I met a friend last week at Pivot Art + Culture, a new gallery inside the Allen Institute for Brain Science building in South Lake Union.
Exterior view of Pivot Art + Culture Gallery
Outside the building, a new art by Jaume Plensa
On Mercer Street, two stainless steel figures sit face-to-face. You can see a lot of letters or symbols from several alphabets appear. This is Mirall (Mirror in Catalan) by Jaume Plensa. We already had the chance to admire one of his works at the SAM Olympic Sculpture Park: the gigantic, white Echo. The lighting at night brings a magical dimension to his piece. It is beautiful!
First exhibit at Pivot Art + Culture: The Figure in Process: de Kooning to Kapoor 1955-2015
This is their first exhibit and features masterworks by eclectic renowned modern artists. Among them: Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Willem de Kooning, Alberto Giacometti, Roy Lichstentein, and Anish Kapoor. A few pieces even come from Paul Allen’s Collection itself.
I was really happy to see this show even if some pieces are really weird, ugly, scary or incomprehensible. I was really puzzled in front of some but others were beautiful, technically impressive, handsome, or inspiring. I really loved Kehinde Wiley‘s portrait, an artist we will be able to see at the SAM from February 11th.
I was lucky enough to visit the show with a friend who knows much more than I do regarding art. If you don’t have an artsy friend and if you want to be informed on this show, curatorial tours are organized every Wednesday till February 24 at 12:30.