USA TODAY International Edition
Smithsonian to exhibit art from Burning Man
RENO — Some Burning Man art may have started off as kitschy, but it won’t go down in the annals of art history as such.
A selection of Burning Man art —from HYBYCOZO to Maya’s Mind by Carson City artist Mischell Riley — has left Nevada for the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” will be shown from March 30 through Jan. 21, 2019, in two phases.
“It starts out with someone sticking stuff on their car, but now the guidelines are tougher and tougher and so the standards are getting higher and higher,” Riley said.
The exhibition features a curated collection by some of the more reputable artists who have created works at the 70,000-person celebration held every year in Northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Temple designer David Best, Bliss sculptor Marco Cochrane, digital illustrator Android Jones and collage artists Michael Garlington and Natalia Bertotti are a few of artists with selected work.
“There are tons of artists that are not in the exhibit that are every bit as deserving,” said Kim Cooke, director of art and civic engagement at Burning Man. “There’s as long a list of incredible artists that are not in the exhibit as there are artists that are on the list.”
Riley, who works out of the Sparks-based Generator maker space, has become known for her gargantuan busts of brilliant figures of history, such as Leonardo da Vinci and author and poet Maya Angelou. Riley called last year’s piece Maya’s Mind.
“Can you believe that? The very first time that I was planning this piece, I had a vision in my mind that it would end up at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, but I’ll take the Smithsonian,” said Riley.
The piece will be outside the gallery, facing the White House.
“The Burning Man art ethos is grounded in experimentation and big ideas. The playa is a place to try things and fail, and there’s no penalty for failure. It’s important to pay attention to the fact that these pieces are made in community,” Cooke said.