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Dia Beacon
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54 reviews for Dia Beacon
Review Highlights
"...our review of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage..."
(in 9 reviews)
"My favorite sculptures were by Richard Serra."
(in 12 reviews)
"The Louise Bourgeois in the attic is a must see."
(in 6 reviews)
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54 reviews in English
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Review from Anna V.
1/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
I fell in love with this place!
It wasn't even the artists, or the art pieces. It was the vast amounts of space, light and air. The light wood panel floors. I'm not sure why I even noticed the floor, but it made me feel all warm and fuzzy.
I couldn't help but picture, in my wildest dreams, living in such an open HUGE space. Somehow, it made me think of grand ballrooms, only with a modern brick wall finish. I was inspired, awed and mused just by being present. I guess I was lucky I had a chance to visit during a weekday, when the crowds are not overwhelming. -
Review from chris b.
East Village, NY
10/23/2011
what a joke.
I took my Mom and her friend visiting from California here to show her a cool, artsy, upstate town and museum. She peeked her head inside the museum and decided that $10 was too much to spend. I scoffed at her ignorance then paid my ten and went in. Let me just say, my Mom was right. I want my $10 and 20 minutes back. A pile of glass is considered "art"? A canvas painted solid white? A mountain of cement?
Also, they wouldn't allow my Mom's friend to bring a 6" purse backpack into the museum. Now granted, a purse backpack is not the height of sophistication, but come on, you afraid a 60 year old lady is going to cram a handful of cement "art" in her backpack?
DIA needs some perspective. -
Review from Rudik U.
Poughkeepsie, NY
2/1/2012
This place is a joke! The art you see here you could see at your local dump for free. The paintings they have must be the paintings most art galleries decide to over look, because they seem not to wow people over. The art they do have on their walls look like something you of seen in a low end mall food court very bland shapes and designs. This is the kind of art an inbred hick could do in his spare time when he isn't working at the local low end discount store making $7.50 an hour pushing carts. This is the kind of art my old high school teacher would call garbage. I guess this kind of art is made by and for Hispters and high end coffee shop snobs.
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Review from Adam R.
7/25/2011
Dia Beacon is a great day trip from NYC. Probably from other places too. From talking to a couple locals, it has begun to revitalize the town, that was previously not doing that well.
I also find it amusing that people are giving a museum that has a lot of modern and abstract art low marks, and then admitting that they don't like/know much about modern and abstract art. It's a little silly...
The scale of the museum is large. The grounds are nice. The museum staff are helpful and approachable. I would recommend Dia to people. -
Review from Lydia L.
Updated - 5/25/2011
Bless dear fellow yelper Dana F's indulgence of my observations at Dia:Beacon last week. My commentary was peppered with a disproportionate amount of "RIDICULOUS" and a few interjections of "REDONKULOUS!" She smiled and was sweet throughout.
I love Dia's space and since my last visit the grounds have gotten more lovely but puh-leaze, I have degrees in art history and I must confess my admiration of art is more grounded in the classics than a white canvas hung on a white wall or graphite scribblings. Give me a Petrus Christus any day not a room full of Sol LeWitts. What I would have given to go on there and freak them out with a giant pink eraser in my hand! LOLOLOL!
I also don't understand their policy about no photography. Hardly any of the works would be compromised by a photo even a zillion ton Serra sculpture. Whatev. I prefer Storm King where one can have one's way with their amazing outdoor sculptures and take as many pictures as one wants to. All in all though always a fun time with Dana. :)))
http://www.youtube.com...Listed in: Beacon. Bea-con. Because.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/27/2009
DIA Beacon is a great destination for a day trip to Beacon. It is huge, user friendly and full of… Read more »
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Review from Tim W.
8/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
While I am giving this art instillation and gallery 5 stars for the quality of the location, the remarkable space, and the beautiful setting, i give 0 stars to the totally unhelpful guy who was sitting at the entrance.
Granted we arrived in the last 40 minutes of the gallery being open, but we just wanted to buzz through REALLY quick just to get an idea of what was inside and plan a later time to come and spend a greater potion of our day there. He was so unhelpful saying i cant let you in but MAYBE you can buy a ticket from the gift shop...i cant say...i'm not sure...sometimes the giftshop lets people in late...then i heard him telling another couple the same thing...come on man...its not like you are a bouncer at some posh club...(not that i'd be knocking the door down to get into some posh club) but the pretentiousness with which this guy was guarding the art gallery door was excessive and just downright rude...granted he was doing his job but good grief...BAD PR
That aside, the gift shopkeep was QUITE friendly and encouraged us to take our time and every last minute the gallery was open to see what they had on display....so it was in SHARP contrast to what the "dude" in front was carrying on about...
Anyhoo, i'll be back because they had a TON of minimalist art that i was not familiar with and they have an amazing space with which to show it in! IT is an old factory that just keeps going and going and has an entire downstairs as well! I only got to look through a small portion and briefly at some of the work, and being that it is just a metro-north ride from NYC i'll crtainly be back to make a day of it...hopefully the guy is not at the front again acting like a doberman -
Review from Caesar R.
Brooklyn, NY
6/3/2011
For the proximity to the city, and the beautiful driver through the Hudson valley, Dia:Beacon is an excellent choice for a day trip. The building is cool as it was a Nabisco Label printing factory and a massive space to boot.
The Sol Lewitt exhibit that is on display was really cool as this was not there the first time I visited years ago. The Franz Erhard Walther: Work in Action was a fun exhibit as well especially since you got to play with the artist's work. Granted this was a piece of canvas material from the sixties and you had to follow instructions, but totally fun none the less.
The space at times feels hard to fill and some of the pieces of art leave you with the "I don't get it" factor, but for the most part, it is done pretty well. And the no photography inside the galleries sucks. -
Review from Matthew P.
Brooklyn, NY
4/25/2011
For the first 15 minutes walking through Dia, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman's line in Full Metal Jacket kept repeating in my head: "You're so ugly, you could be a modern art masterpiece!"
But then things rapidly got better.
Not all the exhibits at Dia work, and more than once I got that familiar feeling that I'm being hoodwinked by modern art, but enough of the installations are affecting and memorable that it's worth the trip.
A nice weekend getaway would be to drive to Beacon, up the breathtaking 9D road alongside Storm King Mountain, Hudson Highlands, and then spend the afternoon at Dia. They have a nice (but pricey) cafe for lunch.
Dinner at the Tavern at Highlands Country Club (which is open to the public). Stay at a local B&B such as Chrystie House in Beacon (highly recommended). That's a beautiful and memorable Hudson Valley weekend! -
Review from Miri B.
Manhattan, NY
12/18/2011
I don't know much about modern art, however I'm not sure a length of string attached to the ceiling which you are under NO circumstances allowed to walk through the empty space between, qualifies as a work of art. The pieces are obviously meant to provoke whatever thoughts come into your mind. Personally I think it was better as a biscuit factory. The people are kind of surly and the most interesting thing I found was the sandwiches in the cafe which even then were rather mediocre. If you enjoy nothingness then this is HEAVEN on earth for you. I found it rather uninteresting and though we set aside a whole day we found ourselves leaving substantially earlier than intended. The one thing we thought that it was brilliant for was photography especially the second exhibition of drawings on the white walls, however we were rather snootily told that photography was under no circumstances allowed, I guess its allowed in other art museums like MoMa and the Met because there is no fear of people copying, however if the limit of your imagination is a white wall with some fluorescent lightbulbs on it then I guess its rather easy to copy. Although god knows who would want to. a load of trash to be honest and even though its only $10 I wouldn't visit even if they paid ME to look. Another thing that puzzles me is the opportunity for membership WHO WOULD WANT TO BE A MEMBER!!??! Completely baffled.
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Review from Akira O.
7/27/2010
Unfortunately I did not appreciate their collection. It very much felt like a school art project and the museum struggles to fill the expansive space.
This place has many rules. When I was taking a photo of my friends at the cafe, where there's no art work, a lady hurried up to us and almost yelled that photograph is not allowed anywhere inside a building including at the cafe. Bizarre. In the museum there are signs everywhere telling you what you cannot do. There was one guard who came up to us as soon as we entered a room not to get too close to an installation on the floor. Shouldn't an art museum be a place to foster creativity? Instead, here you feel suffocated and unpleasant. -
Review from Sabeen A.
Updated - 5/26/2010
A snooty art critic I am not. In fact, if there is a painting with a bunch of colors seemingly splashed graffiti style a la paint can, I am more than just a little miffed that my third grade art project doth not a modern art piece make.
But I still like the Dia.
The location itself is beautiful - right on the Hudson River and oh-so-conveniently next to the MetroNorth Station. The museum/gallery's size and setup is conducive to a lazy rainy art-gazing day, or an escape-from-the-summer-sun sort of afternoon as well. The museum peeps are friendly folk and the food prices are fair as well.
I'm still holding out hope that the Dia will take my 'Stick figures on a Sunny Day' painting... but til then, I'll still peruse and scoff at their silly modern art collection.... Andy Warhol indeed!Listed in: It's not Upstate if Metronorth…, Enter-the-Tainment., An evenin' in Beacon
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/28/2009
When did Beacon, New York become so hip?
Probably soon after the Dia came to town. This massive… Read more »
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Review from Sonia E.
New York, NY
8/7/2011
The Fred Sandbank installations are astounding.
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Review from Mike M.
3/31/2010
To paraphrase the great Jake and Elwood...."there's a lot of space in this museum".
Depending on what day it is, I have different opinions on the kind of art on display at DIA Beacon. Some days, I can truly appreciate it, especially the larger pieces. It's interesting to see such mammoth creations that are truly awe-inspiring, as well as the audacity someone has to present something so simple and call it "art", which makes others say "why didn't I think of that?" Other days, I'm thinking, "WTF???" and just roll my eyes at the blank canvases, or the pile of dirt of the floor. Both reactions, at least, help spur some creative energy and get me to want to work on my own stuff.
If you're like-minded, then DIA should be checked out. Although the space itself is pretty vast, there's not alot of individual pieces and artists represented. After a while, you seem to be looking at the same thing.
DIA is a good way to kill a few hours if you're in the area, but it's not earth-shakingly great, either. Maybe a little more variety in the exhibits would be nice....I just became a little bored, too quickly. Try to come on a nice, sunny day, so you can relax on the grounds outside after viewing the art inside.Listed in: Museums
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Review from Tam N.
New York, NY
12/7/2007 5 photos
The Dia: Beacon, in the Hudson River Valley just an hour and a half north of Manhattan, is -the- premier hangout for when summer turns to autumn and foliage starts to fall. As a repurposed Nabisco factory, the Dia has exposed brick and spectacular fenestration: skylights that run the length of the building as well as ceiling-height windows. Some of the glass is frosted, some of it is clear, all giving you a glimpse of the shimmery fireworks from the forest just beyond. The effect is at once meditative and sigh-inducing.
Architectural Space: 5. One of the finest examples of rehabilitation of an industrial building. Rambling, accommodating.
Interior Exhibits: 5. The Dia's walls and streaming light sources make it a great space for showing large, serial pieces of contemporary art.
Permanent Collection: 4. Highlights include three Richard Serra Torqued Ellipses and the Bruce Nauman video installation. (http://www.diacenter.o...)
Visiting Exhibits: 3. Turnover of these exhibits is infrequent at best. Highlight was Sol LeWitt's enormous pencil-drawn vectors.
(http://www.diaart.org/...)
Gift Shop/Cafe: 4 for a great collection of relatively obscure design books. Cafe made a $2 Americano that exceeded my expectations.
Staff: 3, not especially helpful or enthused.
Ambience: 5, low-key and uncrowded. Patrons moved through the gallery in a respectful hush.
Pros: Affordable $10 admission fee.
Cons: No interior photography permitted. -
Review from Heath R.
Los Angeles, CA
9/3/2008
About an hour and a half from New York. You can take the train there -- there's a free shuttle bus, too. We drove. But for $10, you can't ask for a better modern art museum, much less one in an old Nabisco box printing plant. Beacon's redevelopment hasn't followed as strongly as folks might have hoped, but the museum is worth the trek.
They've got large-scale Richard Serra sculptures, an entire room ringed with Warhols, Becher industrial architecture photographs... and it costs $10. $10! Amazing. Spend a couple of hours walking around soaking up the awesomeness. Then visit the bookstore and drop some dime on the museum's book. It features artwork exhibited in the museum, as well as photos of the works exhibited in the space, so it's as much as an art book as it is a souvenir of the museum.
Rivals Mass Moca in western Massachusetts, as far as I'm concerned. Good job, curators. -
Review from Thomas W.
4/30/2009
I am amazed to see pictures of DIA: on yelp. My attempt to take a picture of the museum entry pins in the ticket hall was met by a jumped up muppet delighted to lecture me on the "no picture, PERIOD" policy. This set the tone for the staff at DIA:; uniformly rude, ignorant and misplaced in a building of startling light and beauty. It is a real shame they behave in such a way as it is the one flaw in the experience.
The building itself meshes perfectly with the art. Each fit in the other's moment and space.
The collection is excellent and the space the gallery has affords you new ways of seeing pieces which you might have seen previously but in inferior settings. For instance the Warhol shadow screen prints run in a long line around a vast expanse and provide an epic film reel-esque experience.
A wonderful place and without doubt my favourite in the city, and this is a city which has a few other wonderful galleries. -
Review from Phil P.
Pelham, NY
6/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
I can't believe it took me so long to visit this museum. I so enjoyed it. It's in a huge old hat factory with lots of natural light. The thing that makes it unique is the many large exhibition rooms that have multiple works by a single artist. The works are usually part of a series so you are surrounded by art from a single artist.
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Review from Stuart S.
Durham, NC
8/7/2010
I won't say I understand everything that is going on at Dia:Beacon but that is one reason I think this museum is great. It can challenge your ideas of art.
A large part of the appeal of the Dia:Beacon is the building itself. A former cracker box printing factory, there's a huge amount of space and the only light comes in through the many windows. It's beautiful, as is its setting right near the Hudson. A very varied collection, with works by well-known artists like Andy Warhol, Richard Serra and Louise Bourgeois, as well as many other, less familiar, artists.
Well worth a trip. Their moratorium on photography is a little upsetting, however. -
Review from Brenda S.
5/6/2009
While at Storm King we were told about DIA and decided to check it out on our way back to CT. It is a really cool place...with caveats. The art and sculpture is more mod/contemporary than what you would experience at Storm King and some of it is quiet challenging (like blank canvasses painted white--several). This museum is more for teens and mature folk (ugh did I really just type that??) and I don't think children would be interested for very long.
The staff were as warm and friendly as concrete and did their best to ignore you. Despite their lack of spirit, we did have a good time discussing the various art work. My favorite sculptures were by Richard Serra. Monstrous sized steel ellipses that filled a room and invited you to walk inside of them. An unexpected experience and worth the admission. Lots of Sol LeWitt that my daughter really enjoyed.
My teen loved this museum, but I for the most part was not inspired by it. It is located in a really cute town with a great main street. Make sure you do lunch in the town and browse their shops. Go to DIA with an open mind, it really is a good experience and in a beautiful area. -
Review from Frank W.
New York, NY
12/20/2008
I had no idea the Dia actually existed until about a week ago when a co-worker casually suggested I make a visit on my birthday weekend. This was the best present I could possibly have gotten.
The train ride up on the Hudson River Line got me just in the right mood for the museum I was about to enjoy. The Hudson River Valley has inspired so many artists, so how wonderful that a great museum is set so beautifully alongside it especially since it emphasizes works of art that seem evocative of what the Hudson River School's work was about. These are works that hit you in the gut with a sense of awe.
Visiting the Dia and its setting really brought home for me what I've come to believe in recent years which is that much of the best contemporary art is either monumental, mind bending, or both; the Dia has a lot of works that are just like that. They are beautifully displayed in a repurposed large industrial space with gorgeous windows that flood its space with light on a sunny day. Actually, You may find you admire the building just as much as the setting and the art.
Works by Michael Heizer, Robert Smithson, and John Chamberlain were highlights for me, as was the thrill of stepping inside one of Richard Serra's big, twisting rusty things:-)
After about three hours enjoying beautiful art, I treated myself to a light lunch at their cafe which featured some tasty bacon corn chowder, excellent coffee and a very nice chocolate walnut tart.
If you time it right you can check out some of the galleries and shops in downtown Beacon (also within walking distance of the train station), and hop on the train just in time for sunset on the Hudson.
I absolutely loved the Dia and feel so grateful for being sent in its direction knowing nothing, so I only hope my review informs you without spoiling it for you.
Just try and go without preconceptions and enjoy yourself -
Review from Joetta G.
Manhattan, NY
10/18/2010
I'm not usually a person who really "gets" this kind of art. I'm too focused on what the artist intended, or whether it was technically hard, etc...
But the space at Dia: Beacon is so vast, and open, and lit by the constantly changing natural light, that I found myself starting to appreciate many of the artists' works. And the factory itself is amazing.
I won't go into each piece of art, and what I liked or didn't like, as I'm sure that's quite individual. But there was enough in this enormous space for me to have many moments of true enjoyment.
One complaint I do have is that for the large sculpture called "North, South, East, West" would have been great to see into...but the glass barriers prevent a short person like me from enjoying the art. I understand creating a barrier, but it seems the distance from the work was estimated for a 6' tall person!
(Also, the day trip was great, with a bike ride on nearby trails and beer and BBQ at the Piggy Bank in town.) -
Review from rachel h.
2/16/2010
Just went to the Dia: with some friends this weekend.
Tip #1: Get the package deal with Metro North. $29.50 for a round trip ticket and admission to the museum. (you end up saving about $6, even more if you're a student)
Tip #2: Do a wee bit of research about the artists. I recently went to the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, TX which is like half the same artists, so I was really familiar with the works. It makes everything so much better! The works by Flavin and Judd aren't their best, but its really cool to see them in relation to their other pieces.
Tip #3: Get there early enough that you have some time to walk around the town. Beacon is pretty cool. They have some decent dining and shopping. I had a fantastic sandwich at Max's on Main St. And the area by the river is beautiful, of course. There's a little park by the train station that's worth exploring.
So, overall if you're a fan of modern art, you should go here. The Warhol room was actually enough to make it worth it for me. It's no MOMA, but it's a great day trip out of the city.Listed in: Hot Time - Summer in the City
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Review from Laura Z.
Poughkeepsie, NY
4/6/2007
Need one reason to visit Dia:Beacon? Louise Bourgeois' Spider. If you've marveled over her gigantic eight-legged creation outside of the National Gallery in Ottawa, you'll love the smaller, more emotionally complex sculpture on view in the attic gallery. Also on display were a number of her smaller pieces - although I totally had to restrain myself from touching anything! Her glazes and materials just beg for the tactile experience.
Many of the other exhibits were more miss than hit in my book (the Warhol is ho-hum, and yes, there are piles of broken glass and sand and string hung at sharp angles), but the building is stunning and the objects that are hits result in home runs. The grounds look inviting so visiting in spring or summer would be ideal. -
Review from Mark L.
New York, NY
6/25/2010 1 Check-in Here
Contemporary art fans rejoice! For a short hour and a half train ride on Metro North from Manhattan to Beacon, you can find one of the best contemporary art museums around situated right on the Hudson River. Dia Beacon provides 240,000 sq. ft. of gallery space in a former box-printing factory that floods the galleries with natural daylight. In all honesty, I found the space itself more captivating than some of the artwork, but you can decide for yourself. Not surprisingly, the large space allows for large works of art on display that would never be possible in smaller galleries in the city. Works by Warhol, Bourgeois, Serra, and LeWitt were some of my favorites, but exhibitions are continually changing (hence the contemporary emphasis), so you are likely to find someone or something worth visiting on occasion.
Unfortunately, Dia Beacon does not offer any shuttle service from the Beacon train station to the museum, but it is a short walk with well marked signs. Like any good museum, they have a cafe and a bookstore with an impressive offering of books about art, architecture, design, etc. Even if contemporary art is not your thing (I'm not crazy about it myself), I would recommend Dia Beacon to anyone looking for a scenic day trip with a little culture in the mix. -
Review from Ashish M.
New York, NY
8/30/2010
OK museum in a beautiful setting. The space is awesome, but the museum needs some good paintings on loan from MOMA or METs which are humongous and can donate their overflow peices.
The coffee bar is horrible. The outside garden space is awesome. -
Review from Erica R.
San Francisco, CA
11/10/2008
If you're a fan of Richard Serra (the artist who builds massive steel curved sculptures you can walk through) and Louise Bourgeois (think Feminine Mystique meets sculptural form), you're in for a treat. Even if you just like contemporary art, this is a must-do day trip. This is the L A R G E S T square footage site of contemporary art in the country, at 300,000 sq. ft., and with 34,000 sq. ft. of skylights. It contains works of artists from the 1960s - present.
The train ride along the Hudson River Valley is gorgeous and a nice escape from the city. (I'm from California and value landscapes.) Food at the museum is fresh and delicious. The well-stocked book store can keep you occupied for at least another hour if you're into art books.
MEMORABLE ARTISTS: *Michael Heizer's MASSIVE negative space sculptures (negative cylinders, pyramids, and rectangle spaces dug out of the concrete). They're almost like futuristic, refined craters. *John Chamberlain's piece "The Privet" - a garden hedge composed of neon bulk autmobile metal that he has spray painted, twisted, and sculpted, is also very cool. His work is sold at the Pace Wildenstein gallery of NY (one of the best). There are also some notable Andy Warhol works.
Being in such a large space gives you a lot of room for reflection and enables you to focus on each artist individually. At city-sized museums, pieces are lined up one right after the other. Here, you spend more time walking through, navigating work done by a specific artist. You also get a more private viewing. -
Review from Jonathan M.
Rhinecliff, NY
1/23/2009
BIG,BIG,BIG
The best thing about Dia:Beacon was the entire room devoted to Andy Warhol.
The worst thing is ironically its greatest asset its size. 300,000 square feet is a lot space to fill. It took me and my parents three hours and fifteen minutes to saunter our way through the exhibits, And the art seems overwhelmed by the enormous space
The cafe and bookshop were nice and a helpful diversion from the gallery just on the other side of the blast door
The cafe was expensive (almost $30 for 3 people) and the wait long for the day we visited it was crowded because of a chilly morning rain. But the my fears were assuaged by the food. the cup of coffee i had was very good as well. -
Review from Arwen O.
San Francisco, CA
5/8/2005
There's no place like it. Housed in an old Nabisco label-making factory, lit almost exclusively by natural light, the art here actually gets enough space to breathe. Even if you don't like minimalist and/or conceptual art, this makes a pretty good case for it (my dad became a convert). There are fabulous pieces by Judd, Flavin, Serra, Heizer, Palermo and de Maria, among others. The standouts are a room of Serra's huge rusted steel torqued ellipses, Fred Sandback's delicate string sculptures, the long line of fluorescent Flavins dueling with the sunlight, and Chamberlain's twisted abstract car sculptures in the setting sun. (The Bechers' photographs look bad in a dark interior room, and the Beuys sculptures are too cramped.) If you can, make an appointment in advance for a close look at the huge geometric Heizers sunk 20 ft into the concrete floor.
Most of the museum houses the Dia's permanent collection, but the basement and the attic are devoted to changing exhibitions. There's a decent (if pricey) cafe, an excellent bookshop, and nice gardens designed by Robert Irwin. The train ride up, along the Hudson, is beautiful, but if you drive, check out downtown Beacon. It's a sweet town with some amazing old industrial ruins. -
Review from Rebecca L.
Brooklyn, NY
1/27/2009
Oh hell yes.
Before I begin, let me state that this place is huge. And there is space. Space for the work. No sandwiching of pieces. This is a miraculous feat in the art world. Bravo on that part.
Continuing:
Beuys: check
On Kawara: check
Sandback: check
...shall I continue?
The Heizers get me every damn time.
WHY CAN'T I SEE IN THE LAST 3 SHAPES.
WHY.
?.
damn you Heizer.
God I love this place.
If I could I would hide inside and read every book in the bookstore while sleeping within the Serras.
I could continue but I guess you can maybe grasp how much of a wet dream this place is. It is.Listed in: Favorite Favorites
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Review from Theresa X.
New York, NY
11/11/2007
I'm really happy I finally got to check the DIA: Beacon out today, it's definitely worth a day trip if you're into contemporary art.
My favorite exhibitions:
Richard Serra - Torqued Ellipse's (gigantic plates of towering steel, bent and curved, leaning in and out - these were very cool, you were even able to walk inside some of these structures, felt like you were in a labyrinth)
Michael Heizer - North, South, East, West (two rectangles for North, a cone for South, an inverted cone for East, and a wedge for West - giant cut out holes in the floor in these shapes)
Robert Smithson - Map of Broken Glass (tons of shattered glass which is supposed to form a map of a legendary lost continent - hard to picture but I still thought it was cool)
Gerhard Richter - 6 Gray Mirrors (6 large reflecting monochrome gray enameled panels of glass tilted at various angles)
Bruce Nauman - Hanged Man (a neon stick figure with a clown face to imitate the children's game hangman. The figure's body illuminates line-by-line like the game but finishes with a limp male appendage. After this, his legs jump up in the air and his head tilts to the side to signify him hanging, and the clown becomes aroused once again - OUCH)
Sol LeWitt - Drawing Series (amazing use of lines and geometric shapes, the details on his work is sick!)
Have I convinced you to go yet? Other pluses are that the museum is literally right next to the train station overlooking the Hudson River, no need for a cab.
I recommend packing a little lunch and sitting outside on Beacon point which is a part of the museum and enjoy the scenery or grab a bite in the museum cafe. The cafe prices did seem a little high but no different than the prices at the Moma cafe. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for students but I believe Metro North offers a "One-Day Getaway" discounted rail and admissions package ffrom $27 leaving from Grand Central Terminal or Harlem-125th Street.
http://www.mta.nyc.ny.... -
Review from Timothy W.
Scotchtown, NY
4/1/2009
The DIA in Beacon has led an art rennisance in this little town on the Hudson. I live 20 miles away and I didn't even know it existed. I went here last week on a field trip with my Modern Art class. The Dia only has contemporary art but our Prof thought it would be worth while since it's in our backyard.
The have some Warhol and quite a few of Dan Flavin's works (which are some of my favorites). They also have a great Sol LeWitt Drawing Series which will be ending in Sept. of 2009.
The second floor is dedicated to the collection of sculptures by Louise Bourgeois.
The Dia Beacon is definitely worth a visit. You can walk from the metro north train so it would even make a good day trip if you are coming from the city. Check the hours on the website, the building is naturally lit so they have limited hours in the winter. -
Review from Lindley E.
Chicago, IL
12/8/2006
An old nabisco box factory along the Hudson river is the setting for a great collection of late 20th century art works, many conceptual. Louise Bourgeois collection that sometimes rotates into the attic space is both gothic and charming. The sixties, seventies, and eighties have been frozen in time here, and it is awe-inducing and confounding.
What makes this a great setting for students of contemporary art is the volume of works represented by each artist. This isn't a small gallery, but an airy, light space, filled with multiple examples of an artist's work, often from a single period. Love it or hate it, it is a great collection.
The Serras really are magnificent. I never knew oxidation had so many colors. -
Review from Mike W.
Woodstock, NY
4/23/2008
I had sex with a wall at Dia.
Sorta. But five stars! Whoo...
On a more serious, but equally artistic note, I came here almost five years ago (the first year it opened) for my senior AP art class and had an excellent time. As you might already know, the museum is housed in an old Nabisco box factory. Due to this, the rooms in the museum range from absolutely enormous to quite small. Being that this is an old factory, the place doesn't really have a set traffic flow, you just wander around and absorb all of the pieces. This place turned me on to the likes of Richard Serra, On Kawara and Sol Lewitt. Unfortunately, and for no good reason, I have not been back since. -
Review from Erika C.
New York, NY
11/1/2008
Dia's greatest strength is also its downfall.
The first thing that hits you is the space--what an amazing space it is. Expansive, filled with light, and completely open.
The problem with such a magnificent space is that it takes big, grand, stunning art to fill that space. About 20% of the time, the art was up to the challenge, and the result was stunning. 'The other 80% of the time, the space out-shined the art.
I feel for the curator. The space is hard. It's huge and expansive. There aren't many walls. That beautiful light steaming in from every direction isn't so easy to control.
But empathy only goes so far. The museum as a whole feels like a lost giant--in-cohesive, at times stunning, but mostly a bit a let-down.
Dia:Beacon has so much potential. Let's step up the game. -
Review from Sarah C.
New York, NY
12/7/2009 9 photos
Sometimes anarchy is over rated, but in this case, it really is fun to break the rules.
What I love about European galleries and museums, among other things, is that most let you take photos of the art!
DIA Beacon should take a lesson from our neighbors across the pond and loosen the reigns a little bit. At DIA, photos are not allowed, which is why I took so many and posted them for my fellow Yelpers. To tell the truth, I got a bit of a rush sneaking my Leica in and out of my pocket and clicking away while guards stood behind me watching my every move. I am obviously not the only one who finds it strange that they have so many rules here. It's art folks, not the federal reserve!
If you are looking for a place to go to see decent large format modern art, DIA Beacon is fine. They have more space for works of size than most local NYC museums which is why they draw so many patrons. They also have a very good photo collection.
The space itself is really beautiful, but the exhibitions haven't blown me away. If you need a Metro North excursion on the Hudson River Line - by all means, this is a nice place to go for a few hours. Admission is a little steep though, and the guards will throw you in DIA jail if they catch you with your camera!
S~
Completely unrelated:
A little Beacon secret for those who are cheap like me: you can rent cars from Hertz there for $35 - $50 a day and they'll pick you up from the Metro North Station. So... if you need a long term rental - Beacon is a great alternative to paying the city's astronomical rates! -
Review from Jane M.
Honolulu, HI
2/21/2010
YELP! YELP! YELP!
I'm walking through the galleries near the Sandback's and I hear this incessant squawking and I can't help but laugh. As I burst into laughter, the yelping child's mother starts laughing too. The little girl stops yelping and turns up to look at me with a frown, giving me a "watcha talking about willis" look. I explain to her, we're not laughing at you, but with you, I'm delighted that you like art so much. She gives in looks down and starts waving at me, pretty cute for a child under two.
Later I come across her again, near the Beuy's exhibit, she's no longer yelping. I ask her, "don't like it as much, huh?" She nods. That's how I felt about DIA Beacon.
First trip, didn't know that DIA closes early in the Winter. So we arrive at about 3:55 only to find that the museum is closed, as everything at DIA is lit by natural light. (Note: DIA closes early and promptly at 4pm in the Winter.)
Second trip, today, we show up earlier, and have lunch. Delicious, turkey cranberry wrap - its actually my secret vice - great brownies too.
I begin walking through the galleries, I love Flavin and his monuments to Tatlin, so I'm totally stoked. I walk into the Warhol shadow room, again, pretty cool. Keep on walking, everything is great. But as I see more and more art, yes, its all good grouping of each artist work and all of these artist are my heroes. I would give my right arm to be any of them when I grow up. But something is missing...
I finally figure it out, between Louise Bourgeious and Richard Serra, I'm not really sure how the artist relate to each other besides being conceptual/abstract and somewhat 20th century. I feel that a stronger dialogue could have been created between the various artists and with more contemporary voices, especially since more often then not the exhibits are on long view and don't change too frequently. These artists just had so much more to say and they are all related to so much more. Don't get me wrong, I still feel that this place is amazing, its just that by the end of seeing Bruce Nauman, I felt more that DIA was more of a public storage house of great artists work, not as thought provoking as the work was made and intended to be. -
Review from Andrew F.
Briarcliff Manor, NY
2/27/2010
I don't get it.
One exhibit was just a matrix of blank white canvases. Abstract modern art is a mystery to me sometimes.
They had some Warhols which were nice I guess, but some of that is pretty over my head as well. -
Review from Juston P.
New York, NY
11/2/2008
Dia:Beacon was less than the sum of its enormous parts. There was never a moment when I wondered why this museum exists. "Of course it exists!," one thinks. "It's the single greatest museum space I've ever seen!"
It's the next thought that's troublesome. It comes about 45 minutes afterwards. "They haven't a clue what to do with this place!"
Well, maybe that's not fair. They have a clue. But not all clues are right, and the curator seems to have a knack for pursuing some serious dead end clues.
For instance?
- A few piles of dirt.
- A pile of fabric.
- A few piles of metal.
- A pile of broken glass
- (The curator has a pile fetish)
- An entire gallery's worth of blank, white canvasses.
- An entire gallery's worth of monochromatic slabs.
You get the gist. But then there were Sol LeWitt's fantastic pencil drawings and Serra's metal whales. So at least a few good clues were followed.
In all, it's worth the lovely 80-minute riverside train ride and experience of wandering around Beacon and Dia:Beacon. Just don't expect much from the art (unless you're into piles). -
Review from Kate B.
Brooklyn, NY
7/23/2009
+ One star for the beautiful building & grounds.
+ One star for housing some Serra sculpture.
- One star for having some of the most boring modern art I've ever seen. What's the deal with the massive gallery of white squares? There weren't even interesting brush strokes on most of them. Then another gallery or two of tricolor rectangles. De Stijl was interesting when it happened, but knockoffs are just sad. If I'd known it was this dismal, I would've pushed harder to influence my date to ride a BOLT Bus to DC so we could go to the national galleries.
- One star for lousy & expensive café food. I had a "Mediterranean" tuna sandwich, described as having artichoke hearts and olives in it. It was a dry wad of tuna in a wrap, with some lettuce. Not a single olive, not a single artichoke heart. The coffee managed to be both weak and burnt tasting. The soymilk made it somewhat drinkable, but that acrid burn flavor still came through, and stuck around after the fact.
- One star for crappy staff, crappy policies and crappy enforcement.*
Dia: has a MANDATORY BAG CHECK for bags larger than 11"x14". Dia does not offer any secure location for bags that visitors are not allowed to carry inside -- they want you to leave your goods leaning against a wall in the foyer. This was NOT on their website. This was not disclosed before we purchased tickets. We traveled from NYC and had brought supplies for a day away from home. I had most of it shoved into a canvas grocery bag, but it all fit into my smaller tote. I transferred everything, and the guy at the table still wouldn't let me go in with my bag. I explained to him that this was my purse and I wasn't going to leave behind my personal possessions. (iPod, phone, medication, etc.) He was not helpful. I emptied my totebag to measure it against their printed sheet, and the flat bag was 1" too wide (12"x12"). At that point, I'd seen women go through with *massive* purses, which would've stowed way more volume than my little totebag, but the doorguy was letting their 3-dimensional bags go through unmolested. My dinky little totebag had the misfortune to be flat for measuring, and not make it on a technicality. He also agreed to let in a man with a diaper bag that exceeded the size limits. So Dia's rule enforcement is prickish at best. Someone was on a power trip.
I know there's a fear of theft, but get real -- I can't fit the Richard Serra in any size totebag and I really don't want any samples from the cutting edge pile of dirt on the floor. Or from the pile of broken glass. Or the pile of rock salt. (The curator likes piles. I sense that.) And if theft of rock salt was going to be a big problem, look out for those sticky-fingered cougars with their massive designer knockoff bags.
I carried my iPod and phone, and left goods that were less theft-worthy in the bag I was forced to check. Unfortunately, that included some medicine that I'm accustomed to having with me -- and of course, I needed it. We had to leave without seeing at least 1/3 of the museum because of the bullshit bag check.
I'm glad Beacon has a lot of indie art galleries and public installations along Main Street. We did get to see some worthwhile art on our trip, sans attitudes.
[ Summer visitors beware of BEES! The sidewalks between the entry gate and the building at Dia: Beacon are swarming with some of the largest, most intimidating hornets/wasps that I have ever seen. They're huge -- about 2" long and at least 1/2" thick. They look like evil cartoon bees. Seriously. A species I've never seen before. Fortunately for me, we walked in at the same time as a school group, and they seemed to be attracted to some poor kid who'd dressed all in blue. Bees are attracted to the color blue. You're welcome. ] -
Review from L K.
Westchester County, NY
5/15/2010
I'd long avoided visiting Dia because I've long loathed modern art. Modern art and I have hated one another since college, where the only art history class I despised was the required modern art survey. I sat through slide after absurd slide, trying to appreciate my professor's enthusiasm for the genuine oddities he forced upon us every week, but my patience ran out when he waxed poetic about Marcel Duchamp's idiotic "Fountain," which is nothing more than a urinal that Duchamp signed in 1917. That's right, a urinal. I don't know about you, but no one would call me an artistic genius if I removed the toilet from my bathroom and scrawled something in pen across the bottom. They'd just call me insane.
Should a toilet - or something similar - be venerated with the same reverence that people have for Picasso, O'Keeffe and Pollack? I thought not, and avoided Dia because I was afraid it would be, in a sense, just one Duchamp toilet after another, and I didn't want to spend my money on something like that
But I was judging the book simply by its presumed cover, and not by its content. I must say that I was rather surprised by Dia; that is, I neither loved it nor loathed it. There are some interesting pieces here. The artist Zoe Leonard is currently displaying a piece on postcards of Niagara Falls that span a 50 year period. Sounds boring, right? Not until you actually see the postcards, reflect on how the designs change depending upon the year they were printed, and read some of notes written on the cards. Then you'll get a sense of the vastness of time and its changing nature. And all thanks to a series of postcards related to a tourist attraction. Not bad, Zoe Leonard!
My friends and I took the guided tour, which I recommend because many of the exhibits at Dia cannot be appreciated without a guide's expertise. Our guide was a cool intern from Vassar, and her responsibility was to show us mainly the larger pieces. We toured the Richard Serra sculptures, which look like giant industrial drums. You can actually walk around inside them! The four sculptures are structured in such a way so that spacial awareness is preeminent and the viewers become a part of the works themselves. I thought I was going to hate those suckers, but they were definitely worthwhile.
Also worthwhile are the large sculptures welded from used car parts, smashed together in such a way that they look like delicate sheets of crumpled paper. They overlook a garden that has "audio art" created by a feminist artist. What is audio art, you ask? In this case, it's art that sounds like bird calls, but is in reality someone warbling the names of famous male modern artists. Apparently Andy Warhol's name is chirped out at some point, but I couldn't hear it. Warhol may have his own room at Dia - filled with some interestingly wacky paintings, I might add - but he's subtly insulted outdoors. Take that, Andy!
Also worthy of note are the string sculptures, which are geometric shapes made entirely out of string purchased at WalMart. It sounds ridiculous until you approach one and realize that they actually make you feel closed in and a tad uncomfortable. They're meant to make you rethink your typical definitions of what a sculpture is and what it can be, and they succeed.
Now on to the nutcase art, which Dia has in spades. I won't go into the four huge holes in the floor in one section (they're 20 feet deep, were originally meant for display in the desert and are partitioned off by waist-high glass to protect patrons, which apparently pissed off the artist). If you want to see art that looks like intestinal villi, a rock formation from Mars, an insect pod or a giant sculpture of a spider that resembles the arachnid from the "Lord of the Rings" movies, head upstairs. If you head downstairs, it's like heading into the lair of a serial killer. You've got all sorts of psychotic performance art videos here, from odd dancers to the room filled with strategically placed metal chairs that face green-lit screens displaying the ruins of an empty house. Throw in the room with the three TVs separated by walls - the last TV, disturbingly, displays you - or the room with the covered couches that face TVs playing videos of random guys walking around in silence, and you've got a genuine creep-fest on your hands. One of my friends commented that those galleries reminded her of the "Saw" movies, and I think that says it all right there.
Don't even get me started on the flashing colored light sculpture of an anatomically correct hanged man, or the similar sculpture of two guys pretending to shoot one another in the head.
There's certainly other weird stuff here - the 30-plus panels with nothing but dates printed on them, or the room full of plain white canvases just made me want to find the artist and smack him silly - but Dia is worth a trip. I'll never love modern art, but Dia has softened my feelings towards it a bit.
