The Whitney Museum of American Art

The Whitney Museum of American Art has moved itself from the Upper East Side down to lower Manhattan, just north of Greenwich Village along the Hudson River. The move marks a theoretical shift as well as geographic. The Whitney for a long time was impenetrable in an expressive sense to me, because it's former building was so formidable and spatially objective. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has taken over the new building to display more of their modern art collection and perhaps they'll have better luck in re-utilizing the building. However, the new location of the Whitney, designed by Renzo Piano, is very innovative and fun. The primary feature I liked were the many patios and outdoor staircases that had outstanding views of New York and also led back into the art galleries. I would say that overall the configuration of most of the art and exhibits was nothing landmark or refreshing and that the building was most interesting aesthetic feature. The inaugural exhibits seemed to reiterate what has been done before with exhibition design--perhaps their holding onto their more groundbreaking exhibits for the future?