On View

An avid pilot who considers the sky his studio, James Turrell has shaped much of his career around the ethereal matter of light, air, and space. Works like the ambitious Roden Crater in Arizona challenge the limits of human perception on a grand scale.
Arguably the renowned American artist’s most significant contribution has been the innumerable “Skyspace” installations he’s conceived and realized throughout the world. Whether carved out of a museum’s architectural volume—like New York’s MoMA PS1—or staged as a pavilion, these enclosed environments all feature open roofs carefully framing the heavens above. Visitors are invited to enter and sit for a while to experience changes in color and cosmic movement. The meditative process helps them find grounding and reconnect with nature in unexpected ways.
Conceived with the technical expertise of architecture practice A-Works, Hardanger Skyspace is the 82nd iteration of its kind. The monolithic pavilion was commissioned by the village of Øystese, nearby Kunsthuset Kabuso, and Voss Folk Museum to sit in a park along the Hardanger Fjord and Hardangervidda mountain plateau. The northernmost Skyspace to date, this latest installation interacts with acute seasonal fluctuations. Turrell was careful to position the piece so that it could best engage the dramatic setting.
Exterior of Hardanger Skyspace (2022). Courtesy of A-Works.
A-Works principal Cristian Stefanescu played an integral role in designing the permanent structure, achieving the artist’s mission while also reflecting various contextual touchpoints. A specific strain of slate sourced in the region was selected to evoke the shiplap siding of a nearby church. From a distance, Turrell’s sculpture of sorts resembles this building but, on closer inspection, proportions skew and the work emerges as a much taller stacked-stone totem. Choosing the right coloration was essential to creating this illusion. 
“The whole work of art functions as a precise perception of light as a physical presence,” explained Stefanescu. The devil was in the details as he and Turrell envisioned a space that not only outlines the sky but also takes on specific material and formal qualities itself. Measured down to the millimeter, prefabricated concrete components were meticulously fitted into place. These considerations were vital to the overall concept.
The construction of Hardanger Skyspace. Courtesy of A-Works.
“The poetic is often known as a bohemian idea, something that just comes to you. I reject this idea,” added Stefanescu. “Something that is precise but appears imprecise involves a high degree of precision and knowledge of technical processes, pigmentation, prototyping, and art of thinking. Creating atmosphere is a ‘hard-core’ technical knowledge.”
The octagonal enclosure can only be entered through a door that becomes apparent once visitors have reached the end of a dedicated pathway. An unexpected white oval-shaped interior shuts off from the immediate surroundings. Curved benches blend in seamlessly with the cast concrete walls to accentuate the contours of the aperture above. As Hardanger Skyspace gains purpose through activation, the shifting patterns of natural light are brought to the fore.
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What’s it like seeing Gustav Klimt’s iconic Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer in person? For many, the answer exists only in their imagination. However, from November 11, 2022, through February 13, 2023, philanthropist Ronald Lauder is giving the public that very opportunity with a showing of his personal collection as it appears in his home—that is, an exact reproduction of his private residence within the Neue Galerie New York.
The show, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the museum’s founding, is the first time in a decade that a comprehensive look at the Ronald S. Lauder Collection has been publicly available. Comprising Greco-Roman sculptures from the third century B.C.E. through German and Austrian art from the 20th century, it is one of the world’s greatest private art holdings.
It’s also, apparently, caused something of a stir because the Gilded Age mansion where it resides was not built with a freight elevator. The Neue Galerie had to hoist numerous larger pieces through its windows. Suffice it to say, onlookers have been rapt the past few weeks watching Renaissance gold-ground paintings, medieval suits of armor, and other remarkable treasures pass into the museum’s upper stories.
And yet more startling, when viewed in person, is how so many of these stunning works have been arranged to create a home. More than museum curation, the show—with its astute attention to detail—imposes none of the stuffiness one might expect from having so many classic works under one roof. Instead, it feels relaxed, like visiting a friend whose life has been dedicated to celebrating the arts. In this way, it sheds the pretensions of displaying art in favor of experiencing it. It’s a feeling Lauder enjoys, we must imagine, on a daily basis—and one we hope the following collection highlights convey.
Monumental Head of a Goddess, Greek, Hellenistic, ca. mid-second century B.C.E., marble. Private Collection. Photo: Hulya Kolabas.
This Hellenistic, marble head (ca. 150 B.C.E.) is intriguing both for its mute, piercing gaze and its position on Lauder’s desk. “This is the one time that he decided to make his private rooms available to the public—and given the scope of the project, it will likely never happen again,” Neue Galerie Director Renée Price told Artnet News. “The works selected for the exhibition were chosen by Mr. Lauder himself, and arranged at the Neue Galerie in a manner that reflects how they are displayed in his home. The presentation demonstrates a unique, private taste—a vision.”
Installation view of “The Ronald S. Lauder Collection” on view at Neue Galerie New York. Photo: Hulya Kolabas, courtesy of Neue Galerie New York.
Containing the world’s premier assembly of works by Gustav Klimt, Lauder’s collection of early 20th-century Austrian art is replete with works visitors will recognize instantly. In a video produced to introduce the show, Lauder says he has three classifications of art: “Oh,” “Oh my,” and “Oh my God!”—and he only collects the last of these. As a result, he says, “It is impossible for me to choose a favorite work from my collection. When I love an artwork and decide to acquire it, I don’t fall out of love with it. I just get to know it better.”
Jug, Italian (ca. 1600). Rock crystal, gold, enamel. Private Collection. Photo courtesy of Neue Galerie New York.
Central to the Neue’s reproduction of Lauder’s private office is his impressive white-marble statue of Hermes (second century C.E.), Roman messenger of the gods, as well as his magnificent collection of exotic and exceptional objects, dating from the 15th through the 18th centuries. To properly display the precious decorative objects, Lauder thoughtfully designed a Kunstkammer (art cabinet) for his residence, which is replicated at the show. In discussing how the museum faithfully reconstructed the interiors, Price commented, “The process of developing the exhibition was a collaborative effort between Mr. Lauder, his curatorial team led by Elizabeth Szancer, and the Neue Galerie team. Discussions began long ago, with many Zoom calls, discussing and rearranging floor plans. Then the heavy lifting, which involved getting permits to hoist large-scale works into our historic building, and install the works on-site. The final result is a testament to the dedication of a great team of people.”
Installation view of “The Ronald S. Lauder Collection” on view at Neue Galerie New York. Photo: Hulya Kolabas, courtesy of Neue Galerie New York.
Numerous works in the Neue exhibition exemplify how Lauder’s personal taste goes into the selection of everything he collects, such as this painting by lesser-known German expressionist Conrad Felixmüller, My Brother–Mining Engineer (1922). Commenting on his process, Lauder told Artnet News, “Art collecting for me is a passion. It’s about what speaks to me on a personal level. It never has been about the market, or the need to collect (or to avoid collecting) what others do. It doesn’t take great connoisseurship to buy a world-famous Picasso. It only takes money.”
Erich Heckel (1883–1970), Bathers in a Pond (1908). Oil on canvas. Private Collection. Photo courtesy of Neue Galerie New York.
Commenting on a reproduction of the mantelpiece—over which hangs one of the first works Lauder acquired, Erich Heckel’s Bathers in a Pond (1908)—Price said, “At the Neue Galerie, we are always thinking about the Gesamtkunstwerk—or total work of art. The experience of visiting our museum is all-encompassing for the senses: a view of the galleries that present fine art and design at an intimate scale, a taste of the Austrian cuisine in Café Sabarsky, a tactile moment in the design shop and bookstore. While our mission is focused on Austrian and German art from the early 20th century, this exhibition is placing what we do here in a much broader context. The underlying principle is the Gesamtkunstwerk, everything together, of the highest quality. That is the philosophy of the Neue Galerie, and the Lauder Collection is so exemplary of that philosophy.”
Bernardo Daddi (Italian, active ca. 1312/20), Madonna and Child with Four Angels (1348), Florence. Tempera and gold on panel. Private Collection.
In a wider sense, the Neue’s exhibition presents a unique accretion of histories, not only of Lauder’s as a collector and of what the works depict, but of each piece’s provenance—many were stolen by Nazi authorities and recovered after World War II—and art history itself. According to Lauder, “The exhibition reflects the evolution of my collecting interests over the course of the past decade, as highlights from my collection were first presented at the Neue Galerie for the museum’s 10th anniversary. Over the past ten years, I became interested in new areas, including antiquities and gold ground paintings, rekindled my interests in Old Masters, and deepened existing areas of my collection.”
Installation view of “The Ronald S. Lauder Collection” on view at Neue Galerie New York. Photo: Hulya Kolabas, courtesy of Neue Galerie New York.
In addition to magnificent works of art, the show also features a room dedicated to Lauder’s remarkable collection of medieval armor and weapons. “In every era, there are great artists,” Lauder explained to Artnet News. “The thread of excellence of the great masters runs through the centuries, from ancient Greek and Roman art to Medieval Art, from gold-ground paintings of the early Renaissance to Old Master paintings and Kunstkammer objects of the 15th to the 18th century, through to the early 20th century Austrian and German art and decorations. Most early works do not have the artist’s identity but even without their names, they are of great quality. I have always been fascinated by masterworks throughout the centuries.”
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For the first time ever, an entire exhibition dedicated to the late artist Jack Whitten’s landmark “Greek Alphabet” series is on view at Dia Beacon, expanding the public’s understanding of Whitten’s experimental practice. In the series, Whitten departs from his earlier Abstract Expressionist style of painting and instead adopts the Greek alphabet as the starting point for black and white compositions, created with handmade tools and unique applications.
Whitten continued to experiment with the physicality of paint on canvas throughout his career, switching from oil to acrylic in the 1960s and moving toward more conceptual ideas, in contrast to the Surrealist and Figurative Expressionist styles that first captivated him.
In an exclusive interview with Art21 filmed just before his death in 2018, Whitten explained how his art was informed by his experiences as a young Black man in the segregated South, and how it changed over the course of his career. “The young artist has to have something to react to,” he said, noting his involvement in the political protests during the Civil Rights era.
He also discussed his impressions upon arriving in New York’s art world in 1960. “I met Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, and Jacob Lawrence,” he said. “The scene was open. Bill de Kooning would talk to you!”
Unlike his contemporaries, Whitten’s work was not explicitly figurative, though he did reference important Black figures like Count Basie and James Baldwin in his Black Monolith abstractions. “I’m not a narrative painter. I don’t do the idea, or the painting being the illustration of an idea, I don’t do that,” he said. “It’s all about the materiality of the paint.”

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part of Art21’s series Extended Play, below. “Jack Whitten: The Greek Alphabet Paintings” is on view at Dia, Beacon through July 10, 2023.
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This is an installment of “Art on Video,” a collaboration between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of news-making artists. A new season of the nonprofit Art21’s flagship series Art in the Twenty-First Century is available now on PBS. Catch all episodes of other series, like New York Close Up and Extended Play, and learn about the organization’s educational programs at Art21.org.

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For the dissident theater director and visual artist Robert Wilson, a chair exists in space, not simply in its relationship to function or its beauty as an object—but also in how it’s experienced throughout memory and time.
While visiting his uncle in the New Mexican desert, eight-year-old Wilson took notice of the only chair in the house amid the spare surroundings and proclaimed, “That’s a beautiful chair.” His uncle later sent him the chair as a Christmas present. This simple wooden chair held great significance for the young Wilson, who was otherwise besieged by the ordinary presents of his Texas childhood: shotguns and cowboy boots. When he was 17 his uncle’s son wrote to him, “My father sent you this chair, and it’s mine, and I’d like it back.” He sent it back, yet there began a lifetime fascination with collecting chairs.
By the time Wilson was making plays at 27, the collector, playwright, choreographer, painter and sculptor took the opportunity to create his own chairs for his productions. He saw these chairs as having their own personalities—becoming characters on the stage along with the performers.
“Robert Wilson: Chairs, 1969–2011,” opening November 17 and running through January 14 at MDFG in Brooklyn, collects many of these characters in a career-spanning exhibit, showcasing the breadth of the 81-year-old’s poetic imagination and use of materials.
Some of Wilson’s characters as chairs embody real figures interpreted and transformed through his personal lens, like his Einstein Chairs (1976) of elongated metal pipes created for his 1976 collaboration with Philip Glass, “Einstein on the Beach,” or his heavy Queen Victoria Chairs (1974), made of wood, metal, odd angles, and adorned with car headlights for his opera in four acts, “A Letter to Queen Victoria.”
These works are beyond mere props, not only as characters within the performance, but also as sculptural objects that invite interpretation and contemplation—especially outside of their original context, presented on their own as they are here, now.
Robert Wilson. Hanging Chair (Freud), 1969/1991. Metal wire mesh.
Robert Wilson. Gilgamesh Chair (Pair), 1988. Wood, painted bandages.
Robert Wilson. The Meek Girl Chair, 1994. Wood, veneers, fur.

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What does a 19th-century weaving loom have to do with computer programming? In the eyes—and practice—of artist Beryl Korot, the answer is: a lot. In fact, the pioneering video artist makes the case for the Jacquard loom, invented in 1804, as the earliest computer because of its ability to program patterns using punch cards. A show on view now at Manhattan’s Bitforms Gallery titled “Rethinking Threads” charts the artist’s artistic journey in making the connections between art and technology.
The exhibition also references Korot’s earlier works, including her 2007 piece Babel: The Seven Minute Scroll. In an exclusive interview with Art21 filmed back in 2010, the artist discussed the work, which references the ancient text using contemporary technology.
“I guess I always had the attitude towards technology that the more intimate you are with the tools that you get, the more you can tell your story,” Korot explained. “And so I decided to make a scroll, in a sense, on the computer based on the Tower of Babel story.” Using letters of the alphabet, pictograms, and her own visual language, the artist creates her own narrative while probing the history of communication.
“For me as an artist, I’m interested, in a sense, in going beyond my personal expression to things that I’m personally drawn towards, that also tell my story,” the artist told Art21. “Which is my connectedness to other points in time. Past. Present. Old tools. New tools.”

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part of Art21’s series Extended Play, below. “Beryl Korot: Rethinking Threads” is on view at Bitforms Gallery through November 26, 2022.

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This is an installment of “Art on Video,” a collaboration between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of news-making artists. A new season of the nonprofit Art21’s flagship series Art in the Twenty-First Century is available now on PBS. Catch all episodes of other series, like New York Close Up and Extended Play, and learn about the organization’s educational programs at Art21.org.

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This weekend, 96 artist-designed globes will be installed at the heart of London in Trafalgar Square, to raise awareness about the history of the transatlantic slave trade in the U.K., as part of the nationwide project, The World Reimagined.
The public will be able to view the globes—designed by creatives including the project’s founding artist, Yinka Shonibare—from November 19–20, and then bid on them in an online auction held by Bonhams online only now from November 17 through November 25. Proceeds are going to The World Reimagined’s learning program, the artists, and the establishment of a grant-making program for racial justice projects and organization.
“The core mission of The World Reimagined is to engage the public to learn about the impact of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans,” Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye, artistic director of The World Reimagined, told Artnet News. “To have a public exhibition in Trafalgar Square, in the heart of the capital where so many people can interact with these glorious works, is incredibly exciting.”
More than 100 globes were commissioned via an open call judged by Shaw Scott Adjaye, who is also head of global research at her husband’s architecture firm Adjaye Associates; artist Chris Ofili; Zoé Whitley, director of the Chisenhale Gallery; Matthew Smith, director of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at UCL; and Renée Mussai, senior curator and head of curatorial and collections at Autograph, a London-based arts charity.
A selection of globes which are going on view in Trafalgar Square. Photo: courtesy the World Reimagined.
The sculptures were decorated by African diaspora artists from across the U.K., as well as a number from the Caribbean. Among those who contributed designs include Julianknxx, who has an exhibition at the Barbican Curve in 2023, Godfried Donkor, Phoebe Boswell, and Alison Turner. All of them have drawn on their personal experience with Britain’s history with slavery, and how it has impacted people of all backgrounds and races living in the U.K. today.
“The World Reimagined is an important opportunity to reflect on the importance of our diversity and to shine a light on our collective stories that too often remain untold,” said the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. “We must remember the millions who suffered due to the Transatlantic slave trade and the impact this has had on generations of Black communities.”
Godfried Donkor, Race. Photo: courtesy the World Reimagined.
Many of the globes have already been shown in cities around the U.K. since August. Each has a QR code on its base that takes visitors to a website, where they can learn more about the issues and histories raised in the artwork.
“This is a deeply powerful moment. We believe in an idea of patriotism that says we are strong and courageous enough to look at our shared past and present honestly, so we can create a better future—together,” said the project’s co-founder Michelle Gayle. “It’s not Black history—it’s all of our history.”
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Visitors to “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” at the Tate Modern in London will find themselves dwarfed as they move between vast, free-hanging structures that challenge our traditional notions of sculpture and textile art. 
Their warmly colored, ragged surfaces have been achieved by weaving together organic materials like sisal plant, horsehair, and hemp rope into complex and ambiguous 3D fiber installations known as “Abakans.”
“It is from fiber that all living organisms are built, the tissue of plants, leaves and ourselves,” Abakanowicz once said. “Our nerves, our genetic code, the canals of our veins, our muscles. We are fibrous structures.” 
Audiences will learn how Abakanowicz started out making painted textiles in the 1950s and watch as her practice evolved over the 1960s and ’70s, when she transitioned to building suspended forms on a monumental scale.
Their radical nature is all the more striking for the artist’s distance from many of the major hubs of the art world. Born in 1930, she grew up in the rural Polish countryside and later, during the war, her family became part of the resistance while she worked as a nurse’s aid at the remarkably young age of 14. Afterward, Abakanowicz became an artist under an oppressive Communist regime and struggled against the odds to build an internationally recognized career. 
Abakanowicz is also known today for Agora, a crowded group of headless figures permanently installed in Chicago’s Grant Park, and War Games, large structures made from trees in the style of military equipment. One of the works from this latter series, Anasta (1989), is displayed in the exhibition alongside the Abakans.
“Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. See works in the show below.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Brown Textile 21 (1963). Photo courtesy of Tate Modern; © Fundacja Marty Magdaleny Abakanowicz Kosmowskiej iJana Kosmowskiego, Warsaw.
Photograph of Magdalena Abakanowicz at work in 1966. Photo: © Estate of Marek Holzman.

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The boom in immersive art shows has seen some of the world’s best-loved masterpieces reimagined on the largest scale, and toured to audiences worldwide. The focus so far has been on historical works, with artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt and Frida Kahlo among the most popular subjects. 
David Hockney may now be one of the first living artists to get the same treatment for a new show, “Bigger & Closer (not smaller and further away)” opening early next year in London. 
Installation of David Hockney’s Gregory Swimming Los Angeles March 31st 1982 at “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away),” an immersive art experience at Lightroom in King’s Cross, London. Photo: courtesy of Lightroom, ©David Hockney.
Hockney has been able to take the reins and direct this new immersive journey, inviting visitors into some of his most renowned paintings, from the swimming pools he painted during his years in California to the vast canyons he captured in the American West.
Photographs and polaroid collages will also be used to tell visitors about the artist’s life, transporting audiences between Yorkshire, where Hockney is from, to Los Angeles, where he moved to in the 1960s, and Normandy in southern France, where he now lives. 
These insights and many more will stretch across six themed chapters, which are set against commentary from Hockney and a custom score by the American composer Nico Muhly.
Installation of The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twentyeleven) (1998) at “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away),” an immersive art experience at Lightroom in King’s Cross, London. Photo: courtesy of Lightroom; © David Hockney.
“The world is very, very beautiful if you look at it, but most people don’t look very much,” Hockney muses in one voice-over. “They scan the ground in front of them so they can walk, they don’t really look at things incredibly well, with an intensity. I do.”
Three years in the making, this mega production won’t be the first time Hockney has kept an eye on tech trends and adapted his painting practice to new media. He began using computer software to draw as early as the 1980s and, since 2009, he has regularly exhibited portraits, landscapes and still-lifes that were made on an iPad.
David Hockney viewing the model box containing an immersive view of his work August 2021, Landscape with Shadows. Photo: Mark Grimmer, © David Hockney.
The show will open in Lightroom, a new four-story exhibition space for immersive experiences in the creative district of Kings Cross, organized by the London Theatre Company and 59 Productions. “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller and further away)” runs from January 25 to April 23, 2023 and tickets are now on sale at £25 ($30) for adults and £15 ($18) for students.
London is also home to Frameless, another venue for experiential art forms that opened in Marble Arch in September. The arrival of Lightroom suggests that the immersive art craze shows no sign of disappearing, following major investment in this fast growing sector.
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