The National Gallery of Art’s East Building opens tomorrow for the first time since March 2020. You’ll need free timed passes if you want to visit, and the museum is open from 11 AM until 4 PM. Fully vaccinated guests no longer need to wear masks inside or outside the museum.
Besides the permanent collection—which includes works by Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, and Piet Mondrian—here’s what’s on display:
Artist Projects: Sarah Cain, Avish Khebrehzadeh, and Kay Rosen
Artists Sarah Cain, Avish Khebrehzadeh, and Kay Rosen each have a large-scale project around the East Building. Rosen’s bold, language-based SORRY is installed outside the main entrance. Cain’s My favorite season is the fall of the patriarchy includes a 45-foot painting in the building’s atrium. Khebrehzadeh is showing a drawing called Tree of Life in Blue and Seven Silent Songs, a set of video animations. The works will be on display through December 2021.
Lynda Benglis Exhibition
Sculptor and painter Lynda Benglis’s work will be displayed in the mezzanine. The artist—known for her use of materials such as latex, wax, metal, wire mesh, and glass—will show 33 sculptures, paintings, drawings, and videos made between 1966 and 2003. The works will be on display through Jan. 2, 2022.
Conversations: Carrie Mae Weems and The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial
Over in the West Building, a collection of photographs from artist Carrie Mae Weems reflects on The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial, which was created a century ago to honor one of the first African American-formed Civil War regiments.
Hahn/Cock
Katharina Fritsch’s 14-foot-tall blue rooster sculpture is now permanently part of the National Gallery’s collection, thanks to a donation from the Glenstone Museum in honor of the resilience of the American people during the pandemic.
