Contemporary - Pulitzer

Contemporary: Miami Mia

Have you ever felt jealous but, at the same time, secretly relieved? That's how I am feeling today. Shannon (Chief Curator and my boss), Paul (Director), Lisa (Deputy Director) and Boo (Director of Development, Education and Outreach) are all currently at 35,000 feet heading south to Miami Beach.

Art Basel, one of the newer art fairs, has begun. It will run through the end of this week and our team has gone down with the Contemporary's Collectors Club. It actually sounds like a great trip: the ability to tour scores of galleries under one or two roofs, visiting private collections and, of course, attending (some) parties. However, for Shannon and the others it is non-stop work: hosting events, interpreting art and artists, and introducing collectors to gallerists.

There are some excellent blogs out there if you wish to keep track of what is happening, see MAN for a list. As you read about the art, artists and parties, remember it is not all fun and games for many of the people who are attending, my colleagues included. However if you should find any of them mentioned on the blogs as having too much fun, please let me know.   (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Snowfall

Today is an excellent day to be inside working, because outside it is bitterly cold.  (At least, it is for those of us spoiled lately by 50 degree weather).  As snow flurries have come and gone throughout the day, I thought it would be fun to show a few wintertime pictures of Joe.  One of the many advantages of having this work outdoors are the differing effects created by the elements.  The experience of walking through Joe dramatically changes depending on how blue the sky is, if the steel is a darker red from rain, if its a night full of stars, or if the curves of the sculpture are highlighted by bright white snow.  If it has to stay this cold, I at least hope the snow keeps falling so we can see this in person.  If there's a specific time of day or type of weather that has affected your visit of Joe, I would love to hear about it.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Back to it

Like many of you, those of us in the office had a long weekend, so today's activities are all about catching up on work that has backed up during the holidays.  I have been busy drafting an interview for the upcoming catalog of the Great Rivers Biennial 2006 winners.  It is proving to be a new challenge for me transitioning from writing academic papers at university for one reader toward something scholarly yet accessible for the many visitors we have. The best advice I've received so far is to read lots and lots and lots, including gallery guides from other institutions, books on the subject matter, current periodicals etc... The list is never ending but it all contributes to making me a better museum professional, which is why I am here!   (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Thanksgiving

Sunday's Post-Dispatch had a fantastic review of Minimalism and Beyond and the Saint Louis Art Museum's Minimal Art from St. Louis Collections.  The article was a full page, so it's been subdivided online.  Here are the two links: First, David Bonetti writes on "Minimalism Then and Now" and our continuing collaboration with the Saint Louis Symphony and second, he discusses the exhibitions at both the Pulitzer and SLAM.  So read the articles, and over your Thanksgiving holiday weekend visit both installations to see what you think. 

Speaking of, the blog is going on hiatus for the holiday and we'll be back next Monday.  Happy Thanksgiving!  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Visiting Curator Talk

Last Thursday, I invited you to come and hear Dominic Molon, Curator at MCA Chicago, give a presentation of his time at the MCA.  While here, he also visited the studios of eight local artists that he selected from an open call we put out last month. What I found most interesting about the talk was his own personal progress through the ranks. Joining MCA as a research assistant in 1995 after graduate school he was curating his first exhibition by the age of 25, and has never looked back, it seems.

He presented a selection of the artists and exhibitions he has worked on, including, Paul Pfeiffer, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Gillian Wearing, Stalemate, etc. I personally saw similar threads throughout his chosen artists and some of the MCA's collection works he was showing.  Recurrent themes such as "creepy", the questioning of cultural stereotypes, and size (monumental and miniature), were all very present in the images and stories he relayed.

It was very encouraging to hear someone progressing so well through one institution and being given the opportunity to develop his own exhibitions and ideas.  Also, the feedback received from artists who were visited by Mr. Molon has been very positive, proving that this seven year old idea of inviting our colleagues to visit and view St. Louis art is still a fresh and important program.   (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Construction

Here's a picture for your Friday afternoon:

I've already posted about the installation of Joe (click here and also here), but I'd like to relay stories from the building's construction as well.  Because this happened before my time here, I am going to ask around for exciting information and images like the one above, which shows the construction of the watercourt.  If you've ever had a question about this process just ask me, and I will make sure to find the answer for my posts.

In the meantime, here's some reading for you to start your weekend with.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Day for Artists

Somebody once insinuated that an institutional blog is a way for us to extend our marketing prowess and shamelessly flaunt our events and programming.  I can't say that isn't tempting, but the whole purpose is for us to keep you informed of the other layers that occur before/during/after our events.  For example, we have invited prominent curator Dominic Molon from the MCA, Chicago down for a couple of days to visit local artists and also give us a lecture this evening (7pm). This is our first of two Visiting Critics and Curators series for the season.

Who is he visiting? Scheduled for studio visits are the three Great Rivers Biennial artists; Moses, Jason Wallace Triefenbach and Matthew Strauss, plus Leslie Mutchler, Jamie Adams, Andrew Milner, Jason Wednesday Miller and Juan Chavez.

How were they selected? We held an open call for all graduated artists to submit their slides. They were then packaged up and sent off to Mr. Molon who viewed them all at his leisure.  He then selected the artists he would like to meet and examine their work in person.

What will he talk about? Actually, I have no idea, - so this is the shameless marketing - come along tonight and find out.
(Mark)

The Pulitzer: A Day in the Life of a Registrar

This blog will occasionally feature posts called, "A Day in the Life of...".  Elise, the Pulitzer's Assistant Registrar, writes today about the installation of a work of art:

How many museum officials does it take to install a Roni Horn gold piece?  In our case, it took seven: a registrar, a chairman of the board, a director, two art handlers, a courier from the lending institution, and a photographer/assistant registrar (me).  Actually the process was just so interesting that a crowd seemed to gather at installation time.

The work is comprised of two sheets of pure gold, each of which has the qualities of a thick piece of foil. 

The first sheet was placed on the ground (on top of a protective sheet of Mylar) and was smoothed as flat as possible.  The second sheet, which has the same dimensions, was placed on top of the first. 

The courier then lightly grasped one corner of the top sheet and, pulling upward, created the undulations in the gold.  This process was repeated at each corner--all the while the bottom sheet remains flat on the ground.  It is an inexact process, and a slightly different composition is created each time Gold Mats, Paired (For Ross and Felix) is installed.

The work is an interesting piece to view on the Mezzanine level where there is lots of natural light, and where the adjacent bamboo garden and watercourt can be seen.  Although visitors can walk around the piece, PLEASE BE SURE TO KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE AT ALL TIMES.  I wouldn't be a registrar if I didn't put that in all capital letters!  (Elise, Assistant Registrar)

Contemporary: Changing Plans

Sorry for being late today. I was planning on doing a tour for some acquaintances and then informing you of how it went, but unfortunately they have rescheduled for Friday, so I can't.  Instead let me share the real highpoint of my day.

Brainstorming, or any method of generating ideas, can be exhilarating. Yesterday Liz (intern) and myself did a little bit of brainstorming concerning the next show and what educational resources might be introduced. Liz has done an excellent job researching other contemporary spaces and introducing us to some of their programs and techniques. Of course, nobody likes to "steal" ideas but then who was it that said there is no such thing as original thought? We have been reviewing our artists and their work, thought of our resources, and with some new programming initiatives we are ready to take the next step forward. We are settling on interaction, knowledge based, creative opportunity and even something for the couch potatoes. What did we decide? Our opening on January 20th will reveal all.  In the meantime, I need to investigate how many square feet we have to fill with...(fill in the blank).  (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Memories of a Gallery

The view down our Main Gallery towards Kelly's Blue Black is powerful.  Here's a look back, showing how different artworks have interacted with the space and the Kelly in the distance.

Selected Works by Ellsworth Kelly from St. Louis Collections

Sculpture and Drawings by Richard Serra

Exploring Ando's Space: Art and the Spiritual

Brancusi and Serra in Dialogue

Minimalism and Beyond

Art work installed in that gallery seems to stay in visitors' memories more than any other.  People still mention how they remember those Asmat Ancestor Poles installed during Art and the Spiritual.  Though looking through these pictures, it's really hard for me to pick a favorite. (Rachel)

 

Contemporary: Gallery View III

So, you’re at the Contemporary – it’s such a lovely day, and this is your first time here- how exciting! Just soak up the art around you – luxuriate in the glow of the soft overhead lighting – lose yourself to the soothing hum of conversations, and that strange thumping music in the distance. Relax with a fresh cup of joe and a tasty bite to eat at Puck’s Café.  Peruse all of the fabulous books, trinkets and baubles at the Muse gift shop. Have a seat in the mod, new upstairs reading nook and broaden your mind.  Please, enjoy yourself as you stroll across the cool concrete of the spacious art galleries. But you better stay behind that line, buster! Sure, you want to touch the artwork, you want to take a photo and capture this amazing experience on film, you desperately want to jump over that line, but please resist the urge. Never fear, I’m going to help keep you respectable; I’m going to keep you out of trouble. I’m a gallery attendant; it’s what I do. Believe me, I have been in your position before, becoming so immersed in the art experience, that perhaps you even experience signs of Stendhal Syndrome.  If you do faint, I’ll help bring you back to reality and if you have any questions concerning the artwork, artists, "how to get upstairs", art proposals, architecture, and most importantly "where the bathroom is", I will be more than happy to answer them for you. Please, don’t be timid in approaching me, I’m actually rather friendly and insightful, I don’t bite.  Don’t be offended if I seem to be keeping an eye on you throughout your visit, I haven’t singled you out as a suspicious character; I’m just doing my job. It’s a delicate balance of nonchalance and authority. I really enjoy working at the Contemporary, and being in the midst of the St.Louis art scene. It’s wonderful to work in such a creative hub and to be surrounded by artists of every variety (painters, jewelry makers, musicians, printmakers, photographers, writers, etc), and that’s just the gallery attendants.  My favorite exhibition so far, in my time here, is actually the current one: Cindy Sherman and Girls' Night Out.  I relate to it, both as an artist and as a young woman; the show is a collection of photography and video art created by women and focusing mainly on female subjects. Most of the artwork requires a second or even a third look to get to the core of the image. The art isn’t necessarily beautiful, but it is definitely emotive, honest, and provocative.  Please make it a point to visit the museum and see all of this wonderful artwork for yourself.  Perhaps I’ll be there and as you start to get lost in the artwork, I’ll remind you not to get too close…but I promise to be nice.   (Laura, Gallery Assistant)

The Pulitzer: Picture from the Past

Today, while working on a PowerPoint presentation, I came across this picture:

  Since it is from Exploring Ando's Space: Art and the Spiritual, and on view before this blog was in existence, I thought I'd share it with our readers.  You can see Jacques Lipchitz's Figure at the entrance, and two enamels by Pierre Reymond, The Deposition of Christ and Entombment of Christ.

Figure welcomed visitors as they entered the Pulitzer, though how welcoming its gaze really was is questionable.  Instead of making the sculpture ten inches high as originally planned, a collector Lipchitz knew, Madame Tachard, encouraged him to enlarge it for the entrance hall to her house.  She must have changed her mind, because after living with it for only a short while she sent the sculpture back, unable to handle its penetrating stare and overwhelming presence.  This stare was almost hypnotizing in the Pulitzer's entryway--pulling visitors through the doors and into the exhibition.

These two enamels from the 16th century were installed in a way they had never been before (and probably in a way that Pierre Reymond never could have imagined).  They were presented right against the Ando concrete, and almost looked like they were floating on the wall.  But how was this done, without a) ruining the concrete, b) showing the mounts and c) compromising the safety of the objects?  A Plexiglas box was created to completely enclose the two enamels.  This was mounted on the concrete by taking advantage of an already-existing aspect of the architecture.  Some of the tie holes (which are the circular indentations found regularly throughout the concrete) are hollow, and four of these were opened and filled with an epoxy.  The four corners of the vitrine were then screwed into the hardened epoxy.  The mount maker created brackets to attach to the back of the Plexiglas and hold the enamels in place.  All that was definitely worth it--the way the colors of the enamel glowed against the cool, gray concrete was unbelievable.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Museum Blogs

Mike Schuh (of podcasting fame) recently typed "Museum Podcast" into Google and the Contemporary appears on the front page. When we went one step further and typed, "Contemporary Podcast", we were placed at the top of the page and therefore became the "I'm feeling lucky" link. This got me to thinking about our dear blog. We have been live for some 82 entries now...that is several months to you and me.. have we been successful in being noticed by the big search engines? What other museum type blogs are out there? Has our precedent set other institutions into collaborative projects?

A cursory glance through Google's initial "museum blogs" search doesn't reveal much.  Our catchy name "Contemporary-Pulitzer" (We also enjoy MAN's reference to us as Pulitemporary) does not really pinpoint us as a "museum blog" and therefore, a search using that phrase wasn't able to locate our blog. Notwithstanding, we have been discovered by colleague bloggers and continue to be visited by increasing numbers every week.

I thought it would be nice to have a quick run through of blogs that are similar and blogs who have recently found us.  Take a look for more inside perspectives on museum life:

http://www.blogbusinesssummit.com/archives/2005/10/museum_marketin.htm

http://eyeteeth.blogspot.com/2005/08/so-meta-museum-blogger-on-museum-blogs.html

http://blogs.walkerart.org/offcenter/?p=5

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/abstracts/prg_300000749.html

http://portmoodystationmuseum.blogspot.com/

http://museumsandtheweb.blogspot.com/

(Mark)

The Pulitzer: More Flavin

How to install Untitled by Dan Flavin:

-Must use 2 foot daylights and the 4 foot cool white bulbs. 

-The work should be installed 66 inches from the floor.

Here's an image from the installation of Untitled.  Tiffany Bell in her lecture last week spoke about how interesting it is to have to wear gloves and use art handlers to move light bulbs and light fixtures.

   A hole had to be put into the wall behind the fixture, so the cord could run to an electrical outlet and still remain out of sight.

Here's Untitled completely installed with the overhead lights still on.

What a difference no overhead lighting makes.

Here's a quote by Dan Flavin, about his first fluorescent light work, the diagonal of May 25, 1963 :

"The radiant tube and the shadow cast by its pan seemed ironic enough to hold on alone.  There was no need to compose this lamp in place; it implanted itself directly, dynamically, dramatically in my workroom wall--a buoyant and relentless gaseous image which, through brilliance, betrayed its physical presence into approximate invisibility."  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Neighborly Conduct

What are neighbors for? Last Thursday I received a panicked telephone call from Rachel at the Pulitzer, "I need a favor", "How can I be of help?" I replied in a helpful and expectant manner. "We have a breakfast meeting and we don't have any milk". "Well, let me see, we have Tempt (our cafe) downstairs, perhaps I can ask them if they have any to spare. How much do you need?". "It doesn't matter, just get me some milk!" came the antagonized reply. "OK! let me see what I can do".

I asked Martha in Tempt very nicely and she let me take a full carton over to share with our normally-so-well-prepared colleagues. Rachel was naturally extremely grateful to me for saving her neck and lucrative career, and I got entry into the Pulitzer on a day they are closed to the public. Just for being a great neighbor.  (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Last Night's Lecture

Last night the Saint Louis Art Museum presented a lecture with Tiffany Bell, co-curator of Dan Flavin A Retrospective which just closed in Chicago.  Her talk was entitled "Fluorescent Light as Art" and I thought I would post a few of the interesting points she raised.

Flavin used fluorescent lights in his art work, not neon.  I never knew this, but neon lights are typically used for individualized purposes, such as specific signage, whereas fluorescent lights are used in more everyday situations, such as overhead lighting.

Tiffany Bell is currently working on Flavin's Catalogue Raisonnee.  Some of the interesting challenges she noted were the fact that his works are easy to copy, the lights are commercially available only as long as the companies who create them are still in business, and that his works are ephemeral.  About this ephemeral quality, Flavin compared his exhibitions to being like a traveling minstrel who presents his song and then disappears.

Another interesting challenge of Flavin's work is authenticity.  He first treated the lights as sculptures and would sign the bulbs.  However, this was problematic when the lights burned out and had to be replaced.  He quickly stopped doing that and would instead sell the works with a drawing and installation details.  After that he started creating certificates of authenticity--first statements on gallery stationary, and then more formal certificates which included detailed descriptions and a seal.  Unfortunately, some thought owning a certificate meant they could recreate his works at will, which Flavin opposed.  If someone lost or discarded the purchased fixtures but still had his certificate, Flavin would not recreate the work. He would also not reissue lost certificates.  This was to promote the care of his art work.

Another interesting aspect she spoke about was editions and dates for his work.  She mentioned how he carried a notebook with him to make drawings and would date these.  The art work then may not be actually created for many years, but he would date it based on that original drawing and conception.

Flavin had 10 colors of storebought lights that he used:  pink, yellow, blue, green, red, ultraviolet, and four different whites.  He learned how to mix the lights to create different colors and effects.

Here's a picture of the Flavin in our exhibition, paired with Roni Horn's Untitled (Yes).  (Rachel)

   

Contemporary: Hot Air?

Today was passing by, and I felt like I still had nothing to "blog" about.  I spent the morning trying to get some writing together for our upcoming issue of Mesh, and there was no way that would be interesting enough for loyal readers. And then it happened, a flash out of my left eye, what is this?

A giant white balloon is being filled in the courtyard.  Do you think we have enough hot air in here to fill it? Perhaps that's a little cheeky, so I will confirm no art or museum professionals were harmed or will be harmed by this inflatable projection screen for tonight's Select Night. Come on down between 6 and 9 pm to see for yourself what it's all about.    (Mark)

UPDATE:
Unfortunately, this now will not be happening outside due to the unpleasant gusts of wind, however there will still be a "wee" one inside on which videos and color will be projected.

The Pulitzer: After the Concert

It's hard to describe the music that was performed at last night's chamber music concert, but I thought I could at least give you a visual idea of the event and share some of the photos with you.

Here is the audience sitting on the stairs in the Main Gallery that leads down towards Blue Black.  It was a full house, even with standing room in the back and along the side.

Audience members either sat on the steps, like in this picture, or in chairs at the top, landing, and bottom of the stairway.

Here's David Robertson speaking before the concert.  He gave an introduction to each piece, which was not only helpful for those of us unaccustomed to contemporary chamber music, but also was very insightful and added a new layer to each performance.

  Here are the musicians mid-performance.  I think my favorite was the last piece they played, which was by the composer David Lang, and full of surprising sounds that seemed to come at you from every direction.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: No Easy Street

We are all about behind-the-scenes on this blog. However there is perhaps a false impression that because we work behind-the-scenes we get to schmooz, meet all these fantastic people who come to speak here and get free VIP seating.  Michael Kimmelman was in town on Friday and it was a sell-out.  There was standing room only, for myself and most of the staff included.  However, our new idea of projecting the lecture onto a screen in the lobby seems to be working well, and I was able to see and hear all he had to say. For those not familiar with his work, Mr. Kimmelman also spoke earlier in the day on KWMU's radio program, St. Louis on the Air.

In addition to many interesting personal stories from throughout his career - including wading through a salt lake in the middle of winter - he spoke of his favorite museums (Louisiana Museum, Denmark) and his not so favorite ones too (Getty Museum). From the inside track, he is an affable and engaging man, maybe forthright in his views (I certainly disagreed with him on some things), but that is his occupation after all. 

My own role at the lecture was to greet all who arrived and distribute the important neon green armbands which entitled the holder to a seat. It was great to welcome members and their friends to such an exciting event. Thank you all for coming; I hope Mr. Kimmelman gave you something to ponder.     (Mark)