Exhibitions

Strangely Familiar: Approaches to Scale in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art

The issue of scale, from the minuscule to the massive, has been of prime concern to many artists in the past decades, and it acquires renewed relevance as technological media assume greater importance in our daily lives. Increasingly, our access to works of art takes place through a world of reproductions - in books, posters, postcards, and electronic media. This transformation in the way we experience art may have contributed, in reaction, to an increased interest in the ways in which only the real-life object can affect the viewer.

This exhibition examines how contemporary artists have used scale as a conscious means of expression, from manipulating the expected dimensions of everyday objects to representing things in actual size. Organized by Lilian Tone, assistant curator, department of painting and sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the exhibition will include approximately 47 works, including paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs, prints and drawings.

Artists exhibited: Richard Artschwager, William Bailey, Chuck Close, Edward Ruscha, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Robert Gober, Katherina Fritsch, Neil Jenney, Toba Khedoori, Martin Kippenberger, Jeff Koons, Allan McCollum, Joel Shapiro, Laurie Simmons, Kiki Smith, Robert Therrian, Andy Warhol, Robert Watts, Steve Wolfe, Andrea Zittel.


Jeff Koons. Baccarat Crystal Set. 1986.
Cast stainless steel. 12 1/4" (31.1 cm) high x 16 *" (41.7 cm) in diameter.
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Gift of Werner and Elaine Dannheisser. © 2003

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Kiki Smith. Yolk. 1999. Glass. Publisher: A/D Gallery, New York.
Edition: 150. 3/4 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/2” (1.9 x 3.8 x 3.8 cm).
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. John B. Turner Fund.
© 2003 Kiki Smith
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Robert Therrien. No Title. 1993.
Painted wood, brass, and steel, 9' 5 1/2" x 10' 10" x 9' 1 1/2" (288.4 x 330.2 x 278.3 cm).
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Ruth and Seymour Klein Foundation, Inc.
Fund and Robert B. and Emilie W. Betts Foundation Fund.
© 2003 Robert Therrien / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Andrea Zittel. A-Z Escape Vehicle: Customized by Andrea Zittel. 1996.
Exterior: steel, insulation, wood, and glass.
Interior: colored lights, water, fiberglass, wood, paper-mache, pebbles and paint.
With wheels: 62" x 7' x 40" (157.5 x 213.3 x 101.6 cm).
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Norman and Rosita Winston Foundation, Inc.
Fund and an anonymous fund. © 2003 Andrea Zittel

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