SFMOMA: Chen Zhen's Precipitous Parturition and Julie Mehretu's HOWL I & II (2018-2019)
Chen Zhen’s 1999 artwork Precipitous Parturition was a focal piece in the Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (organized by the Guggenheim Museum). Its installation presented new challenges in an entirely different space. In preparation for the arrival of the 65-foot-long work, I created a complete rendering of the SFMOMA Atrium as well as a revised RCP of its soffit, where the work would hang. The rendering was essential to understanding where the piece would hang in the space, and how it would be secured.
Key to the curatorial decision that Parturition be displayed in this location was its visual interplay with Julie Mehretu’s HOWL I & II, two enormous (40 ft.-long) paintings on canvas hanging opposite the museum entrance and housed in custom-built frames. As shown in the models, the frenetic, gestural interplay between the two works indeed proved to be a visually engaging juxtaposition.
Key to the curatorial decision that Parturition be displayed in this location was its visual interplay with Julie Mehretu’s HOWL I & II, two enormous (40 ft.-long) paintings on canvas hanging opposite the museum entrance and housed in custom-built frames. As shown in the models, the frenetic, gestural interplay between the two works indeed proved to be a visually engaging juxtaposition.
Aerial view facing Museum front doors and Zhen's Precipitous Parturition
Above: view from top of Atrium stairs to Museum entrance
Right: installation photo
Right: installation photo
Aerial view showing Precipitous Parturition hang points
View from museum entrance to Precipitous Parturition against Mehretu's HOWL I & II