My parents visited from Michigan back in March. I'd been itching to visit the Renwick Gallery since it reopened in November, and my parents were game to check it out.
If you're not familiar with the Renwick, here's the quick back-story on it:
- It is part of the Smithsonian. (And because I answer this question for almost every visitor to Washington: the Smithsonian is a collection of museums and galleries - not a single destination - and they are all open free of charge to the public.)
- The Renwick was the first art gallery built in the US intended to be used as an art gallery. (A lot of the other older art galleries were originally private homes.)
- The exterior was completed in 1861 - and then the construction was paused because of the Civil War.
- In the 20th century, there was talk of tearing it down, but Jacqueline Kennedy led a successful crusade to save it, and it returned to use as an art gallery in 1972.
- It closed again for renovations in 2013 and just reopened in November.
To re-open the Renwick, the entire building was used for an installation of nine works by different artists, each specifically designed for and filling an entire room. The theme of the exhibit was, "Wonder" and I have to say: Mission Accomplished. I can't imagine anyone going through the entire exhibit without at least one, "WHOA!" moment.
Here's the exhibit's opening plaque, which provides a bit of context for what it contains:
People have debated the meaning and value of wonder for more than two thousand years. It has been described as everything from the origins of our understanding of the universe, to how we respond to something defying categorization, to a naïve emotion delaying us from reason, to a shock to the heart, and a surprise of the soul.
The two rooms that provided me with the most amazement were those where common items were used to create very uncommon results.
The first example was Jennifer Angus's pink-washed room that used insects for three-dimensional wall decoration. When we walked in the room, our initial reaction was, "Cool," as we saw the "dia de los muertos" skeletons covering the walls. We quickly followed that by asking, "Those can't be REAL beetles, can they?"
As it turns out, they WERE. Which then made the whole room a bit more creepy. And I felt compelled to try to approximate how many little insect corpses were pinned to the walls. It made my head hurt. Further, the wall plaque informed us that the pink of the walls was created by using the "juice" from other insects. Ew? And still - ahhhh!
Here are a few photos I snapped that don't do it justice:
The other example that had me rubbing my chin in wonder was what appeared to be a simple construction of colored thread - pinned to the floor, then running to the ceiling, where it was pinned at a right angle. Sounds boring, but the effect was surprising. As we moved around it, it shifted from being individual clusters of thread to a see-through rainbow that seemed to be made from light.
Again, it doesn't translate well in photos, but here's an attempt - and no, I have no idea who that dude is posing in this shot:
Those were the two creations that I found most provoking, but I heard people exclaiming in delight in every room, whether it was John Grade's over-sized tree trunk constructed from small blocks of wood, or the glass ball formation created by Maya Lin (of Vietnam Wall fame), that climbed the walls of one room.
In addition to the art work, there were quotes in each room related to the theme. A few of my favorite examples include:
"It is not understanding that destroys wonder, it is familiarity." —John Stuart Mill
"The mere knowledge that such a work could be created makes me twice the person I was." —Goethe
The full exhibit is only available through Sunday (May 8), so if you're in the DC area, if you hustle you can hit it! Even if you're not usually a fan of art, I'd be willing to offer a money-back satisfaction guarantee. (Did I mention that it's free?!)
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