Scandalmakers

upcoming explorations in convergence: eileen quinlan at whitney at altria

In a case of either actual curatorial independence or too-good-to-be-true “synergy”, The Whitney Museum of Art at Altria (née Phillip Morris) has announced their upcoming exhibition Undone: Tom Holmes, Tony Matelli, Eileen Quinlan, and Heather Rowe, opening September 18.

According to the press release:

In Undone, the perceived completeness of form, space, or identity is defined by its own fragmented, unfinished, or unraveling condition. The works, commissioned for this exhibition, reference and subvert viewers expectations about medium and exhibition space. (PDF)

A “subversion of the viewers expectations about medium and exhibition space”?
Except that in this case, the exhibition space is funded by (and located inside of) the corporate offices of a tobacco giant and the artist Eileen Quinlan‘s medium is smoke (and photography).

Also from the press release:

Eileen Quinlan’s photographs of smoke reflected in broken mirrors offer an unusually literal disclosure of process that’s contradicted by their own aesthetic opacity.

An “unusually literal disclosure”? Indeed.

Unfortunately, it looks like this could be one of our last chances to write wildly speculative posts about our favorite museum-inside-of-a-corporate-headquarters.

Tags: conflict of interest, convergence