Everything you need to know about the new MoMA
The ** MoMA ** has gained 30% more space which translates into some 2,400 works exhibited per year, almost a thousand more than before the expansion. So the first beneficiaries are the art lovers who will be able to dedicate more hours of the clock to wander through new rooms and exhibitions.
The changes are already visible at street level. Not only because the amazing residential tower called 53W53, the work of architect Jean Nouvel , which stands next to the museum and whose ground floors are now occupied by its new wing.
Installation view of Daylit gallery 212, Sheela Gowda’s of all people, overlooking Projects Gallery, featuring Projects 110
Also for the facade of the original building. If the MoMA was already a museum open to the street, the reform makes it even more evident. It will be hard to miss the storefront that offers full views of the lobby and shop, which has been sunk down one level for a bird's eye view from the asphalt.
A huge vinyl, with the words “Hello. Again.”, by the artist Haim Steinbach, welcomes us to a locker system reminiscent of the automated check-in stations of the new minimalist hotels.
Another way to speed up queues is the wardrobe that now comes with screens where to enter a mobile number to identify our garments and pick them up later.
Installation by Marie Josée and Henry Kravis Studio
If you like the modern Art but you don't know to what extent, the MoMA offers you a good appetizer and totally free.
Hidden under the stairs that lead to the new galleries, you will find two rooms with temporary exhibitions of emerging artists: 1 North and 1 South. Perhaps what you see will whet your appetite to get the ticket and continue enjoying art.
Entering through 53rd Street and on the right hand side, the space that has changed the least opens up, the Sculpture Garden, a small oasis of sculptures and tranquility (despite intermittent sirens from ambulances and fire trucks) .
inside the museum
The east wing, in fact, was already conquered during some renovations, in 2017, and has suffered little shake. You will still find the cafeteria (although there is another one on the top floor) and the projection rooms, in the underground plant, in addition to an extension of the souvenir shop.
The good thing is on floors 2, 4 and 5 where the original space is extended by more than a thousand square meters more , each, towards the new west wing. The added area is identified by huge sliding glass doors with a black frame.
The MoMA has wanted to break with the monographic concept of its exhibitions. In other words, instead of continuing to group the works by disciplines such as painting, sculpture and photography, pieces of any technique are now shown together for the sake of historical or thematic context.
The new MoMA store from a bird's eye view
Famous artists like Van Gogh, Picasso and Pollock are now surrounded by other authors, not necessarily contemporary.
An example is that of The Young Ladies of Avignon by Pablo Picasso where the five naked women stretch next to a painting that describes a bloody shootout that the African-American artist Faith Ringgold he painted 60 years after the master's.
Or even the famous Van Gogh Starry Night , now accompanied by a collection of Contemporary ceramics by the American George Ohr.
Monet's Water Lily Room
MoMA has prioritized mixing, in all senses, including cultural, to tell micro-stories instead of stringing together the entire history of modern and contemporary art, something as ambitious as it is failed.
If you want to get straight to the point, the second floor houses works from the 70s to the present; the fourth, from 40 to 70; and, in the fifth, from the 1880s to the 40s.
There you will find some of the most visited great classics but, as we pointed out, in a completely different context and that will change approximately every six months.
The sculpture "Retrospective Bust of a Woman" by Salvador Dalí
That will allow MoMA continue rescuing works from his trunk of memories and offer a different perspective to recurring visitors.
In addition, you will find new spaces scattered throughout the different floors such as a studio for performances and screenings and a creative lab to explore new ideas and give art another twist.
Film lovers will also see their passion recognised. The permutation of works includes projection of the 1905 New York subway in a room that honors the first steps in experimentation in photography and film.
The MoMA has carved a niche for more than 25 audiovisual spaces from its permanent collection that expand the sense of the room.
The grand staircase of the MoMA expansion
For example, Jacques Tati's brilliant comedy, Playtime , is projected in the space dedicated to modern architecture. Or the room dedicated to Andy Warhol live the uninterrupted projection of several short films by the author.
don't get lost the area reserved for Machines, dummies and monsters where some of the most famous horror movies share the podium.
The attention to detail of the extension is carried out by the team of architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Perhaps the name sounds familiar to you because they are also behind some of the most spectacular art centers in New York, The Shed in the Hudson Yards neighborhood.
It is clear that more space equals more works and better exhibits. What remains to be seen is whether we'll still have to nudge other visitors to see our favorite paintings.
Exterior of tower 53W53
MoMA strikes again!