Everything about Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago totally explained
The Museum of Contemporary Art, often abbreviated to
MCA, is a
contemporary art museum near
Water Tower Place in downtown
Chicago in
Cook County,
Illinois,
United States. The current location at 220 East Chicago Avenue is in the
Streeterville neighborhood of the
Near North Side community area.
History
The Museum of Contemporary Art was founded in 1967 in its former location at 237 East Ontario. The first director of the MCA was Jan van der Marck. Initially, the museum was conceived primarily as a space for temporary exhibitions, in the
German Kunsthalle model. However, in 1974, the museum began acquiring a permanent collection of contemporary art objects created after 1945.
Exhibitions
Past
In its first year of operation, the museum hosted two exhibitions, "Pictures To Be Read/Poetry To Be Seen" and "
Claes Oldenburg: Projects for Monuments." In 1969, the museum served as the site for
Christo's first building wrap in the United States. It was wrapped in over 8,000 square feet (700 m²) of tarpaulin. The following year it hosted one-person shows for
Roy Lichtenstein,
Robert Rauschenberg, and
Andy Warhol.
The MCA has also played host to the first American and solo exhibitions of prominent artists. It hosted the first U.S. exhibitions of
Frida Kahlo in 1978 and
Antoni Tapies in 1977. Other highlights of its history include the first solo museum shows of
Dan Flavin, in 1967, and
Jeff Koons, in 1988. In 1989, the MCA hosted
Robert Mapplethorpe, The Perfect Moment, a traveling exhibition put together by the
Institute of Contemporary Art in
Philadelphia. This exhibition drew the most visitors in the institution's history.
Recent
The MCA also plays host to more recently active artists. The museum features a monthly 12 x 12: New Artists/New Work exhibition series, featuring up-and-coming Chicago artists. In 2006, the MCA was the only American museum to host
Bruce Mau's
Massive Change exhibit, concerning the social, economic and political effects of design. Other recent exhibits have featured photographers
Catherine Opie and
Wolfgang Tillmans as well as Chicago-based cartoonist
Chris Ware.
New structure
Originally, the museum had been located in a small space at 237 East Ontario Street that had originally been built as a bakery and for a time had served as the corporate offices of
Playboy Enterprises. Throughout its history, the MCA expanded into adjacent buildings to increase gallery space. In 1977, following a fund raising drive for its 10th anniversary, a three-story neighboring townhouse was purchased, renovated and connected to the museum.
In 1996, the MCA acquired its current site at 220 East Chicago Avenue which was the site of a former
National Guard Armory between
Lake Michigan and
Michigan Avenue from 1907 until it was demolished in 1993 to make way for the MCA. The new
limestone and
aluminum structure was designed by
Berlin architect Josef Paul Kleihues. The new building contains of gallery space (seven times the space of the old museum), an auditorium, and a sculpture garden. The MCA building was Kliehues' first American structure.
Collection
Today, the museum's collection consists of 2,345 objects, as well as about 2,500 artist's books. The collection includes work by artists from
Lee Bontecou to
Robert Smithson.
Other notable works in the museum's collection include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago'.
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