Art Sightings
Bettina Pousttchi's Drive Thru Museum revs up art enthusiasts at Nasher fete
As part of the Dallas Art Fair festivities, the Nasher Sculpture Center welcomed loyal patrons and enthusiasts to the opening of Bettina Pousttchi’s Drive Thru Museum, the next installment in the Nasher’s “Sightings” series.
The artist herself and Nasher director Jeremy Strick welcomed guests — including Christen and Derek Wilson, Laurence Chandler, Lucilo Pena, Anna-Sophia Van Zweden, and Ryan McNamara — to the garden terrace for Wolfgang Puck treats and tunes from DJ Tony Schwa before he sent them off to explore the German artist’s exciting addition to the museum’s hallowed halls.
For her installation at the Nasher — her first exhibition in America — Pousttchi drew on the history of the Nasher Sculpture Center site by transforming one of the upstairs galleries into a closed urban streetscape that recalls the gasoline service stations and parking lots of “Autombile Row” (a.k.a. Ross Avenue) in the mid-20th century. The end result is a “drive-thru” that showcases works from the Nasher collection. Pousttchi’s own sculptures, made from police barricades and other materials, pepper the spaces surrounding the gallery.
“Sightings: Bettina Pousttchi” runs through July 13 at the Nasher Sculpture Center.