Walking into the Met Breuer was a sight to remember. Specifically, the Jack Whitten exhibition. As you enter the floor of the exhibit, you immediately see this wall with his name, sculpture and the years from when he was born to the year he died. Taking a closer look into the exhibit, space opens up with a mixture of sculpture and painted work. Not one piece failed to impress and was presented on a pedestal or on the wall. It was very easy to follow since this museum placed a well-designed card with a description, the name of the piece and what the artwork was made out of. Where some people may read the description and glance at the work before moving onto the next one, this work is something you just cannot do that with. Each work was executed beautifully with the use of various materials in different sizes and forms.
What I found most interesting about the artist, Jack Whitten was that the work seen in this large room had been work that most people had not seen yet. To know that every summer, he would go to Greece and just build sculptures, then leave the artwork there for years was a surprise. However, the wait for such artwork was well worth it. One piece, in particular, had caught my eye and that was the Technological Totem Pole. It was made in 2013 and was made out of black mulberry, metal, Gortynis marble, Braun alarm clock, and mixed media. The first thing that caught my eye about this particular piece was the variety of technological devices such as a cell phone, alarm clock that is actually functional, a fan, a remote, wires, batteries and more. It reminded me of how much technology we use in today’s society and how reliant we’ve become. However, it also shows the progress of technology due to the cell phone is seen in the work is a flip phone. Jack Whitten had wanted to show the past, present an future of technology and I believe he had portrayed it well. The various wires placed on the back made the work feel alive as if it was pulled from a much larger device and placed on display. The totem pole itself could be dated back to the Northwest Coast Native Americans to which it spread to another tribe as a way to tell a story or represent a hierarchy. Even though technology has continued to progress, it was interesting to see technology that was used a long time ago.
In my opinion, the Met Breuer is a museum that I would recommend visiting and specifically visit the Jack Whitten Exhibition. You will not be disappointed.
Sculpture 