Light, Color and Motion at the Hirshhorn

Light, color and motion dominate the Hirshhorn museum inside and out for the next week.  Two unique exhibits bring a new perspective to the traditional gallery experience.  

Inside the museum, the Suprasensorial exhibit features artworks that are designed to immerse the veiwer in an environment.  Color is a key feature as is light, reflection and touch.  My children's favorite was a room hung with thousands of nylon strings.  As visitors walk through the strings are always touching you, creating lines of movement and motion patterns to those observing from outside.  Other rooms feature colored lights or reflected light, changing our perceptions and view as we move through space. 

The Suprasensorial exhibit has been extended through August so plan a visit with your kids and bring along your camera for some unique views inside these unusual sensory spaces.

Outside the museum the first-ever projection in the round on the exterior walls continues in the evenings through May 13.  Doug Aitken's piece, "Song 1" involves projected imagery set to a variety of versions of the song "I Only Have Eyes for You".  

We arrived around 8pm, just as the sun was setting.  The music began and the images slowly gained clarity and definition as night fell.  It was a fun and unique experience to watch moving images on a building and to hear the music and see the draw to the show from all around the museum.  

Scroll through the pictures to get an idea of this building-as-canvas art piece or plan a trip downtown after 8 pm to drive around the museum and see the projection. 

If you have seen these exhibits and have pictures, post those here too.

Kathryn Horn Coneway is an art instructor and the owner of Art at The Center, 2804 Sherwood Hall Lane, an art studio designed specifically for children and their families.