Contemplating the Void at the Guggenheim, NY

New York’s Guggenheim Museum celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, and to draw celebrations to a close the gallery has this month unveiled an exhibition of work from some of the world’s most prolific creators.
Opened in 1959, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building - and its gaping, empty central atrium – has long been a source of inspiration to exhibiting artists. The Guggenheim has harnessed this energy for its latest, salon-style exhibition, calling in propositions from some 200 architects, artists and designers, each of which outlines a fantasy plan for the Guggenheim void.
Taking its cue from previous works to inhabit the space – such as Jenny Holzer’s 1989 digital text installation and Daniel Buren’s candy strip curtain from 1971 – highlights from UNStudio, Elmgreen & Dragset and Patricia Urquiola sit alongside an elemental crimson tornado from Anish Kapoor; a Blakeian, nature-inspired vision by Matthew Ritchie and a characteristically concave offering from Zaha Hadid.
With trends of ‘returning to nature’; the effect of sound in the space, and a desire to climb the museum's numerous interior coils, recurring throughout the show, the selection of renderings will be on view until April 28.
'Untitled' by Doug Aitken, 2009.
'Liquid Plastic Robot' by Greg Lynn FORM, 2009.
'Experiencing the Void' by Julien De Smedt Architects, 2009.
'State Fair Guggenheim' by MAD Architects (Yansong Ma), 2009
'The House of GI–A Proposal' by Matthew Ritchie, 2009.
'Untitled' by N55 Denmark, 2009.
'Untitled (Proposal)' by Peter Coffin, 2009.
'Proposal for One-Year Parade' by Pierre Huyghe, 2009.
'Guggenheim as a Ruin' by Sarah Sze, 2009.
'Erratic Void' by SelgasCano, 2009.
'New York 2109' by Terunobu Fujimori, 2009.
'SPIDERMUSE(UM)…WRIGHT-O-WEB…SPINNING GUGGY…' by Acconci Studio (Vito Acconci), 2009.
'Z Wave' by Zaha Hadid Architects. 2006.
'Shark China' by Zhang Huan, 2009.
ADDRESS
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89th Street)
New York
NY 10128-0173
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