We are quickly getting the artworks up and in place, but we’ve had a bit of a glitch with António’s. His 6 black and white photographs, the “Untitled” series and the triptych, “Disintegrations” have all been hung but I think a little too low. I would like them all raised 2 inches, so that the base of “Disintegrations” is not obscured by the boat, and so that the photo portraits appear to be closer to standing height. Establishing the height at which to hang an artwork is not a science and people have different views. We’d welcome your feed back as I am quite certain not everyone agrees with me. It’s hard to gage one’s audience – how many children or people in wheelchairs will be visiting? How does an artwork look in relation to the floor? The ceiling? The unfortunate issue today is that the works have already been hung, and I am loathe to add to people’s work by asking them to re-hang the artworks. This dilemma does bring up an issue that is open to input, however, and that is the relationship between artworks.
Up until now, my writing has focused mostly on the actions of the artists, but of course, the designer Alan Knezevich and I have also been around all along. As the curator, I had the most say in what works of art would be included, as well as where they would be placed in the gallery. In terms of the placement, I really have been seeking to create visual dialogues between works of art. I wanted António’s “Untitled” series in a face-off (pun intended) with “Ici on crève.” I also wanted the black and white of the “Untitled” series next to the black and white canvases of “Disintegrations” in a dialogue of forms across media. And, I want to position António’s early pop art influenced work on paper, “On Taking the Pill,” in proximity to Aimé’s “Rail, Massina 3” in which we can see the rich traditions of Congolese popular arts – about which Johannes Fabian, Bogumil Jewsiewicki and others have written so well. So, the dialogues are between the artists, between and amongst their artworks, between genres, between them and me, and hopefully, will include you – audiences around the world.
Up until now, my writing has focused mostly on the actions of the artists, but of course, the designer Alan Knezevich and I have also been around all along. As the curator, I had the most say in what works of art would be included, as well as where they would be placed in the gallery. In terms of the placement, I really have been seeking to create visual dialogues between works of art. I wanted António’s “Untitled” series in a face-off (pun intended) with “Ici on crève.” I also wanted the black and white of the “Untitled” series next to the black and white canvases of “Disintegrations” in a dialogue of forms across media. And, I want to position António’s early pop art influenced work on paper, “On Taking the Pill,” in proximity to Aimé’s “Rail, Massina 3” in which we can see the rich traditions of Congolese popular arts – about which Johannes Fabian, Bogumil Jewsiewicki and others have written so well. So, the dialogues are between the artists, between and amongst their artworks, between genres, between them and me, and hopefully, will include you – audiences around the world.
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4 comments:
Interesting. I think that rehanging a work to get it just right is a necessary part of any exhibition installation. It's impossible to know exactly what the show will look like until it is on the wall. Sight lines are everything!
I thought your attempt to create multiple dialogues was very successful. I accidently went through the exhibition backwards and missed the opening wall with the silhouettes of the two artists talking about each other. I thought it clearly introduced the basis of the show and was quite clever and powerful.
Will this be a series, with other artists brought in for future shows?
Thanks, David. It's a funny thing with hanging an artwork. some museums have rules -- everything at a low height so children can see, or people with diabilities... It's not a science. with this show, however, I was really happy to raise "disintegrations" above the boat. Of course, it all meant raising the heights of the photographs, but in the end, I was happy with this too. Several of the portraits were of tall men, so it seemed more fitting to make them taller from the ground. Keep commenting!
Yeah, we put the entry text at both doors into the exhibition although the silhouettes are only at the "front" entrance. We decided to go with silhouettes at the front because I didn't want photos of the artists to be confused with antonio's photos (which are artworks) or to give one artist's artwork preeminence over the other. both artists were happy and I think (hope) it really has visualized the idea of art, and an exhibition, as a conversation.
Hopefully, this will be the start of a series. I already have ideas about the next two artists I want to bring. The main challenge is funding -- it isn't cheap to bring art works from another continent!
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