With the reopening of museums in New York City being pushed back indefinitely, and with art fairs being almost unilaterally canceled or delayed, some galleries and museums have adapted their work for accessibility from home. Online viewing rooms, virtual experiences, and videos offer a way to connect with art that you might not get to see in person. Ranging from simple online galleries to immersive virtual worlds, here are ten online exhibits that bring dynamic and special art to the virtual space.
The Hole NYC, Pedro Pedro: Still Life
Pedro Pedro / Still Life / The Hole
The NYC gallery showcases a series of still lives for the contemporary time. With distorted dimensions and dynamic colors, the debris of the everyday exists alongside the traditional painterly allure of ripe fruit and studio tools. The result is an ooey-gooey tribute to cluttered collections.
Untitled Space, Lola Jiblazee: TRUE WORLD STORY
Lola Jiblazee / TRUE WORLD STORY / Untitled Space
Growing up in the Republic of Georgia during the Georgian Civil war, artist Lola Jiblazee became attuned to isolation. While sheltering in place, Jiblazee reached out to her followers on social media, and asked them to share their positive quarantine stories. “True World Story” is the resulting series featuring acrylic paintings that respond to these stories of hope, love, and tenderness.
Google Street Art
The Talking Walls of Buenos Aires / Google Street Art
The Arts & Culture branch of Google is transforming their tech to create spaces for art. They recently created a project that uses Google Maps street view technology to facilitate street art tours in cities across the globe. You can virtually walk through avenues and alleys full of street art, while a narrator gives you info about the artists and their intentions. “The Talking Walls of Buenos Aires” takes you through different neighborhoods in the Argentinian city, and explores its proliferation of vibrant urban art.
Hauser & Wirth, Louise Bourgeois: Self Portrait
Louise Bourgeois / Self Portrait / Hauser & Wirth
“In order to liberate myself from the past, I have to reconstruct it,” says Louise Bourgeois, in a video accompanying her 2009 textile work “Self Portrait.” The gallery Hauser & Wirth dedicates a web page to unpacking the French-American artist’s multifaceted and personal rumination on time and relationships. The added quotes and visual aids help peel back the layers of Bourgeois’ complex piece.
Gagosian, BROADCAST, Alternate Meanings in Film and Video: Chapter Four
BROADCAST, Alternate Meanings in Film and Video: Chapter Four / Gagosian
This collection of videos from the late 1960s and 70s aims to loosely follow Timothy Leary’s famous mantra, “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out.” Artists Chris Burden, Walter De Maria, Richard Serra, and Hannah Wilke play with conventions of mainstream media, subverting our ideas of how and what we watch. The videos have a hypnotizing effect, encouraging the viewer to fall down the rabbit hole of their screen.
BANK, Geng Yini: Virtual Power
Geng Yini / Virtual Power / BANK
This Shanghai based showing room brings punch and chaos to the online medium. Painter Geng Yini’s works transform the animal world into electric metaphors for human behavior. Rats and ducks contrast with muscular men and serene landscapes, coming together to form dynamic, visually arresting images.
New Museum, Jordan Casteel: Within Reach
Jordan Casteel / Within Reach / The New Museum
Take a virtual tour of Jordan Casteel’s larger than life portraits of friends and neighbors in New York City. Her paintings are intimate and tender, showcasing the breadth of humanity with bold, graphic brushstrokes. Narration from New Museum artistic director Massimiliano Gioni and Casteel herself provide context and insight into her works.
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Cruising the Collection
Cruising the Collection / Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
In honor of pride month in June, MCA curatorial assistant Jack Schneider went through the museum’s collection, searching for images depicting queer life. Through photography and painting, the collection explores a timeline of queer art from the eroticism of Robert Mapplethorpe to Salman Toor’s languid reflections on youth and gender politics. Schneider’s accompanying text gives accessible insight to these artists’ objectives.
Monique Meloche, Carrie Schneider: Double Negatives
Carrie Schneider / Double Negatives / Monique Meloche
A Chicago based gallery showcases the photographic play of artist Carrie Schneider. Her pieces experiment with layers, exposure, and form in the film format, and the result is a collection of hazy and abstract pieces that push the medium.
The Broad, Infinite Drone series
Infinite Drone Series / The Broad
This series of videos from the Broad aims to reconfigure the L.A. museum’s most popular installation, Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away.” Footage of the exhibit plays over listless, atmospheric drone music by various artists. It might not quite compare to experiencing the exhibit in person, but turn off your lights and play it loud, and you’re sure to feel a share of the work’s impact.
