No Franks at the Wright

The Guggenheim has long been one of the few iconic museums without a destination dining spot. They have now transformed a somewhat generic, cafeteria-style cafÃ&Copy; space into The Wright (as in a certain well-known architect), offering lunch, Sunday brunch and bar options as well as dinner seatings on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. David Bouley"s protÃ&Copy;gÃ&Copy; Rodolfo Contreras created a â??modern American menu for the restaurant based on seasonal, local and sustainable ingredients. Adding a jolt of color to the sleek white space is a site-specific sculpture by British artist Liam Gillick. Nancy Spector, the museum"s deputy director and chief curator, spoke with us about the unconventional interior decisions since Gillick"s focus on architecture made him a great fit for the commission. Our Town: Could you talk about how you selected Liam Gillick and what he envisioned for this space? Nancy Spector: We already have had a longstanding relationship with him, in that he"s represented in the collection and he"s been in a number of our exhibitions. He, in his work, is very interested in architecture, particularly the legacy of 20th-century Modernism, so we thought that because he was so interested in architecture, he would be able to respond and work in an architectural environment and collaborate with the architect. The sculpture, â??The horizon produced by a factory once it had stopped producing views, is part of a longer narrative of Gillick"s about future post-capitalist society. It"s somewhat ironic that it"s in a restaurant, which is a commercial space. Is he aware of that? I think Liam"s always aware of every possible reading. But he is interested in his work and social interaction, so the fact that his work would be situated in a social environment, it"s actually very fitting. It"s perfect. If you were trying to explain Gillick"s piece to a non-artsy crowd, like a group of second graders, what would you tell them? That"s tricky, isn"t it? Well, I think that foremost, you can read it as an abstract sculpture. But its resonance is that in its form, in its power, in its surreality, it re-references certain architectural and sculptural landmarks of the 20th century. And I think I would talk to second graders about how buildings can encourage people to think a certain way when they"re inside them, like a courthouse versus a shopping mall, and Liam"s very in tune to that. It"s sculptural but it"s also architectural, and I think that fine line between the two is very important, and I think a child would be able to grasp it, certainly. There"s been quite a museum dining boom in New York City. Was this something you guys thought about when you opened The Wright, or did it coincidentally happen at the same time? I honestly don"t know. You know, we"ve also opened a cafÃ&Copy;, CAFÃ? 3, on the third level, which is a very informal sandwich-espresso bar situation. I know that our own thinking was that we really wanted to create a dual dining experience, whereas before we had only had the cafÃ&Copy;. So now there"s a seated restaurant and a much more informal cafÃ&Copy; nearer to the galleries. We were trying to maximize our services and provide different experiences for our visitors. Have you seen what the restaurant means to the museum? Are people staying longer? Are you drawing new crowds? I know just from talking to my colleagues that it"s been extremely well attended. We"ve had three or four turnovers at brunch on the weekends, so there seems to be a lot of interest and it seems to be popular. I don"t know if it"s shifting our attendance patterns. It may be a little bit too early to tell. -- The Wright, 1071 Fifth Ave. (at 88th Street), 212-427-5690.