DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART ACQUIRES 'THE EYE' BY DAVID ALTMEJD

THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THE ACQUISITION OF A MAJOR LARGE-SCALE SCULPTURE, 'THE EYE', BY THE CELEBRATED CANADIAN ARTIST DAVID ALTMEJD. AMONG THE ARTIST'S MOST AMBITIOUS WORKS TO DATE, THE EYE MEASURES APPROXIMATELY 11 BY 18 FEET AND IS AN IMPOSING AND MESMERIZING STRUCTURE OF MIRRORED GLASS AND WOODEN SUPPORT THAT ENGULFS THE VIEWER IN A SPECTACULAR ENVIRONMENT OF FRACTURED LIGHT AND REFLECTION. ACQUIRED BY THE DMA THROUGH THE DMA/AMFAR BENEFIT AUCTION FUND MADE POSSIBLE BY THE TWO FOR AIDS AND ART, THE WORK IS CURRENTLY ON VIEW IN THE DMA'S EXHIBITION 'PERFORMANCE/ART' THROUGH 21.MARCH.2010. CREATED IN 2008, THE EYE DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM THE 2005 JOHN ADAMS OPERA DOCTOR ATOMIC, WHICH RECOUNTS THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE FIRST NUCLEAR BOMB TEST UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF DR J ROBERT OPPENHEIMER IN 1945. THE INSTALLATION'S DAZZLING MIRRORED FACADES GIVE THE PIECE A THEATRICAL QUALITY, AS WELL AS A SENSE OF MOVEMENT, DRAWING POSSIBLE PARALLELS TO AN EXPLOSION THAT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED OR FROZEN IN TIME, OR A SPACESHIP THAT HAS JUST LANDED, OR TO ANY NUMBER OF POSSIBLE REFERENCES DEALING WITH SCIENCE AND SCIENCE FICTION, AS WELL AS THE HISTORY OF SCULPTURE. ALMEJD'S WORK JOINS OTHER LARGE-SCALE SCULPTURES AND INSTALLATIONS IN THE DMA'S CONTEMPORARY ART COLLECTION BY SUCH ARTISTS SUCH AS CHRIS BURDEN, MONA HATMOUN, TATSUO MIYAJIMA, DOUG AITKIN AND OLAFUR ELIASSON, AMONG OTHERS.