Does art always have to go deep?  The Kohlhaas Curtain, the Frank Stella - Santiago Calatrava collaboration on view now at the New National Gallery in Berlin, makes me feel that it doesn’t.  Big, bright and bold, the installation consists of nearly 100 linear feet of paintings on white tarp (by Stella) wrapped inside and outside a giant wire drum (by Calatrava) that’s suspended in the center of the glass-box gallery (by architect Mies van der Rohe).

The paintings might not be so compelling in themselves, but as displayed in the round like this they energize the gallery, drawing visitors forward while keeping the majestic panoramas along the edge of the building clear. The Curtain is installed at just the right height, so that guests can wander underneath and, for a few minutes, get lost inside. The artwork adds a welcome bit of funk to the archly elegant gallery. It pleases the eye, doesn’t get in the way, and doesn’t require too much thought.  It’s the finest kind of decorator art.