Experience 'WONDER'
Following a two-year renovation, the oldest museum in Washington, D.C. and the first art museum built in the United States — the Renwick Gallery — reopened in November with an exhibition titled "Wonder." Nine contemporary artists — Jennifer Angus, Chakaia Booker, Gabriel Dawe, Tara Donovan, Patrick Dougherty, Janet Echelman, John Grade, Maya Lin, and Leo Villareal — each selected for their ability to focus on process and unexpected materials, transformed the empty spaces in the museum by creating room-sized art installations.
"Each of the artists has demonstrated a talent for conjuring the right balance of materials, scale, and sensitivity to a site to prompt reactions among viewers that hinge on surprise, awareness, and, crucially, awe," Nicholas R. Bell, the Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator in Charge at the Renwick Gallery writes in the exhibition catalog's introduction.
The installations, which will be on view for six months, draw inspiration from the specific galleries in which they reside.
Renwick Gallery, located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20006, is open daily from 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
The exhibition will close in two phases to allow for the reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collection. The second-floor galleries will close May 8, 2016, and the first-floor galleries will close July 10, 2016.