All About The New Parrish Art Museum

Anyone with even an inkling of interest in art has heard much about the famed East End light. And now, with the opening of the new Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, art lovers will be able to experience the rare opportunity of enjoying the light while viewing some of their favorite pieces.

From the very beginning of the planning stages for this new museum, Parrish Director Terrie Sultan has said that embracing the light was the ultimate goal in creating the 34,400-square-foot state-of-the-art building, designed by the architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. And now that the structure is complete and open to all, it’s easy to see that goal realized when viewing the 12,200 square feet of exhibition space, which is broken into 7,600 square feet of collection galleries and 4,600 square feet of exhibition galleries.

Calling the completion of the structure a major accomplishment during a press preview on Friday, November 9, Ms. Sultan said that the new Parrish Art Museum had met its “audacious and aspirational goal” of providing art aficionados the opportunity to view the museum’s collection in “the same light as the artists when they created” the work.

“It’s the quality of light. The relationship of art to nature,” she said, in explaining what makes the Parrish such a unique and special place in which to view art. She added that when in the museum, guests will always know exactly where they are in the world due to the design of the building, the letting in of the light and the views afforded from the north- and south-facing skylights and windows.

Ms. Sultan’s statements were seconded by Herzog & de Meuron Senior Partner Ascan Mergenthaler, who praised the beauty of the East End and credited Mother Nature, and the workplaces of a few significant East End artists—such as the Springs studio of Jackson Pollock—for the inspiration for his firm’s design.

“The beautiful landscape and this light is a very important form of inspiration to us,” he said. “Because of the landscape, because of the light, because of this special place.”

The much-talked-about light notwithstanding, the reason people go to a museum is to view the artwork. And now, with nearly triple the space of the former Parrish Art Museum in Southampton Village—there

are eight galleries, plus an open observation area and a viewing “spine” running throughout the interior exhibition space—those who expect to view the East End’s largest showing of art—the museum is in possession of more than 2,600 works ranging from the 19th century to the present, a large portion of which is now on view—will not go unsated.

The building—which is a 615-foot-long continuous line, boasts galleries on the north and south sides of the structure, bisected by the spine, or hallway, running down the center.

To the left of the main entrance, or on the north-facing wall, is the “Selected Recent Acquisitions: Building a Collection” 1,000-square-foot space, which contains work never before exhibited by the Parrish. Among the works in that room are Howard Kanovitz’s “Hamptons Drive In.”

Directly across the hall is the inaugural exhibit, “Malcolm Morley: Painting, Paper, Process,” which contains approximately 50 works, most of which contain colorful and striking images of ships and airplanes. In this collection, there are also two can’t-miss dramatic and larger-than-life pieces, “Ring of Fire (ghost)” and “Flight of Icarus,” whose whimsy will surely delight young and old. This exhibit takes up two 500-square-foot galleries, with some of the work spilling out into the spine, which contains a variety of smaller works by a multitude of artists, such as Robert Dash and Chuck Close.

In the middle of the exhibit space is the “Look and Look Again: Contemporary Observation” space, which contains works by some of the most celebrated artists living and working here on the East End. The exhibit includes works by Billy Sullivan, April Gornik, Eric Fischl, Donald Sultan and Joe Zucker.

Beyond the “Look” exhibit, on the north side of the building are three separate, adjoining permanent collection spaces: “American Views: Artists at Home and Abroad,” a landscape exhibit, “William Merritt Chase: A Life in Art;” and “Fairfield Porter: Modern American Master.” The total space of these three galleries is approximately 1,000 square feet.

Across the hall, on the south-facing wall, are the “Collective Conversations” and “Esteban Vicente: Portrait of the Artist” exhibits. The 500-square-foot “Collective Conversations” space, which currently includes just four big, bold works—by Willem de Kooning, Dan Flavin, Jack Youngerman and Keith Sonnier—bridges the worlds of abstract expressionism and minimalism. The 500-square-foot space devoted to the works of Mr. Vicente contains pieces from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Commenting on the exhibit space on Friday, the Parrish’s Chief Curator, Alicia Longwell simply stated the obvious.

“In this building, art looks incredible,” she said, to much applause.

In addition to the galleries, in the public spaces the museum houses a 2,400-square-foot multipurpose room, to be used for film viewing, lectures, live performance and such; a cafe with indoor and outdoor seating; and an outdoor terrace, to be used for receptions, festivals, performances and workshops. The museum also boasts outdoor sculpture space, and outdoor seating from which to view the landscape. The administrative offices, as well as conservation and storage areas, are located on the far eastern end of the structure.

The Parrish Art Museum is located at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. The museum is now open every day but Tuesday. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for seniors and students, children under 18 are admitted for free. There is no admission fee on Wednesday. For more information, visit parrishart.org or call 283-2118.