Dia Opens Three Long-Term Exhibits

Works by Boetti, Riley and Chamberlain on display Magazzino Italian Art specializes in the country's post-World War II output, so it's no surprise that in April, it opened an extended exhibit featuring works by Alighiero Boetti, who is associated with the Arte Povera (Poverty Art) movement. Last month, by coincidence, Dia debuted its own long-term Boetti exhibition that includes three works drawn from its own collection, one of which contains 100 pieces. "We had no idea about their plans until we reached out to borrow an item," says Matilde Guidelli-Guidi, chair of Dia's curatorial department. A decade ago, she and Magazzino director Nicola Lucchi collaborated on a gallery show in New York City and the institutions, which arranged a hasty round of tours in July, plan to coordinate more events. Because Dia's curatorial reach casts a wider net than Magazzino's, its focus on Boetti illustrates his international impact. "Our approach highlights the artist, not the movement," says Guidelli-Guidi. "In light of geopolitical situations today, I started thinking about this two years ago." Arte Povera abhorred pretense, championed the use of everyday items and helped shape the conceptual art movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Boetti's fame grew after the group's loose collective spirit flamed out; he died in 1994 at age 53 of a brain tumor. Two rooms at Dia reflect the artist's playful side with child-friendly embroidered works; a political bent is represented by 16 copper engravings showing the boundaries of countries entrenched in turmoil between 1967 and 1971. This summer, Dia also opened long-term exhibits by Bridget Riley and John Chamberlain. Riley's proto-psychedelic paintings are must-see — and feel. All of the half-dozen works, rendered in black, white and something in between, mess with the senses by seeming to shape-shift and trigger visceral responses. Created in the early 1960s, they pulse like mobiles in motion, even when she uses near-parallel straight lines that somehow convey depth. "Climax" folds in on itself, then expands like an accordion. "Interrupted Circle" presents an optical illusion open to interpretation. One viewer suggested that the hiccup in the top left looked like a rising slice of cake and figured that the circle descended at the bottom like a waterfall; another observer's take conveyed the exact opposite viewpoint. The title "Straight Curve" is a coy play on how the patterns radiate as the eye dances across the canvas. Constructed from half-white, half-black triangles arrayed in various sizes and angles, the shapes sometimes look like squares with shadows. Grids melt into streaks as the work plays with the mind's eye. The Chamberlain show includes 10 large sculptures that weld or bolt together mangled automobile parts. In contrast, nine urethane foam creations from his Stuffed Dog series are placed on knee-high pedestals. One standout, "The Privet," named for a group of Asian shrubs and plants, resembles a narrow see-through hedgerow with serpentine strands resembling twisted reeds or bamboo shoots. About a foot wide, 15 feet tall and more than 50 feet long, the edifice's placement benefits from illumination provided by a massive western-facing window. Beyond the concurrent Boetti exhibits and the relationship between Lucchi and Guidelli-Guidi, the two institutions share another random, whimsical connection. Long before Dia opened its crushed automobile exhibit, an employee at Magazzino with Texas license plates has been driving around with a bumper sticker that reads, "My Other Car is a John Chamberlain." Dia Beacon, at 3 Beekman St. in Beacon, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to Monday. Admission is $25 ($18 seniors, $12 students and visitors with disabilities, $5 children ages 5 to 11, free for members, Beacon and Newburgh residents, military families, veterans, SNAP participants and EBT cardholders). Admission is also free for Hudson Valley residents on the last Sunday of the month.