On August 4, 2016, the Washington Post (
visit link) reported the following:
"Hirshhorn crushes it with a new sculpture
By Sadie Dingfelder August 4
Every December, art collectors flock to Art Basel Miami Beach to bid on the hottest contemporary art around. Hirshhorn chief curator Stephane Aquin beat them all to the punch in 2015, when he bought a piece called “Still Life With Spirit and Xitle” before the international art fair even opened.
The sculpture, by Native American activist and artist Jimmie Durham, turned out to be the star of the show. Seemingly no one could resist snapping photos of his piece, a 9.5-ton boulder crushing a 1992 Dodge Spirit.
“If we had not purchased it, two other major museums were waiting in line behind us to buy it,” Aquin says. (Hirshhorn officials wouldn’t reveal what they paid, but the piece reportedly went for less than $1 million.)
On Saturday, “Still Life With Spirit and Xitle” will take over a spot near the museum’s entrance that was previously occupied by a pointy black sculpture by Alexander Calder. Durham’s piece will be on view indefinitely, as long as the car doesn’t rust too much.
“We at the Hirshhorn are big supporters of Calder, but there are three, if not four, other Calders on the Mall, and we thought it would be interesting to update the entrance of the Hirshhorn with a work that is more recent and just as, if not more, striking,” Aquin says.
Durham created “Still Life With Spirit and Xitle” in 2007 in Mexico, using a boulder that was created by a volcano known as Xitle, which destroyed the ancient city of Cuicuilco in about A.D. 245. The artist painted a mischievous smile on the giant red rock and, using a crane, dropped it onto an unmarked black Dodge Spirit — a vehicle often used by Mexico’s undercover cops.
The piece, Aquin says, suggests a nature spirit taking revenge on modernity. But even if people don’t know the backstory, it’s still fun to see a car that’s been smashed.
“It’s exhilarating. It brings a feeling of reckless joy,” Aquin says. “We think the public is going to love it.”
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW; on view indefinitely starting Sat., free."