Mary Corse's Light Retrospective at LACMA Critiqued for Installation Challenges

Mary Corse's retrospective 'A Survey in Light' at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from July 28 to November 11, 2019, faced criticism for its exhibition environment. The show traveled from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, featuring 25 works spanning over five decades. Corse's paintings use reflective glass microspheres, glitter, and fluorescent tubes to manipulate light, creating optical effects that change with viewer movement. Installation issues in LACMA's Renzo Piano-designed Broad Contemporary Art Museum galleries included distracting air vents, security cameras, floor marks, and audible film playback. The exhibition was curated by Carol Eliel at LACMA, following Kim Conaty's work at the Whitney. Notable works included Untitled (First White Light Series) from 1968 and large-scale pieces from 2003 exceeding six meters in width. A long-term installation of Corse's work at Dia Beacon was noted as a contrasting, more suitable presentation. The review, published online exclusively on October 4, 2019, suggested the museum's planned expansion by Peter Zumthor, scheduled for 2023, might offer better future exhibition conditions.