THE PHIPPS PLAZA shopping mall in Atlanta was a showy montage of pink -
granite floors, sweeping bronze - trimmed
staircases, gilded Napoleonic design, lighting that sparkled
like halogen spotlights.
Part of a network of art sites on island developed by Japanese businessman and art collector Soichiro Fukutake, the museum features polished concrete chambers housing the work of three artists: a selection of Claude Monet's water lily paintings (the skylight and glistening mosaic floor creates a shrine -
like experience); an installation by Walter de Maria that consists of a central, polished
granite sphere sitting on a
staircase with surrounding gilded wall sculptures; and three James Turrell light works.