The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York has commissioned Berlin-based sculptor Nairy Baghramian and Brooklyn-based multimedia artist Jacolby Satterwhite to create new works for the institution, where they will be exhibited this fall. Baghramian will produce four polychrome sculptures, each occupying a niche carved into the facade of the museum facing Fifth Avenue, while Satterwhite will create over a hundred works that variously incorporate sound, video and performance. These will be displayed together in the Great Hall of the Met.
“We are delighted to present major new works by Nairy Baghramian as well as Jacolby Satterwhite, two exceptional and innovative artists whose installations at the Met will challenge and expand our dialogue with the museum as a site of artistic discourse and experience. community,” Met said. director Max Hollein.
The commissions reflect the Met’s desire to exhibit more contemporary art. In late 2021, the museum announced it would restore and expand its contemporary art galleries with an unprecedented $125 million pledge from collectors Oscar Tang and Agnes Hsu-Tang, for whom the renovated wing will carry the name. Last spring, the Mexican architect Frida Escobedo was tapped to oversee the $500 million renovation, becoming the first woman to design a wing at the Met. The project is expected to be completed in 2029. In fall 2022, the museum revealed that David Breslin, curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art and co-organizer of the 2022 Whitney Biennial, would lead its modern and contemporary department. Breslin filled the position vacated by Sheena Wagstaff, who resigned as department chair after nearly a decade in the role.
Baghramian’s contributions, collectively titled “Scratching the Back,” will be on view from September 7, 2023 through May 19, 2024. Satterwhite’s creations, which a press release says will provide a “tiered environment,” will welcome visitors between October 2 and November 27, 2023.
