McLaren Engineering Group provided structural engineering services to renovate the Byzantine Fresco Chapel at The Menil Collection in Houston, TX, in preparation for the installation of a collection of reproductions of a lost 1885 drawing by French artist, Jean-Jacques Henner, of Saint Fabiola.
The Fabiola Project is curated by Francis Alÿs and Lynne Cooke, Senior Curator, Special Projects in Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. The exhibition is coordinated by Toby Kamps, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Menil Collection, and is generously supported by the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Leslie and Shannon Sasser; and the City of Houston.
McLaren designed a new 25-foot-high by 40-foot-wide hanging wall that was built in modular sections and raised via chain motors to facilitate the installation of the paintings. The wall assembly appears to float above the floor, and displays over 450 artist reproductions of the original image.