World-class Hauser Wirth Gallery on Menorca: a virtual first look

The location is truly royal: a new, exclusive gallery from Swiss gallery owners Iwan and Manuela Wirth is currently being built on the small island of Illa del Rei off the Menorcan capital of Maó. The pair came third in the "Power 100" art ranking in 2019 and have been among the most influential personalities on the global art scene for years.

"Hauser & Wirth Menorca" is not just intended as a commercial gallery. Rather, the vision is to create an art centre on an area of 1,500 square metres, with eight exhibition areas, gardens with native plants, an educational programme, a shop and a restaurant. Both international visitors and the local population should benefit from the centre. The physical opening should have taken place this year, but has now been delayed until 2021.

A first tour of the rooms with VR

In future, the works of art will be on display in changing exhibitions from April to October, supplemented by loans from museums to make it easier to contextualise them. But you can already get an impression of the new gallery: On 30 April, Hauser & Wirth opened the virtual reality exhibition "Beside itself". It brings together text-based works by some of the gallery's most important artists: Louise Bourgeois, Mark Bradford, Charles Gaines, Ellen Gallagher, Jenny Holzer, Roni Horn, Luchita Hurtado, Mike Kelley, Glenn Ligon, Damon McCarthy, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Lorna Simpson and Lawrence Weiner - a work by the latter is the title piece.

On the website two of the planned eight galleries can now be explored digitally and interactively. Iwan Wirth explains that the original aims of this visualisation were different: The technology primarily serves to make the spaces clearer for the artists and facilitates exhibition planning because it avoids unnecessary travelling, costs and CO2 emissions. "Many of the best innovations are driven by necessity," says Wirth. The coronavirus crisis has accelerated the launch of the project and given it an additional direction. Because now visitors can also benefit from VR exhibitions.

Win-win with a drop of bitterness

The technology used undoubtedly enables an impressive 3D experience: architectural details of the rooms, light and shadow conditions as well as the realistic reproduction of the artworks themselves bring out everything that is currently possible with VR. When you click and drag to turn and stroll through the virtual rooms, you have the art all to yourself, with no other visitors getting in the way or talking shop with your companion.

Collectors can get an impression of the works and possibly make a purchase decision without having to be there next year. Art lovers who are looking forward to visiting the new centre can shorten their waiting time in this way. And those who are unable to travel to Menorca due to physical or financial restrictions after coronavirus will at least have virtual access to the exhibition.

A win-win situation for the gallery and the public, you might think. That it has a downside becomes clear at the latest when you try to recognise the details of Ellen Gallagher's work "DeLuxe" - an assemblage of 60 prints using the most extravagant techniques, such as engraving with tattoo machines.

The heart is still missing

And just as the heart is missing in the picture, it is also missing in a VR exhibition: it does not allow you to get closer, to visually investigate and offers an art experience that lacks a direct encounter with the original. In the case of "Hauser & Wirth Menorca", there is also the fact that it is an exceptional location, which is an important element of the overall experience. All the more reason to visit the art centre in the future so that the virtual reality can be followed by the real thing.

Source: mallorcazeitung