Dia reopened in Chelsea, after a two-year renovation Photo: Elizabeth Felicella, courtesy of Dia
In 1987, when the Dia Foundation established an outpost for art in what was then a low-slung spread of taxi garages and auto repair shops, the Chelsea of today was unimaginable. At five storeys, Dia’s building was one of the tallest in the area, which felt remote from the dozens of galleries, bars, shops and high concentration of artists in SoHo. That lack of distraction was perfect for Dia, which carved space out of time for the long, slow absorption of its commissioned, year-long exhibitions.
Yet in a scenario that has been repeated so frequently it seems to have been ordained by an unnamed master of the universe, art made a wilderness safe for development. Dia sold its building when structural repairs proved more expensive than building anew, which it only did in Beacon, but it held onto three other properties on West 22nd Street. Unfortunately, succeeding may
Confronting Land Art and the Western frontier: Lucy Raven on how the two US cultural legacies influenced her new works at Dia Chelsea
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Inside the Renovated Dia Chelsea, Challenging (and Enchanting) New Commissions by Lucy Raven Vogue 2 hrs ago © Vogue
This week, Dia Chelsea reopens to the public after a two-year and reportedly $20 million renovation. Designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO), the 32,500-square-foot site combines three contiguous buildings on West 22nd Street into a space that encompasses 20,000 square feet for exhibitions, a “talk space” for public and educational programming, and Dia’s bookstore.
Dia has long had a footprint in that area, opening its first Chelsea outpost in 1987; several years before commercial galleries did the same. At the time, it represented a decisive break from the white-box SoHo exhibition space, embracing instead the brick, steel, and general grit of a neighborhood primarily known for its warehouses and auto-repair shops. The new Dia Chelsea rekindles some of that old roughness, says curator Alexis Lowry. “I’m a biased judge, but I think the archite
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This week, Dia Chelsea reopens to the public after a two-year and reportedly $20 million renovation. Designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO), the 32,500-square-foot site combines three contiguous buildings on West 22nd Street into a space that encompasses 20,000 square feet for exhibitions, a “talk space” for public and educational programming, and Dia’s bookstore.
Dia has long had a footprint in that area, opening its first Chelsea outpost in 1987; several years before commercial galleries did the same. At the time, it represented a decisive break from the white-box SoHo exhibition space, embracing instead the brick, steel, and general grit of a neighborhood primarily known for its warehouses and auto-repair shops. The new Dia Chelsea rekindles some of that old roughness, says curator Alexis Lowry. “I’m a biased judge, but I think the architects have done a really, really beautiful job of essential
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Once upon a time, you could stand on the roof of 548 West 22nd Street, up among the water towers of Manhattan, with views out over the Hudson to New Jersey, and watch the city shimmer and reflect on the surfaces of one of Dan Graham’s glass pavilions. It was a New York moment. You could go downstairs, following the blue and green glow of a Dan Flavin light sculpture lining the stairwell, and see shows by leaders in contemporary European and American art reaching back to the 1960s. The galleries here, at Dia Center for the Arts, were some of the first to display Richard Serra’s
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