Pas de Deux

Sorry for my long break there, but May and June were a bit crazy. I'm currently working on finalizing my dissertation proposal and I just submitted an academic article, so there hasn't been a lot of extra time. But I feel bad because I have left everyone wondering about that amazing piece of performance art -Pas de Deux.

Well wonder no more. This post is devoted to that amazingly beautiful work of art by Daniel Wurtzel. 

It is such a seemingly simple concept:

just two pieces of cloth, 

some fans, 

an artist, 

and some glitter.

But what happens next...

is pure magic!

As the night wore on and the atrium got darker, the piece became even more memorizing. 

At points it really did look like two dancers.

While many of the guests lingered in the gallery, I chose to linger here.

I had already been through the exhibit (which is amazing as well), so I decided that I could sit back and enjoy this odd but beautiful show. 

After a while a crowd began to gather again. 

This time to play and experience the art for themselves. 

And I couldn't resist joining in!

I had an amazing time and it is an experience that I will not soon forget.

Again, I am sorry for the long hiatus, but I hope these pictures make up for it, at least a little bit. I'm hoping my next blog post will be something almost as cool that's here in DC for the summer, but we will just have to wait and see. (I promise it won't take two more months!)

"Speak softly and carry a big fish" - Face Value at the National Portrait Gallery

Earlier this week, I was invited to the press preview and opening reception for the National Portrait Gallery's (NPG) newest exhibit- "Face Value: Portraiture in the Age of Abstraction."

Honestly, I can't say enough good things about this exhibit. It is one of those amazing times when everything just works: the exhibit design, the flow in the gallery, the narrative, and the subject matter. 

The gallery has two entrances, each with a remarkable statement piece. I entered the exhibit from the exhibit's main entrance and was greeted by Joan Brown's Self-Portrait with Fish and Cat (1970). This portrait is bold, not just in size and color, but in subject matter as well. It sets the tone for the rest of the exhibit. And is where the quote in the title comes from, as the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Kim Sajet, joked that this portrait had inspired her new mantra: "Speak softly and carry a big fish." 

Co-currator Wendy Wick Reaves beginning the tour of the exhibit with:

Self-Portrait with Fish and Cat

Joan Brown (1938-1990)

1970

Oil enamel on masonite Courtesy of George Adams Gallery, New York

In this exhibit, the art truly speaks for itself. The exhibit design works so well with the artwork. The muted gray tones allow visitors to completely focus on the portraits. The simple frames allow the works to shine, breaking from more traditional portrait exhibits, which often seem to utilize the idea that the more ornate the frame, the more prestigious the portrait. With the objects in this exhibit ranging from small square portraits to wood-cuts outs, the staging of the exhibit could have become a challenge to the exhibit's feel and flow. But the placement of the cutouts - placed on simple white circles - allows for easy flow and study. David Ward, Senior Historian at the NPG and co-curators of "Face Value,  even joked that they might seem too inviting, as he wouldn't want visitors attempting to shake Jack O'Hare's hand. 

Frank O'Hare

Alex Katz (born 1927)

1959-1960

Courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery, New York. 

As I moved through the gallery, I let myself be drawn to different works. One of those works was Elaine de Kooning's Harold Rosenberg. At first I was confused, because it was so different from my idea of a portrait prior to this exhibit. It is loud, inexact, and informal. But it all works. De Kooning's abstraction influences are obvious, but the subject is still easily recognizable (its always great learning new art tidbits from the curators themselves). While explaining this portrait, Brandon Brame Fortune - one of the exhibit's co-curators and the Chief Curator and Curator of Painting and Sculpture - told us that the NPG would be doing an entire de Kooning exhibit next year, which should be wonderful. 

Brandon Brame Fortune explains de Kooing's influences and subject choice.

Harold Rosenberg

Elaine de Kooning

Oil on Canvas

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

My favorite piece, by far, was Chuck Close's Nancy. From the moment I saw it, I was drawn to it. There is just something about the painting. Close referred to his series of large figure studies as heads instead of portraits, wanting to shock his audience with the scale. And he does just that. The detail is exquisite, from her freckles and somewhat frizzy hair to her overlapping front teeth. She is not perfect, but she is hauntingly beautiful in this portrait. And she is an important piece in this exhibit, both as a Chuck Close piece and as an anchor for the exhibit. Whenever I looked over at this part of the exhibit, I found myself staring at her; there's something about Nancy.

Nancy

Chuck Close (1940-)

1968

Acrylic on Canvas

Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Herbert H. Kohl Charities, Inc.

In the photograph above is another one of my favorite pieces from the exhibit: Marisol Escobar's Hugh Hefner. This piece was originally commissioned for Time and donated to the NPG. I love this piece because its odd. A comment from David Ward during this part of the tour really struck me. He said that Hefner was "attempting to make sex serious" and this portrait of his kind of alludes to that. Despite his elongated head (yes, I know what I just said) and two pipes, the piece has a seriousness about it that is in opposition with Hefner's brand. 

Hugh Hefner

Marisol Escobar (1930 -)

1966-77

Polychromed wood

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Gift of Time magazine. 

As I left this gallery for the last two rooms, there was an obvious shift in the feeling of the art. As I was transitioning to art made in the late 1960s and 1970s, it made sense. This was a period in American history where the social norms and the status quo were being questioned.  And this is especially true when it comes to art. It is also more risqué art, delving into the most personal aspects of people's lives. 

From Robert Rauschenberg's Booster - the artists's de-heroization of the space race- to Robert Carston's Classical Exposure - a showing of support and solidarity with the growing women's movement of the 1970s, there is a lot of social commentary in this room. This is not simply a reaction to the post-war/Cold War era, but an in your face question of society. 

The exhibit closes with two portraits: Portrait of Andy Warhol by John Browning Wyeth and Portrait of Jamie Wyeth with Tan Background.  Wyeth suggested to Warhol that they paint each other's portraits and these were the results. The portraits are great examples of the styles the two men were know for: realism and pop. Placed at the end of the exhibit, these portraits are true statement pieces. And that statement, according to co-curator and Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings Wendy Wick Reaves, is that "portraiture was back."

On left: Portrait of Jamie Wyeth with Tan Background, Andy Warhol (1928-1987), 1976, Acrylic and screenprint on canvas, Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, TN.

On right: Portrait of Andy Warhol, James Browning Wyeth (1946-), 1976, Oil on Canvas, Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, TN.

As I mentioned, there are two entrances to this exhibit. The second one is located near the end of the exhibit's narrative. At this entrence, visitors are greeted by Barkley Leonnard Hendricks' Sir Charles, Alias Wille Harris.  The curators mentioned that this exhibit has a large number of pieces by African-American artists and female artists, who were held outside the "Old Boys Club" that many of the well-known mid-century portrait artists belonged to. Which allowed them to to create some truly interesting pieces, according to the currators. And I would have to agree. This piece evokes cool, which is somewhat fitting because visitors enter "Face Value" from the exhibit, "American Cool." 

Sir Charles, Alias Wille Harris

Barkley Leonnard Hendricks (1945-)

1972

Oil on Canvas

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; William C. Whitney Foundation

And don't forget to check out the gift shop for fun "Face Value" memorabilia! You know I love a great museum shop and the National Portrait Gallery has always had a great one. If you are looking for a fun Mother's Day present for an art loving mom, check out the exhibit catalogue. Its a beautiful book that starts with the poem Hand With A Picture" by John Ashberry, which was commissioned specially for the exhibit. 

It was a great morning at the museum and I was excited to come back that evening for the opening reception to see what other people thought of the exhibit. 

When I walked into the reception I was greeted with the sound of jazz, the smell of food, and the chatter of people talking all around the atrium.

Everyone seemed excited to see the exhibit, but first there were a few presentations. After cocktails, food, and jazz, we listened to Kim Sajet welcome everyone to the exhibit. Then we were listened to a reading of John Ashberry's poem "Hand With A Picture," read by Steven Schmidt. 

I have to admit that I was slightly distracted at the beginning of the reception because I discovered that they could create a shallow pool in the middle of the artium. How cool is that!

At the end of the presentation portion of the reception, we were treated to an amazing performance piece by Daniel Wurtzel called Pas de Deux. It was an absolutely mesmerizing installation, with the two pieces of fabric floating and intertwining in the sparkling air. (This is only a sneak peak, I promise there is more to come on this amazing piece.)

After the presentations ended, we headed upstairs to view the exhibit. I wandered around trying to gauge people's reactions to the exhibit and watch how the flow of people worked in the gallery space. Both were extremely positive. People seemed to really connect with the images, which is exactly what are is suppose to do.

"Face Value: Portraiture in the Age of Abstraction" opens today, April 18th, and runs through January 15, 2015. The National Portrait Gallery is open daily from 11:30am to 7:00pm. 

Look Who's Talking About Museums

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but recently there seems to be a lot of museum coverage in the media. It hit me yesterday afternoon, as I was reading the New York Times. Right there, on the front page (although below the fold) was an article about a new museum and some of the controversy surrounding it.

The article -"Civil Rights Sins, Curated by One of the Sinners" by Campbell Robertson - is about the new Civil Rights museum in Mississippi, which is scheduled to open in Jackson in 2017. The controversy surrounding the museum is not the content or the location of the museum, but the fact that it will be run by the state of Mississippi. It seems that many of the museum's critics fear that the state will attempt to sugarcoat the subject, especially concerning the state's role in this painful part of history. The article also talked about the museum's struggle to build a large collection, because many potential object donors do not trust the state, because of their experience or their family's experience during the Civil Rights Movement. It is an article that illustrates the complexities of creating and curating a museum devoted to telling a violent part of recent history. It is a complex subject, that for some is remains a part of life and not quite history. And it is a narrative that needs to be preserved and told. For all of those reasons, I was so glad to have come across the New York Time's article.

The other article I saw recently was in the April issue of  Martha Stewart Living magazine. Among the articles devoted to Easter decorating and spring cooking was one devoted to a great museum - The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.

Its a fairly short article that gives a brief overview of the museum, the history of its eclectic founder, and newly completed expansion that will provide much needed room for the museum's vast collection. And while the article does mention that the museum has remained exactly the way she left it following her death, it did not go into one of the most famous stories related to that: the empty frames. If you don't know what I'm referring to, check out the story here.

If you have the chance to read both of these articles, you should. Despite the fear of many that museums will someday be a thing of the past, these articles show that there still is interest in museums. People want to know the stories behind objects and it the role of the museum to tell those stores. I am so glad that these two media sources (and many others) are helping share these stories with a national audience. 

If you have seen any other good articles about museums recently, let me know in the comments section. I would love to see what else is going on in the world of museums. 

Updating Exhibit Life

I just wanted everyone to know that I will be experimenting with the look of the blog over the next month or so. Sorry to anyone who thinks this is annoying, but I thought that I should try and make it a bit more professional looking, so please bear with me through this process. I may even end up learning how to write a bit of code by then end of all this (now that's a scary thought).

Thanks again for your patience. 

Time flies! An Anniversary Post

I can't believe that its already been a year since I started Exhibit Life. There I was, in the back of a class (let's keep that on the DL, shall we?) and I decided that I would give this blogging thing a try. Never did I think that I would last a year, but here I am.

I was trying to think of what to do for this post. Its been a very hectic winter, with graduate work piling up (mostly multiple drafts of my dissertation proposal) and this never ending winter that seems to have settled in on the East Coast. Seriously, its been too long. As I am writing this, it is snowing outside...in Virginia. I am so not use to this type of weather.

Anyway, I was down in Williamsburg last weekend for a conference and was trying to decide what to focus on for this anniversary post. I thought about heading over to the DeWitt Wallace Museum to check out decorative arts collection (a nod to my V&A post). Or perhaps checking out what new exhibits the VMFA had in store for visitors. But it was an absolutely gorgeous day - such a rarity this year - that the thought of being stuck inside all day, even at an amazing museum, just didn't sit well with me.

So instead, I turned to Colonial Williamsburg one more time and decided to walk DOG Street and see what I could find.

It is always so nice walking through Colonial Williamsburg. There is something about it, especially on a beautiful spring day. It doesn't matter how many tourists are there or what programs are going on, its always a nice way to spend a few hours.

Today, though, I was on a mission. It is spring in Colonial Williamsburg and that means one thing: its lambing season! I had seen posts from friends who had seen the newborn lambs, and I was determined to find them. However, this turned out to be easier said than done.

First up, though, there was a quick detour, as I saw a sign for something I had never seen before: a sign for an auction. It was set up behind some market stalls, with a group of people sitting around the auctioner. At first I thought it was just a program, but it turned out that people were actually bidding on the items.

And the auctioneer was great! He got people to start a bidding war over a creamware chamber pot. A chamber pot! (although they did call it delft...) And the prices weren't horrible, although it was probably a good thing that I left my money in the car, otherwise who knows what I might have come home with. Maybe that lovely version of shut the box. 

I decided to head on and continue my search. Of course, it was not without some typical CW sightings. Like, the ever present horse droppings, to make it appear "more authentic"...

I started to ask around, trying to figure out where the lambs were being kept. I got a lot of mixed answers. The most promising was was that they were being kept in a pen out past the Capital, near the pigeons. 

However, when I got out there, all I found were the male sheep and these guys. They were pretty excited to get a visitor and came over to chat a bit and show off. 

I then headed back down DOG Street to continue my search, but got distracted again. This time it was by a bunch of men being sworn into the Continental Army. Hopefully they serve Virginia well (for the next 15 minutes at least).

After watching a bit of Revolutionary City, I continued on my way. I heard a rumor that the lambs might be behind the Peyton Randolph House, but they weren't. So I continued on, past the Governor's Palace, before deciding it was time to head over to the Tourist Information Center inside the ticket office in the Lumber House. 

Where I finally got the right information. And thankfully it was fairly close, in one of the fields across from the DeWitt Wallace Museum. 

It was a long search, but it was so worth it.

Aren't they so cute?!

This is one of my favorite times to be in CW, because of things like this. The Coach and Livestock Department does an amazing job of revitalizing heritage breeds, just like these adorable Leicester Longwool lambs.  

Of course it helps that they are so adorable when they are born.

I had an amazing day in CW, even though at times it felt like I was on a wild goose chase. It is a unique experience, to be able to wander through the country's largest living history museum and just go wherever the day takes you. No plan (except to find the lambs), no time table, no restrictions. I hope that everyone has the ability to experience that one day. It makes it even better when its the first real spring day of the year.

I just wanted to thank you all for reading my blog. It has been a year full of change and challenges, but this blog has been so much fun to write. I can't wait for year two.