569 Wrightwood Museum―Tadao Ando

“Space will only have a life when people enter it. So the important role architecture can play, and that space plays within that architecture, is to encourage an interaction between people, between people and the ideas being presented in the paintings and sculpture, and most importantly between people themselves.” These are the words of self-taught, iconic architect Tadao Ando (b.1941), architect of Wrightwood 659.

The design of galleries and museums features prominently
in Tadao Ando’s architectural oeuvre. While the Japanese architect launched his career by designing acclaimed houses, he soon accepted commissions for galleries and museums. Although the programmatic requirements displaying art vary greatly from those of single and multi-family houses designed for private clients, Ando draws from these different architectural types to create ‘domestic’ atmospheres that allow visitors to experience the art within intimate, light-filled, cast concrete spaces.

The following photographs are of the 569 Wrightwood Museum itself. The exhibit featured photographs and models of Ando's other work.

See the museum's fall guide here: https://wrightwood659.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/WW659_IshidaAndo_Guide_2019Fall_online.pdf

659 Wrightwood Museum―Ishida: Self-Portrait of Other

Part Two of my visit to 569 Wrightwood Museum was :Ishida: Self-Portrait of Other.

Often, his work disembodies the figure and blends it with machinery or objects. These images observe the monotony of a Japanese salary man’s routine, as in images like men being packed into a subway car like cargo. Another main theme is the training of young people to enter into economical servitude, and thus emotional isolation. Generally speaking, even non-Japanese viewers of Ishida’s works can appreciate the feeling of being forced to conform to work culture. From a highly personal perspective, his work captures its dehumanizing aspects, one that is rarely explored creatively in Japan and keeps his art compelling for new audiences.

For more of his amazing work go to: http://www.artnet.com/artists/tetsuya-ishida/

See the museum's fall guide here: https://wrightwood659.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/WW659_IshidaAndo_Guide_2019Fall_online.pdf

The photograph below created itself for me, speaks of Ishida's emotional isolation (althought I cannot speak for the young man,) and I couln't resist taking it.