Reflections: Louise Nevelson, 1967

A display of previously un-exhibited archival materials—including installation photographs, correspondence, and artist-drawn floor plans—Reflections looks back at sculptor Louise Nevelson’s first museum retrospective, which opened at the Rose Art Museum in 1967. Organized in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Rose exhibition was unique for the degree to which Nevelson herself curated and staged its presentation: under her direction, both floors of the original Rose building were transformed to create an encompassing, theatrical environment in which to view her work. In honor of the 50th anniversary of this exhibition, this presentation offers the historical documents through which we can glimpse the artist’s hand or imagine her installation process but also utilizes virtual reality technology to allow today’s visitors to walk back in time, recreating the spatial experience of visiting this earlier show. Using the Oculus Rift headset in the gallery, viewers can access a computer-generated model of Nevelson’s 1967 exhibition, created by students at Brandeis University’s MakerLab. Offering multiple windows into this groundbreaking show at the Rose, the 2017 exhibition considers its legacy and imagines how this historic moment can be understood in our present day.