Something in us longs to be the bride at the wedding and the corpse at the funeral.* That’s especially true when you stumble across artwork that in certain respects reflects your own direction. You’d think such a discovery would be a happy occasion, but it’s human nature to feel just a twinge of envy of someone traveling a similar path who has achieved greater recognition than you.

This may be especially true when your medium is drawing, and you wish drawing received more attention from galleries, museums, and critics––and then you see the work of a “hotter” artist currently getting the notice you wish yours had received back in the day. And wishing that person were you.

Such was my reaction to the excellent work of Antony Gormley, currently at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, as for many years, I developed a body of metaphorical figurative work in drawings and neon entitled the Everyman Series. Gormley is also a sculptor, but it is his drawings that caught my eye and admiration.

This spiritual dilemma is addressed in a Hasidic tale recounted by Martin Buber:

“Each of us is accorded a rung on the ladder of life,” said the Zadik. “Why, then, do we each desire the other person’s rung?”

                                                                   (*Alice Longworth Roosevelt)

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I have no images to post, as photos of temporary shows are not allowed, but Gormley’s work can be seen at this Phillips Collection website:  http://www.phillipscollection.org/exhibitions/Gormley/index.aspx

Titles of drawings that sparked especial recognition and admiration:

“Untitled,” 2001, monochrome aquatint etching

“Trajectory Field XI,” 2001, carbon and casein on paper

“Trajectory XV,” 2001, carbon and casein

“Mansion,” 1982, black pigment, oil, charcoal on paper

“Body and LIght,” a series of 33 drawings, carbon and casein

Suprasensorial, Hirshhorn Museum, February 23–May 13, 2012

Organized by MOCA, LA, and curated by Alma Ruiz

Light shows attract art moths, and Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color, and Space, the current show at the Hirshhorn Museum, has a terrific one you shouldn’t miss if you live in Washington or environs, or are visiting in the DC area.

Five Latin American artists are showcased: Lucio Fontana; Julio Le Parc; Carlos Cruz-Diez; Jesús Rafael Soto; Hélio Oiticica.

The entire show is a standout. Pictured above left, is Lucio Fontana’s neon swirl, Structure for the IX Trienniel of Milan, installed on the museum ceiling (gaze upward as you ascend to the 2nd floor on the escalator!). In the center photo, Chromosaturation, by Carlos Cruz-Diez, is comprised of three connecting rooms illuminated by blue, magenta, and green fluorescent lights.

On the lower level of the museum, prepare to be wowed by Magnetic Movie (right photo), an HD video projection created by Semiconductor. Imaginary animations filmed over a laboratory setting, the linear images relate amazingly to Fontana’s neon.

Also very much in keeping with Suprasensorial, although not an integral part of it, is a splendid fluorescent sculpture–a “barrier” by Dan Flavin, installed on the third floor.

Last, but far from least, is Doug Aitken’s enthralling nighttime video with music, SONG I, projected on the outside of the museum. As a friend remarked to me, the Hirshhorn’s squat cylinder has never looked so good! Nonetheless, it has already managed to offend a reader of the Washington Post, although I fail to see why. It lights up the city and cheers the soul, and Washington could use some of that! If Parisians and Berliners are unafraid to project light artworks onto their far more ancient structures, such as Chartres Cathedral, I don’t know why Americans need be so inhibited. SONG I isn’t spray paint, after all: just flip the switch at midnight and it disappears!

Spring forward to the Hirshhorn while there is still time to see this deLIGHTful show.