every-five-years exhibition of American art focused on spotlighting contemporary art practice outside of traditional art centers such as New York and Los Angeles. Curated by Lauren Haynes—a transplant from the Studio Museum in Harlem—with Alejo Benedetti and Allison Glenn, the result is a 61-artist survey, shared between the cheese-factory chic of the Momentary’s new galleries and the bucolic luxury of Crystal Bridges. At the latter, curators have supplemented galleries dedicated to “State of the Art” with a few targeted interventions into the permanent collection, including a video projected within the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Bachman-Wilson House, which Crystal Bridges purchased and had rebuild on its grounds back in 2015.
There’s plenty to say, both about show and about the new space. While I’m figuring out what exactly that is, here is a taste of what “State of the Art” looks like.
The Momentary
The Momentary, Bentonville’s newest museum. Image: Ben Davis.
The first gallery of “State of the Art” at the Momentary. Image: Ben Davis.
Works by Alex Chitty. Image: Ben Davis.
Jena Thomas’s and . Image: Ben Davis.
Visitors watch Chele Isaac’s video . Image: Ben Davis.
Enrico Riley’s (2019) and (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Diego Rodriguez-Warner, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Paul Stephen Benjamin, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
A guide shows guests how to interact with Jill Downen, (2013-present). Image: Ben Davis.
Visitors interact with Kellie Romany, (2016-2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Jody Kuehner, (2019-2020). Image: Ben Davis.
Eddie R. Aparicio, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Peter Everett, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Kris Pierce, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Karen Seapker, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Works by Anthony Sonnenberg. Image: Ben Davis.
Anthony Romero, Matthew Joynt, and Josh Rios, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Hong Hong, (2015-present). Image: Ben Davis.
Suchirta Mattai, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Didier William, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Jordan Seaberry, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Frances Bagley, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Edra Soto, (2017). Image: Ben Davis.
Nicolas Lobo, (2020). Image: Ben Davis.
Alex Pixley Young, (2020). Image: Ben Davis.
Joanna Keane Lopez, (2020). Image: Ben Davis.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Crystal Bridges Museum of Art. Image: Ben Davis.
Mari Hernandez, (2017) inserted into the main collection of Crystal Bridges. Image: Ben Davis.
David Harper, (2019), inserted into the Crystal Bridges collection. Image: Ben Davis.
George Sanchez-Calderon’s , as viewed from inside Crystal Bridges. Image: Ben Davis.
JooYoung Choi, (2017). Image: Ben Davis.
Carla Edwards, (2017). Image: Ben Davis.
Damien Stamer, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Jiha Moon, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Tim Portlock, (2017). Image: Ben Davis.
Janelle Esparza, (2018) and multiple works by Kate Marie Budd. Image: Ben Davis.
Works by Kate Marie Budd. Image: Ben Davis.
Mae Arthur, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Rick Silva, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Cory Imig, (2020). Image: Ben Davis.
Joey Fauerso, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Sama Alshaibi, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Stacy Lynn Wadell, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Stacy Lynn Waddell, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Elisa Harkins, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Marcela Pardo Ariza, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Hannah McBloom, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Photos by L. Kasimu Harris. Image: Ben Davis.
Photos by Frank Blazquez. Image: Ben Davis.
Ronald Jackson, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Cristina Molina, (2016-2017). Image: Ben Davis.
Mari Hernandez, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Alex Bradley Cohen, . Image: Ben Davis.
Scott Hocking, (2019-2020). Image: Ben Davis.
Installation view of one of the galleries of “State of the Art” at Crystal Bridges.
Jova Lynne, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Su Su, (2018). Image: Ben Davis.
Lori Kella, (2019) and (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Francisco Souto, (2016). Image: Ben Davis.
Art Miller, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Amy Casey, (2019). Image: Ben Davis.
Various works by Letitia Huckaby (all 2017). Image: Ben Davis.
Larry Walker, (2017). Image: Ben Davis.
The terminal for Tabitha Nikolai’s videogame (2017). Image: Ben Davis.
Paul Stephen Benjamin, (2020). Image: Ben Davis.
Domingo Castillo, (2016), as installed in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman-Wilson House at Crystal Bridges. Image: Ben Davis.
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
