Carol Bove at the Guggenheim: a monumental survey

The Guggenheim Museum presents Carol Bove, the first major museum survey of the acclaimed artist, on view from March 5th until August 2nd, 2026. Filling Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic spiral rotunda, the exhibition spans more than 25 years of Bove’s practice, highlighting her inventive explorations across collage sculptures, steel, paper, and installations.

Collage sculptures and monumental works

Bove’s inventive “collage sculptures” take center stage, combining scrap metal, tubing, and mixed materials into towering, dynamic compositions. Alongside these, works on paper, aluminum panels, and earlier book and paper assemblages invite viewers to navigate shifting scales, surfaces, and textures. The rotunda itself becomes part of the exhibition, its architecture subtly activated by the reflective surfaces and vertical arrangements of Bove’s sculptures.

Engaging space, history, and perception

Bove curates a dialogue between her work and that of earlier generations, incorporating pieces by Joan Miró, Bruce Conner, and Agnes Martin. A long-hidden 1960s mural by Miró and Josep Llorens Artigas is partially revealed through a diamond-shaped cutout, which anchors a column of reflective disks ascending the rotunda. These gestures exemplify Bove’s interest in perception, space, and the interplay between objects and their surroundings, creating moments of immersive engagement for visitors.

Carol Bove’s Guggenheim survey transforms the museum’s spiral into a vibrant environment where monumental collage sculptures meet intimate works, reflecting a career defined by material experimentation, spatial awareness, and imaginative resonance.