The newly enhanced Museum of Modern Art has installed its first temporary exhibition, “Contemporary Voices: Works from the UBS Art Collection,” including some works donated, some on loan, made available by the financial services firm UBS. There are some 70 in all, including paintings, sculptures, photographs and drawings by some 50 artists. Together they represent accomplishments by European and American artists spanning about 45 years.
The exhibition, February 4 through April 5, 2005, is on the museum’s 6th floor, and with the new design, the works are elegantly presented in spacious surroundings that facilitate viewing.
The most arresting in the collection are six panels by Susan Rothenberg, her impressionistic appreciation of dance done in graphite, charcoal and oil on paper. Each is fascinating, and seen together, the overall effect is a strong one that arouses further interest in the artist’s work, such as her “Biker,” also on display.
A self-portrait by Chuck Close is also striking. One particularly outstanding painting is “Untitled III” by Willem de Kooning. The considerable variety makes exploration of this exhibition especially interesting, and while all obviously will not be to everyone’s liking—I can usually do without Cy Twombly, for example—there is the opportunity for widespread exploration and appreciation.
Getting better acquainted with the spacious new MoMA, with its sculpture garden viewable from so many perspectives, is an attraction in itself. At the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street.