Wexner Art Center

The Wexner Review

                After wondering for some time now, since I’ve been at OSU, about what was the Wexner Art Center? I finally got to see the inside of the museum. I was a bit curious, so I did a little research on the place. Turns out the place is named after a big name of the Columbus area. Les Wexner, the CEO of Limited Brands (including Victoria Secret and Bath and Body Works), was the big contributor to building this center. Les is an OSU Alumni, but the place is actually named in honor of his father. Les actually bought a Van Gogh painting for the museum, but I did not see it on display while visiting. The first thing I looked was the “The Box” by Dan Halter. I thought it wasn’t enough; it should have had something else to it.
                The exhibition that drew my attention was the Omar Fast’s, “5000 Feet Is the Best”. It was a little weird in the way it was filmed. It seemed to me that the guy that is being interviewed was delusional. He would go into one hotel room and come out, then go into a different room, and so on. He shows us the dividing line of memory and truth and the confusion it plays in our daily lives. I really enjoyed the story behind the movie. I remember the guy behind the blurred view saying, “It seems like a video game to me, at times I have to sit and watch one house for 11 hours at a time and that is a long game that is hard to win”. I think it was something along those lines. Also, I can relate to some of the instances he mentions because I was there a few times myself. In a way it brought back some of the feelings and memories I have. I also watched the CNN reel. The room they set up was really cozy; it felt like I was at home. The pieces of news words he put together were interesting and at the same time confusing to follow at times.

The next exhibit I looked at was the Alina Szapocznikow. It didn’t appeal to me as much. She used different mediums to construct sculptures, which were mostly of people. The thing that stood out to me was that she was a Holocaust survivor. She had a hand sculpture that was dedicated to the Warsaw Ghetto. I guess the other sculptures just didn’t appeal to me as much. At the end I stopped by the gift shop and looked at the books about the exhibits. The Omer Fast book had really interesting photography in it. You could see very emotional expressions on the faces of war. Overall it was a good experience to see these exhibitions and finally see the inside the Wexner Art Center. I will definitely have to visit again.