Galleries for Modern and Contemporary Art

Electronic Superhighway

Nam June Paik,Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, 1995, fifty-one channel video installation (including one closed-circuit television feed), custom electronics, neon lighting, steel and wood; color, sound, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2002.23, © Nam June Paik Estate

Note: Galleries on the museum’s third floor where modern and contemporary artworks are displayed, including the Lincoln Gallery, are temporarily closed to the public as museum staff to make way for new artworks and new stories. The refreshed galleries will reopen in September 2023.

Description

SAAM’s galleries for modern and contemporary art are temporarily closed to the public as museum staff make way for new artworks and new stories. These galleries will reopen in September 2023 and will feature recent acquisitions by Tiffany Chung, Jeffrey Gibson, Miguel Luciano, Kay WalkingStick, Alison Saar, Hank Willis Thomas, and Carrie Mae Weems, among others, installed alongside iconic works from the collection such as Jenny Holzer’s For SAAM, Kerry James Marshall’s Sob, Sob, Nam June Paik’s Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and Mickalene Thomas’ Portrait of Mnonja.

 

SAAM has engaged Selldorf Architects to revitalize its galleries and public spaces. Their new scheme for the modern and contemporary art galleries on the third floor, the first in a phased reinstallation project, includes the renovation of 20,000 square feet of gallery space that creates larger and uninterrupted expanses of wall for the display of art while maintaining the integrity of the historic fabric of the building.

 

Visiting Information

Temporarily Closed
Open daily, 11:30 a.m.–7 p.m.
Free Admission

Installation Images

Online Gallery

Media - 2015.34 - SAAM-2015.34_1 - 116878
Amendment #8
Date2014
mixed media
Not on view
Media - 2003.31A-X - SAAM-2003.31A-X_1 - 61338
Snails Space with Vari-Lites, Painting as Performance”
Date1995-1996
oil on two canvases, acrylic on canvas-covered masonite, wood dowels
Not on view
Media - 2002.23 - SAAM-2002.23_1 - 81981
Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii
Date1995
fifty-one channel video installation (including one closed-circuit television feed), custom electronics, neon lighting, steel and wood; color, sound
Not on view
Media - 1979.107A-D - SAAM-1979.107_1 - 63220
Sculpture Group Symbolizing World’s Communication in the…
Date1959
brazed and welded brass and bronze
Not on view
Media - 1968.62.1 - SAAM-1968.62.1_1 - 72583
Nenuphar
Date1968
sheet steel
Not on view
Media - 2014.16A-FF - SAAM-2014.16A-FF_1 - 119357
Black & White
Date1993
oil on wood panels
Not on view
Media - 1994.85A-AA - SAAM-1994.85A-AA_1 - 11941
Sky Cathedral
Date1982
painted wood
Not on view
Media - 2017.40 - SAAM-2017.40_1 - 133467
Ground rules. Free throw
Date2015
wooden flooring
Not on view
Media - 2001.58 - SAAM-2001.58_1 - 62432
Sollie 17
Date1979-1980
mixed media construction
Not on view
Media - 1973.115 - SAAM-1973.115_1 - 4432
April 4
Date1969
acrylic on canvas
Not on view
A still from the video shows a woman reclining with her head covered in stones
My Dreams, My Works Must Wait Till After Hell
Date2011
single-channel digital video, color, sound; 07:14 minutes
Not on view
Media - 1976.108.33 - SAAM-1976.108.33_2 - 123040
Hot Beat
Date1964
acrylic on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1973.151 - SAAM-1973.151_1 - 4471
Indian Image
Date1972
acrylic on canvas
Not on view
Media - 2008.38 - SAAM-2008.38_1 - 70131
Sanctuary at Western Sunset
Date1992
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 2011.16 - SAAM-2011.16_1 - 75736
Portrait of Mnonja
Date2010
rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel on wood panel
Not on view
Media - 2005.22A-Z - SAAM-2005.22A-Z_8 - 122066
Woman Eating
Date1971
polyester resin and fiberglass with oil and acrylic paints and found accessories
Not on view
Media - 2010.29 - SAAM-2010.29_1 - 73447
SOB, SOB
Date2003
acrylic on fiberglass
Not on view