09 snake house

A gallery space dedicated completely to Escher’s last print before his death, Snakes (1969).
A white serpentined path was cut out of a black room with an 80 centimetres raised floor. The edges of the walls of the path are tilting inwards, appearing as if this path is also a result of an extruded house shaped pathway.

Inspired by the mathematical accuracy of the artwork, the curves of the path are based on even angles and tangency following the carefully calculated principle of Escher’s work. In the middle of the path, the study work is displayed showing the process of Escher’s production in only 1/3 of the finished print.
To best showcase the artist’s point of view – two mirrors with a 120° angle between them were placed above the vitrine , reflecting the work and making it appear whole. At the end of the path, the famous “snakes” work is displayed in the a central case, as it can be viewed from any angle. The nine spaces tell one continuous story. The first artwork on display in this exhibition is Study for Drawing Hands 1948, which depicts a single hand; the final work on display, Drawing Hands (1948), show two hands drawing each other. The two pieces which function as the bookends clearly bring out the exhibition’s concept. There are a café and a gallery at the entrance and the exit of the exhibition space. The café was decorated with house-motif graphics, with the multiple houses facing different directions. In the final space before leaving the exhibition, 11 objects based on the numerous paper mockups that were made during the design process were on display and are a new addition to NGV’s permanent collection.