The David Hockney installation L’Enfant et les sortilèges was closed for three weeks for cleaning and conservation. The work is an immersive visual and aural experience comprised of the artist’s reinterpretation of the sets he created for the Ravel opera and is a favorite spot for many Spalding House visitors.
Cleaning (opera) house: An example of cobwebs that needed to be removed.
Working from top to bottom, staff systematically vacuumed and dusted the ceiling, sculptural elements, walls, and floors. The speaker system was repaired and lights replaced. In addition, art conservators Larry and Rie Pace repaired tears in the black paper signage in the entry to the installation. Cleanings like this are part of a museum’s normal routine for Collections and Operations departments, and are an example of the hard work that goes into maintaining and safeguarding art for the public.
If you haven’t been to the Cades Pavilion to spend time in this wonderland in a while, now is a good time to revisit this work.
Here are more shots of our Collections and Operations staff—along with Larry and Rie Pace—at work:
Archivist Dawn Sueoka, collections manager Celeste Ohta, and registrar Pauline Sugino cleaning the David Hockney installation.
Collections manager Brady Evans, assistant curator of contemporary art Katherine Love and collections manager Celeste Ohta working on the foyer to the installation.
Rie Pace repairing the installation’s title banner.
Registrar Pauline Sugino and collections manager Celeste Ohta dust busting.
I am thrilled that the Hockney Installation has been refurbished, it was in need of cleaning when I visited it July 27, 2017. It is a wonderful installation.