Art Curation: Video and Project Reflection
Curating an art exhibit is not an easy task. In the video of Philippe de Montebello and the Met, it discusses how not only how himself as a director chooses pieces, but how an entire team chooses what pieces to buy and display. A fine tooth comb must be used when creating an exhibit and analyzing works for it. Especially for the Met, they only want great quality pieces. A piece should not be selected based on personal taste, but based on the quality of the piece itself. Sometimes a person may know nothing about the work, so they have to rely on intuition. This is where research comes in, which takes place all the time. Research never ends on the pieces as there is much to learn about them. Many pieces do not come in perfect condition and have to be conserved. The conservation department revamps them without distorting what the original artist created. Another element that has to be considered in the architecture of the building and rooms the pieces will be placed in. The architecture adds to the works displayed without drawing focus away from the art. When creating my own short 10 piece curation, I payed attention to how I was going to display my pieces within the power point. I chose to add a neutral cream colored background so that it was more settling on the eye when looking at the artwork and reading the exhibit. Creating the exhibit itself, and establishing a theme like they do at the Met was also very important. I chose to display Jewish artists, and other artists whose works would have and were considered degenerate pieces during WW2 under Hitler and the Nazis. A theme is important because you want it to be cohesive and appealing.
The next video was a Live Q&A with MOMA Curator Anne Umland. Umland answered many questions that were important to the creation of an exhibit. The main point is to create a theme, whether that be one artist, multiple artists, color, media, etc a theme is important. Like mentioned before, it makes everything come together to have a cohesive and appealing look, and also helps the viewer to make sense of everything. When considering the pieces within the actual theme, some things that also have to be considered are whether to put things into chronological order, especially when you're focusing on one artist. Time order is not always utilized, but it is up to the team to decide if it is an important factor depending on what they are showcasing. In an average exhibit, it can take years to finish and complete. The one I created took a span of 4 days to find the pieces I wanted and describe and analyze each one. As a project, this was very taxing, and I could not imagine doing it for years at a time. Elements that a curator must have are to be open minded, flexible with thinking, and also be a perfectionist. Art curators only want what is best for the exhibits, so having a perfectionist eye is important. Umland also discussed that in the 60's and 70's, white walls were a norm, but now neutral toned cream walls are used more frequently. As mentioned before, I took this into consideration when creating my exhibit so that the pieces were not too stark against the background.
The last video viewed before I started by curation project was The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art. Lowbrow is for works that lack a term and cannot be categorized. These pieces are generally rejected and not displayed by society , because they would rather have highbrow pieces that are considered "normal" and perfect. Robert Williams originally coined the term, and does not like it, and how it affected art. Many artist just see their art as something they create and let the experts label it for them. A term such as this has greatly affected what is showcased in exhibits and what is truly considered art. One way that art has had a positive development over the years is through the internet. Things that once were not considered art have been given a different voice because media has been able to greatly spread the way people see art. This connects with the theme I chose for my art curation. At one time, the artists and or pieces I chose were not considered degenerate due to who they were or the style of the piece. I wanted these artists and pieces to be seen, so that is what I did.
When it came to the process of creating my curation, I first started with my idea, what did I want to do? I of course decided on the degenerative works from WW2. Once I had my theme, I then did a google search to find Jewish artists, and other artists who were labeled as degenerate during the war. Once I gathered this information, I utilized ArtStor and Google art exhibits to find art from the specific artists. I chose 10 different artists for my exhibit. Once I had the pieces, I somewhat organized them by the colors utilized in the works. When looking through the curation, it should be noticed that the first pieces are dark in shades and color, the next few are bright colored, and the last two are very light in tone and more natural in shades. Once I organized the pieces, I began to analyze and describe them in ways based on what the pieces were themselves, the time they were painted, who painted them, why they connected to my theme, different design elements and principles I noticed most, and what I thought the work reminded me of and what it seemed to represent. Once this was completed, I considered if the font used should be changed or kept the same and what color the background should be. I decided on a font that I thought looked simple enough but still made an impression. I kept the color of the font gray rather than black so that more attention was drawn to the pieces themselves. As mentioned, I ended up choosing a neutral cream toned background for my exhibit. I wanted all the pieces to be the focal point, and did not what the background to be overpowering. I feel as though I executed this exhibit to the best of my ability, and enjoyed doing research on the artists who created the pieces. It was interesting to learn about where they were from, and why some of them had their works labeled degenerate. Here is a link to where I found many of the artists https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/30-degenerate-artworks/ . It was also interesting to see the different styles of every artists and what inspired them personally.
Link to art curation project powerpoint https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gzjePbelEVzJXXRhjVswQToJSphlcHEeq9FdLV4l1bg/edit?usp=sharing
The next video was a Live Q&A with MOMA Curator Anne Umland. Umland answered many questions that were important to the creation of an exhibit. The main point is to create a theme, whether that be one artist, multiple artists, color, media, etc a theme is important. Like mentioned before, it makes everything come together to have a cohesive and appealing look, and also helps the viewer to make sense of everything. When considering the pieces within the actual theme, some things that also have to be considered are whether to put things into chronological order, especially when you're focusing on one artist. Time order is not always utilized, but it is up to the team to decide if it is an important factor depending on what they are showcasing. In an average exhibit, it can take years to finish and complete. The one I created took a span of 4 days to find the pieces I wanted and describe and analyze each one. As a project, this was very taxing, and I could not imagine doing it for years at a time. Elements that a curator must have are to be open minded, flexible with thinking, and also be a perfectionist. Art curators only want what is best for the exhibits, so having a perfectionist eye is important. Umland also discussed that in the 60's and 70's, white walls were a norm, but now neutral toned cream walls are used more frequently. As mentioned before, I took this into consideration when creating my exhibit so that the pieces were not too stark against the background.
The last video viewed before I started by curation project was The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art. Lowbrow is for works that lack a term and cannot be categorized. These pieces are generally rejected and not displayed by society , because they would rather have highbrow pieces that are considered "normal" and perfect. Robert Williams originally coined the term, and does not like it, and how it affected art. Many artist just see their art as something they create and let the experts label it for them. A term such as this has greatly affected what is showcased in exhibits and what is truly considered art. One way that art has had a positive development over the years is through the internet. Things that once were not considered art have been given a different voice because media has been able to greatly spread the way people see art. This connects with the theme I chose for my art curation. At one time, the artists and or pieces I chose were not considered degenerate due to who they were or the style of the piece. I wanted these artists and pieces to be seen, so that is what I did.
When it came to the process of creating my curation, I first started with my idea, what did I want to do? I of course decided on the degenerative works from WW2. Once I had my theme, I then did a google search to find Jewish artists, and other artists who were labeled as degenerate during the war. Once I gathered this information, I utilized ArtStor and Google art exhibits to find art from the specific artists. I chose 10 different artists for my exhibit. Once I had the pieces, I somewhat organized them by the colors utilized in the works. When looking through the curation, it should be noticed that the first pieces are dark in shades and color, the next few are bright colored, and the last two are very light in tone and more natural in shades. Once I organized the pieces, I began to analyze and describe them in ways based on what the pieces were themselves, the time they were painted, who painted them, why they connected to my theme, different design elements and principles I noticed most, and what I thought the work reminded me of and what it seemed to represent. Once this was completed, I considered if the font used should be changed or kept the same and what color the background should be. I decided on a font that I thought looked simple enough but still made an impression. I kept the color of the font gray rather than black so that more attention was drawn to the pieces themselves. As mentioned, I ended up choosing a neutral cream toned background for my exhibit. I wanted all the pieces to be the focal point, and did not what the background to be overpowering. I feel as though I executed this exhibit to the best of my ability, and enjoyed doing research on the artists who created the pieces. It was interesting to learn about where they were from, and why some of them had their works labeled degenerate. Here is a link to where I found many of the artists https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/30-degenerate-artworks/ . It was also interesting to see the different styles of every artists and what inspired them personally.
Link to art curation project powerpoint https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gzjePbelEVzJXXRhjVswQToJSphlcHEeq9FdLV4l1bg/edit?usp=sharing
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