Try as it might, the Morgan Library & Museum has never been a magnet for the art world’s young and trendy set. That may change, at least temporarily, when its big show “Subliming Vessel: The Drawings of Matthew Barney” opens on May 10. Mr. Barney, an artist with a cultlike following, produces films and videos, most of which he performs in. He also makes sculptures and objects, as well as photographs, books and installations derived from the films. He fashions his sculptures out of unusual materials like tapioca (dumbbells) and petroleum jelly (a weight bench). His drawings are the least known of his works. But to a place like the Morgan they are also the most intriguing.
“There will be many people who will be surprised to see a Matthew Barney exhibition here,” said William M. Griswold, the museum’s director. “But his drawings are central to what we do. Many of them explore aspects of his technical innovations and his process, which makes a show like this ideal. For many people it will be a real revelation.”
The exhibition, organized by Isabelle Dervaux, the Morgan’s curator of modern and contemporary art, and Klaus Kertess, an independent curator, will be on view through Sept. 2. It will then travel to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, where it is scheduled to open in October...