YI Leaders meet Andrea Geyer
May 6, 2015

On May 6, YI teens met with artist Andrea Geyer and viewed her installation, It’s Time, She Said (2015) in the Hearst Artspace. The installation explored the role women have played in the founding of the Whitney Museum and their connection to other women, patrons, artists, and activists. Entering the Artspace, we saw a slide show projecting images of Museum founder and sculptor, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the Museum’s first director Juliana Force, and other key women in the Whitney’s history. Mirrors were installed floor to ceiling along one wall. In the center of the room, there were three double-sided chalkboards with drawings of women’s silhouettes and text written backwards. The text could be read in the mirror reflection.

After experiencing the work, we talked to Andrea Geyer about her ideas and inspiration. Geyer described putting the work together as similar to creating a sculpture and chiseling it from the inside out. Words, she said, were the material for this piece. First Geyer researched Mrs. Whitney’s correspondence and even found a replica of a cast of Mrs. Whitney’s hand at her deathbed. Next Geyer chose specific things she felt were important and could be used for the installation.

According to Geyer, a viewer cannot engage with artwork without in some way acknowledging both his or her own image and that of other viewers. It’s Time, She Said pays homage to the Whitney’s roots and reinforces Geyer’s idea that experiencing art in a museum is a collective experience.

By Lisa, YI Leader