Exhibition Explores The Invisible Art Of Perfume Making

A Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed exhibit addresses olfactory art with academic rhetoric. If you were to do a statistical analysis of what medium people refer to most when talking about modernism, "scent" probably wouldn’t top the list. Or even the top ten list. When we talk about modernism--that slippery, brittle term--it’s usually in reference to fine art, architecture, performing arts, or film. Even cooking. But why shouldn’t perfume, an art form that grew up around the turn of the century, have its own place in the canon? The Museum of Arts and Design is attempting to rewrite history with the creation of a department of olfactory art, which is staging its first exhibition this winter. The Art of Scent 1889-2012, which opened on the 20th, examines twelve important perfumes beginning with Aimé Guerlain’s 130-year-old classic, Jicky. “While t...