The Design of the Rubells' Upcoming Contemporary Art Museum in D.C.

The foundations or patrons funding art museums are aware of the importance of image. Because of this, the architecture of the museum is often chosen to make a statement. Most art museums are examples of "modernist" architecture, which can be characterized by its clarity and simplicity. The upcoming Rubell Contemporary Art Museum in D.C. ,which is still in development, can be considered an example of "post-modern" architecture, which can be generally described as eclectic. Is this an official endorsement of postmodern architecture, a style which has remained somewhat controversial since its beginnings in the late 1970s, by the contemporary art establishment and a shift away from modernist architecture?

The patrons of the new museum intend to keep the original facade of the Randall School in Southeast D.C. which was built in the "early 20th Century."(1)(2) Preliminary plans show that within this facade there will be dramatically modern architecture, although the firm Bing Thom Architects is still in the development phase.(3)  This composition of modern within old style closely compares to an example of postmodern architecture, the Harold Washington Library in Chicago. 

Sarah Williams: Painting the New American Landscape

The painted landscape can serve as the locus of a cultural identity in both a productive capacity (forming a conception around which others coalesce) and a "reflective" capacity (re-presenting the conception of a culture already shared by its members). Beyond, or within, this cultural meaning of landscape, the composition may create a narrative or allegory that subverts or supports the cultural message communicated. By working within a culture's shared conception of itself, an artist is able to more readily communicate the deeper messages and meanings at work in the painting. This dynamic is evident in the painting below.

St. Joseph, by Sarah Williams, 2011, oil on canvas, 24" x 24", in private collection.

Image reproduced with consent of the artist.

Sarah Williams, a Houston-based artist, paints scenes of modern America. She often paints night scenes, whose lack of life and serene lighting impart a sense of stillness and timelessness.  At the same time, this lack of life and the lack of uniquely-identifying features maintain an ambiguity that would allow any American to identify with the scenes. As other critics have pointed out, it would be misguided to read into this a commentary on "the generic flavor of American life." (1)  Instead, her choice of imagery is a result of her "connection to the rural Missouri where she grew up." (1) Williams' intimate familiarity with the imagery in addition to its ambiguity allow her paintings to have both an immediacy of communication to American audiences and a narrative depth.