Virginia Overton “Winter Garden”

The Whitney Museum of American Art

[Image: Installation view of Virginia Overton: Sculpture Gardens (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 10–September 25, 2016). © Virginia Overton. Photograph by Ron Amstutz]

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Virginia Overton (b. 1971; Nashville) creates exhibitions in response to the natural and man-made environments in which she works, often overlaying these sites with diverse references ranging from the history of modern art to her upbringing in rural Tennessee. Winter Garden expands on her installation on this terrace last summer, which explored the concept of the sculpture garden through a system of prefabricated windmills that pumped air through crisscrossing tubes into metal tanks filled with thriving aquatic plants.

Overton often recycles materials that she has scavenged or repurposes elements from her previous works. To prepare for the winter season, she emptied and overturned the tanks to protect them from ice and debris. These drums now act as dry housings and amplifiers for the sound of air being pumped rhythmically through the tubing across the terrace toward hidden microphones. By activating these materials in a new way, Overton has reimagined the sculpture garden as a sonic environment rather than a botanic one.

Virginia Overton: Winter Garden is organized by Scott Rothkopf, Deputy Director for Programs and Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator, and Laura Phipps, assistant curator.