The inaugural exhibition at Viana Art is not just an introduction to its new space—it is also a meditation on the formal concept: A space to look, to engage, and to reflect.

Exhibit 01: Space showcases four artists—two post-war stalwarts (Daniel Buren and Donald Judd) and two contemporary visionaries (Wade Guyton and Oscar Tuazon)—who all engage and challenge their distinct surroundings. Buren’s site-specific works cannot and will not be divorced from the context of the space that they occupy. Judd and Tuazon are adamant that their objects, in order to fulfill their respective functions as artworks, need little else but a wall on which to hang or floor upon which to sit. And Guyton’s linen canvases, reflected in the gallery floors and off neighboring artworks, echo throughout the space.

New context draws new parallels. Buren and Judd’s spatial relationships stand in stark contrast to one another within the galleries. Moving through the airy rooms, viewers are struck by Buren’s multitude of iconic stripes populating an entire wall in one space while Judd’s single metal box anchors another. The metallic sheen from both works reflects onto the polished concrete floors, guiding visitors from one gallery to the next.

Upon entering the largest room, viewers find themselves in a visual standoff as Guyton’s and Tuazon’s works play off one another. The disjointed black forms in Guyton’s tableaus seem to repeat three-dimensionally in Tuazon’s cracked totemic sculpture in the adjacent gallery. What appears to crumble stands strong as natural light spills through the casement windows.

Exhibit 01: Space provides a novel perspective. Architectural elements, verticality, and form all echo between work and space. Buren’s brass stripes, Tuazon’s broken mirrors and glass, Judd’s cold aluminum, and Guyton’s inky voids both reflect and deflect their surroundings, from the gallery walls to the viewers within.