david smith at the guggenheim

the spectacular weather saturday made it the PERFECT day for a guggenheim visit. the museum's size and design makes any show there totally manageable; bo co and i walked through the park to get there, and walked through the park again to get back home (it always strikes me how PACKED the park can get around bethesda fountain and the boat pond... meanwhile it's totally empty up near the north meadow); AND there's always an ice-cream guy right outside AND he has the increasingly rare choco tacos!

anyway, as for the art...



david smith: a centennial is big, beautiful, brilliant. really, it's one of those shows that actually moved me, especially his later stuff. it's pretty much all sculpture (there are some drawings in an annex, i think, but we didn't go in and look), with some huge pieces, but mostly mid-size and smaller. it's prett much all made from industrial scraps and steel. it's pretty much all so dynamic, and sensual, and organic, and witty, and just flat-out gorgeous. and as my friend fred pointed out, it's also one of those exhibits where the physical art works perfectly with the place, with basically each piece getting its own little nook. bo and co also enjoyed it a lot (the guggenheim is always fun, especially when you start backwards, at the top, as we do), both for the sculptures themselves and playing the "this looks like a..." game.

the show runs through may 18, and there's much more intelligent discourse on the ieces and the artist here.