Sneak Peek: Burning Man’s Temple at the Renwick

A photo from outside the grand salon looking in at David Best's Temple

Installation shots of David Best's Temple in the Renwick Gallery's Grand Salon, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2018, courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, photos by Libby Weiler 

 No Spectators: The Art of Burning Manopens on Friday, March 30, and features large-scale installations--the artistic hallmark of Burning Man--at the core of the exhibition. These include a temple designed for the Renwick's Grand Salon by David Best, well known for his large-scale temples at Burning Man's annual gathering in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. In a recent interview with the museum, he told us that there aren't many places for people to reflect on loss. In the artist's words, the Temple is, "a non-demoninational place where someone can go to be forgiven or to seek forgiveness or to seek solitude from grief."  

This is an image of David Best working inside the Grand Salon at the Renwick Gallery.

David Best (in golden hard-hat) and crew member designing intricate elements of the Temple.

A photograph inside David Best's Temple.

A detail of one of the Temple's multiple altars. 

Learn more about the artists and artworks featured in the exhibitionNo Spectators: The Art of Burning Man.

Related blog posts: Who Wore it Better? Burning Man Dresses up the RenwickSneak Peek: Burning Man Unfolds at the RenwickHere Be DragonsFeel the Burn: the Art of Burning Man Comes to the Renwick in March

 

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