Contemporary - Pulitzer

Contemporary: Ready for More?

Time for the white cube purists to become interested in our galleries. Here you can see our pristine walls with our Chief Curator's very rough layout. There are forty-five artists included in Contemporary Masterworks: Saint Louis Collects which means alot of wall space will be disappearing. It also means there are a huge amount of permutations so these 'stick-on suggestions' will change.        (Mark)

             

            

P.S. I have also added a new photo album, "Twinkie-Cam" from Dada Ball.

The Pulitzer: Eliasson tonight; SLU this weekend

As I wrote in my last post, tonight the Pulitzer will be hosting a roundtable discussion with Olafur Eliasson.  I've heard a few of the topics that will be discussed, and thought I'd share a couple as a teaser:

Eliasson will discuss his reaction to the Pulitzer's installation, Minimalism and Beyond, and whether he would place his work in this category of "beyond".  He will also talk about his own position (whether positive or negative) on the legacy of Minimalism.

Other topics covered by the panelists will be how visitors physically relate to artwork, and if physical interaction is a key issue for Eliasson.

If you're interested in hearing further discussion on the above topics and more, call 314-935-9347 and come to tonight's lecture.

Additionally, this Saturday from 4:30-6:30pm is "The Pulitzer by SLU".  I wrote about the event a few posts ago, and Amy wrote about the collaboration with Saint Louis University students here.  Student docents from SLU will be throughout the galleries to discuss the exhibition with visitors.  Those with a SLU ID also have a chance to win packages from local institutions.  We're hoping this will encourage further exploration, not only of the Pulitzer, but also of our neighborhood. Our next student event "After Hours at the Pulitzer" will be on Thursday, April 13th, and students from throughout the St. Louis area are invited to attend.  More info to come.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Rollin' Out

It's all over. I have just witnessed Moses' truck leaving the galleries. A simple jack and some of Brandon's muscle power got it out. I was wanting to get you some pictures, alas the camera is being used elsewhere.
Instead, let's talk about the upcoming exhibitions; here is the official line Contemporary_Masterworks: Saint Louis Collects and The_Collectibles, I have just visited "Registrar Mike"  with Rebecca (she has worked extensively on The Collectibles) and saw some fabulous items I am now coveting. My favorite was Ballistic Rose by Tobias Wong. This is made from "black fabric covering ballistic nylon" and looks super, shame Valentine's Day has passed! What kind of message would that send, a gift of a black bullet proof rose? My challenge to you this afternoon, is to find the rose on Citizen-Citizen' s website, they are selling editions (let me know the price if you find it).  I am not the only one secretly excited by the volume of art and objects, I can confidently exclaim this next show will include the most objects ever seen at the Contemporary, that itself should entice you to visit.   (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Eliasson discussion

This Thursday at 8pm, the Pulitzer will host a roundtable discussion called "Art, Technology and the Sublime" with the artist Olafur Eliasson.  The discussion will also include Sabine Eckmann (Director of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University), Matthias Waschek (our Director), and will be moderated by Lutz Koepnick (Professor of Germanic languages, Literatures, Film and Media at Wash U). 

In prep for the evening, check out Eliasson's website (I know I'll need to).  Also, check out the subjects being discussed at the Wash U symposium this weekend, entitled "After the Digital Divide".  According to this site, the symposium will "investigate the legacy of German aesthetic and critical theory as seen against the spreading background of digital culture since the 1990s." Each of the people involved in the Pulitzer discussion are either of a German background or live in Germany, so it will be interesting to see how their own experiences and observations play in.  If you are also curious, visit the Pulitzer on Wednesday, and then come hear what he has to say on Thursday.  To reserve a space you can call 314-935-9347 or email samfoxschool@wustl.edu.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Last Day

Today (Sunday) was the final day for the Great Rivers Biennial exhibitions.  Since arriving at the Contemporary (August 2004) this was the exhibition that I worked on the most, from the call of artists' submissions at the start (March 2005) to label copy before the opening (Jan 2006) and now to compiling the exhibition folder and archiving the materials at the end. While tidying up some loose ends I bumped into one of the artists Matthew Strauss, he was down giving it a final visit too.  Sad days for all, within three days the walls will be empty again and being prepared for the next selection of works to be installed.  If you want to reminisce with Matt and I then please listen to our podcasts about the show, there are interviews with the artists and essays read for your listening pleasure (guess which is me!!).   (Mark, sniff)

The Pulitzer: Underbelly

Those of you who have visited the Pulitzer (or visited this blog) are probably pretty familar with what our building looks like.  But have you ever wondered what lies beneath?  Here are a few pictures (click to enlarge)--check out all of the ducts and pipes!  Have you ever seen a basement quite like this? I'm going to follow up on this soon by interviewing our facilities manager, Steve, and ask him what exactly all of these pipes do... (Rachel)

Contemporary: Team Effort

It is only mid-afternoon and I have so far sent out 400 postcards, aren't I super efficient? Well, maybe it is time to confess and offer much gratitude to the team of gallery attendants who are excellent in completing repetitive and dull tasks. 
Our next exhibition Contemporary Masterworks opens in three weeks time.  In advance of the opening, as with many other galleries and museums we send a postcard to notify our members, colleagues, funders, sponsors, and anyone interested.  The mail house was not able to send one of our lists (400 names) and so it needed to be done manually.  After some database manipulations and mail merging by me, I enlisted able fingered gallery attendants to peel and stick (addresses) then peel and stick (stamps). The postcards were then ready and waiting for the postman to collect.  Excellent team work saves the day once again.   (Mark)
P.S. Here is what the postcard looks like for those who are not yet on our mailing list.

The Pulitzer: Stats

You might not realize this, but I know if you have visited our website.  Ok, maybe not you personally.  But we are able to monitor the statistics not only on our website, but also the web catalogue, and even this blog.  We do this to get a sense of who our visitors are, what interests them, and in how far our website is really efficient.  Here are a few of the things I've recently discovered about you (our website visitor):

Our most popular page is the one on Tadao Ando.  It's visited even more than our home page!  This is pretty interesting, so I thought I'd investigate further.  It turns out the page where most people link to us is Ando's website.  Mystery solved!  The top five languages of our web visitors are English, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.  The top keyword used to search for us is "Pulitzer Foundation".  The most jumps from a "popular site" are from Google.  I could go on and on. 

If you have a favorite page that you visit, it's reflected in the stats.  If you live in Iceland and visit us, it's reflected in the stats.  If you search for the blog using "best blog ever", it's reflected in the stats. If you really want to make an impact on our stats, just visit our web catalogue! *hint, hint* (Rachel)

Contemporary: Parlez vous anglais?

I had a very early early start this morning.  Arising at 3:00am to make a phone call to the Centre Pompidou in Paris with a failed attempt to organize a tour. Our Arts Desire Auction last year included a Parisian trip, the gentleman who purchased this is now looking to take the trip and I volunteered to coordinate the museum tours. 

I have already been successful in securing the small group a tour at the Palais de Tokyo, however the Pompidou has so far managed to elude me.  It has become an interesting challenge to book a group tour in one of the most visited museums in the world (averaging 4 million visitors a year).  My language skills are as accomplished as my knitting so I was that annoying foreigner calling and asking for an English speaker.  My first telephone call to Paris found an English speaker and I was advised that group bookings are only taken during a three hour period, this window of opportunity turns out to be between 3 and 6 am CST.  Hence my early rise only to discover we were unable to communicate because of my atrocious pigeon-French.

This morning's experience has left me feeling embarrassed both at not remembering the 4 years of French I 'learned' during high school and at my expectation to find someone at the Pompidou who spoke my language.  In the Midwest we rarely hear foreign languages or even accents coming from visitors and so we do not allocate resources to bi-lingual labels etc.  I may need to ask for Rachel's students to get up early tomorrow morning for me instead!!   (Mark)

P.S. Just in, I received a fax this afternoon in response to my first fax on March 10th, confirming the tour has been set-up. Maybe this morning's early rise was worth it.

The Pulitzer: Posters on Campus

The first of two student events is coming soon--on April 1st, from 4:30-6:30pm.  It's called "The Pulitzer by SLU" and focuses on the program Amy recently wrote about.  Students from Saint Louis University, who have trained throughout the semester to be docents for Minimalism and Beyond, will be on hand to discuss the exhibition.  It'll be a chance for students and faculty to explore their neighborhood (SLU is only a few blocks away from the Pulitzer), hang out with friends from school while enjoying (free!) refreshments in the courtyard (St. Louis April weather permitting...) and explore the Pulitzer in the evening (when we'd typically be closed).  I'm going to be writing posts in the next few weeks about how the planning for this, and the "After Hours at the Pulitzer" event, is coming along. 

Today, was full of posters.  I've recently learned that you have to complete one extra step before distributing them on campus.  To do this, they need to receive a stamp of approval (literally), so the university is in-the-know.  Today, Amy took the poster over to the administrative offices where they stamped us with a date which allows us to distribute to our heart's content until April 2nd.  After she got the stamp, she brought it back here, where I made (what seems like) a million copies.  They will then be delivered to Shawn Smith, who is the student docents' professor.  She'll distribute them to the students who will then distribute them on campus. Soon they'll be handed out in classes, given to professors, put in mailboxes, posted throughout buildings, offered at an informational table on campus, and so on. So if you're at SLU, be on the lookout. (Rachel) 

Contemporary: DADA from the floor

Well, the word is out, DADA was a hit! Not to mention a feast for the eyes as well. The DADA movement was notorious for its risque and wild parties. I think it is fair to say we lived up to our namesakes.

As I weaved my way through the Contemporary Saturday night, I  took it all in. From a Giant Twinkie tossing cupcakes at the dancing throngs to delicate spring trees, adorned with what else but women's lingerie. The cocktail hour was from 7pm - 8pm and guests were invited to relax with their drinks on ghostly furniture with hay bales as their coffee tables.

And of course, who could forget the opportunity to mingle with the St. Louis Rams' cheerleaders in attendance. Performance artists danced on liquid soap in the courtyard as the thunderstorms began to roll in. The bar area featured a voyeuristic performance with a naked woman silhouetted in a canopied bed as an onlooker filmed her.

Just when the mind seemed to be filled to the brink with surreal visuals...was that a horse that just passed the window?? Yes, coming up the sidewalk and into the museum was Honorary Host, Carson Kressley of "Queer Eye" riding a white stallion! He leaped off the horse and welcomed everyone to DADA.

If all that somehow wasn't enough to put one into sensory overload, welcome to the After-Party. The thunderstorm was in full force now, but that did not stop the over 300 guests waiting to join the festivities at 10pm. Suddenly the museum was filled with people in all types of costumes. Remember Bjork at the Academy Awards in the infamous swan dress? Yeah, that made an appearance. Green faces, dead birds adorned hats, dinner jackets coated in flowers. The list goes on and on. There was a candy store that handed beautifully wrapped pieces of raw meat. Some got to work on Destroy-a-Bear workshop. Right in the middle of all the dancing was an intense chess match between the Americans and the Russians - WOW! And hopefully nobody missed the performances by the burlesque pole dancers.

So all in all, it was just a quiet evening at the Contemporary. Right! Now you know when someone invites you to a DADA Ball, you had better expect the unexpected.   (Erinn, organizer of Dada Ball)

The Pulitzer: Choosing an Image

The opening of Hiroshi Sugimoto: Photographs of "Joe" is less than two months away, which means preparations are starting to pick up some steam. 

This week, I have been busy working on advertisements to send to magazines before their deadlines (which are generally around 1 1/2 to 2 months prior to publication).  Work has also begun on the exhibition postcards.  For this I sent our graphic designer, Bruce, the pertinent information (name of the exhibition, date of the opening, etc.) and a brief description of what will be on view.  It can be tricky to sum up an entire exhibition in just a few sentences.  Here's our paragraph for Sugimoto:

"During a visit to the Pulitzer in 2003, Hiroshi Sugimoto intended to take photographs of the building, designed by his fellow countryman Tadao Ando.  Instead, he quickly focused on Richard Serra's sculpture Joe, a torqued spiral sculpture that was commissioned for the Pulitzer's courtyard.  Using a photographic technique involving areas of extremely soft light and blurred darkness, Sugimoto sculpted views that seem like aspects of visual memory.  Nineteen of these images will be presented."

We also chose an image this week that will represent the exhibition on both the postcards and advertisements.  With nineteen photographs to choose from, this is a tough decision.  This is the one we went with...it has a beautiful combination of the sculpture's curves, the shadows those curves create, and the clouds and sky. 

Be on the lookout for this photo in magazines and around town in just a few short weeks. (Rachel)   

Contemporary: Ball Pictures

Before all the St. Louis magazines and gossip columns have time to be printed I felt you deserved a little leak or two from Saturday night - Gawker Style.  The newest edition to our photo album includes photographs I took before and during the ball.  Can you spot the trees draped in underwear, performance art pieces involving Russian and American chess players, lots of 'happy' donors and of course the fact there is no art on the walls which made a lot of the craziness possible.
Were you there? Are you included in the photographs? Have you any exciting stories to share? Are you the mysterious man in a blazer being sought out?  Be in touch.       (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Notes from the Concert

While the Contemporary was having a Ball (which I'm really interested to read about in tomorrow's post), the Pulitzer was busy with the third chamber concert in the Minimalism and Beyond series.  Pascal Rophe, who was the guest conductor last week at the Symphony, was here to talk about and conduct pieces by Donatoni and Grisey.  A member of SLSO told me before the concert that Vortex Temporum by Grisey was the most complicated piece performed at the Pulitzer thus far.  Sitting on the steps listening, I could see what he meant.  If you ever have a chance to see it performed, be sure to watch the facial expressions of the musicians--especially the pianist.  You can just see how physically difficult the music must be to play. 

Beforehand, Rophe described Grisey as being a part of the spectral music movement.  I'd never heard of that before, but I found this description online:  "a conscious effort to create new harmonies (in a departure from serialist traditions) by basing music on prescribed harmonic pitch series or spectra."  In an interview on this particular website, Grisey responds to questions about the movement by saying, "Spectralism is not a system.  It's not a system like serial music or even tonal music.  It's an attitude.  It considers sounds, not as dead objects that you can easily and arbitrarily permutate in all directions, but as being like living objects with a birth, lifetime and death....try to find a better equation between concept and precept--between the concept of the score and the perception the audience might have of it." Click on this link if you're interested in reading the full interview.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: NAN News

I know you are all on the edge of your seat about our Dada event on Saturday.  Was Carson a diva? Did the horse 'do' anything on our precious concrete floor?  What exactly was the pole for?  You will need to sit tight until Wednesday, when I will be in a better position to elaborate, with images.  My desk has sand all over it, the camera is loaded with pictures and there is money to be counted (not my job anymore!). Meanwhile here is one of our New Art student's take on the NAN program.  (Mark)

New Art in the Neighborhood has given me the opportunity to become more involved in the art community and provided an outlet for my creative energies. I have enjoyed getting to know established artists and their work while developing my own art alongside (for the most part) serious students. And I have to admit, free pizza is nice. (Justin Rulo-Sabe)

(Justin dressed in a  bubble-wrap highland dress for Jason Wallace Triefenbach's video piece Hero Compromised)

The Pulitzer: Dada + Concert = Good Times in Grand Center

Tomorrow night, it's going to be hoppin' in Grand Center.  Not only does the Contemporary have their Dada Ball, but we have our next concert in the Minimalism and Beyond series.  Normally, when a concert is held on a day that we are closed, the musicians can set-up and rehearse the day before.  However, tomorrow we are open to the public, so the gallery space has to be clear.  Musicians will arrive right after we close, set-up, and go through a dress rehearsal.  Right now the piano tuner is here, and I can here him testing each note on the pianos (two pianos to be exact).

Here's the line-up for tomorrow night:

Donatoni   Etwas ruhiger im Ausdruck (1967)
Susanna Self Huppert, Flute
Scott Andrews, Clarinet
Peter Henderson, Piano
Eva Kozma, Violin
Ken Kulosa, Cello

Grisey  Vortex temporum (1994-96)
Daria Binkowski, Flute
Scott Andrews, Clarinet
Jim Meyer, Bass Clarinet
Peter Henderson, Piano
Alison Harney, Violin
Kathleen Matthis, Viola
Ken Kulosa, Cello

Two points I learned from the Symphony, that I'm going to try and listen for tomorrow night: 

Donatoni named his piece after the eighth bar of Schoenberg's piano piece Op. 23 No. 2.  About this, Donatoni said "One always finds it difficult...to understand what is going on at that point.  There is something elusive in those few notes, something which evades what must happen and invites one to think about what can happen." His piece is a high-speed example of what could have happened in the Schoenberg piece.

Grisey was fascinated by the notion of time, and his piece subtly plays on the idea of the duration of sound.  The work swirls with repeated sounds that "metamorphose into different fields of time".

Interesting. If you're curious to hear what that sounds like, there are tickets still available by clicking here, or calling 314-534-1700.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Our blog is helpful

Just in case anyone is in any doubt about the validity of our blog here are two good reasons to subscribe:

1. Rachel's very helpful post last month concerning securing image reproduction rights is something I needed to revisit this afternoon as we prepare for the next exhibition; Contemporary Masterworks: Saint Louis Collects.  Before we can publish our brochure, or include images in press packets we need to speak with galleries, artists, collectors and some estates to obtain rights.  Very helpful post indeed Rachel, thank you.

2. This blog continues to enlighten the world on what can and does happen behind the museum's closed doors.  Just to confirm, there will be no art harmed at this weekend's Dada Ball, contrary to the original movement's ideas.  I have discovered some interesting words within the run of show and took a key picture earlier today to help you piece things together.
"Dancing girls", "Carson arrives", "Bull Horn", "best costume award", "tossing cupcakes", and my job for some of the evening "coat check"!!!   (Mark)

The Pulitzer: SLU Students

What is it that makes an art institution so unapproachable to some people?  Possibly the fear of being uncomfortable in a quiet situation, or maybe being faced with something they don't understand.  Whatever it is, a few students have taken the task of addressing the issue with their fellow students at Saint Louis University.  The class has joined with Rachel and the Pulitzer in helping to put on a SLU event at the Pulitzer coming up on Saturday, April 1st, from 4:30pm -- 6:30pm.

Being a part of both the SLU community and as a student and a piece of the Pulitzer puzzle as an intern and gallery assistant, I have noticed, as have many others, the barrier that is found at the crossing of Lindell Blvd., which separates the university from the Pulitzer.  The class has been making the trek across Lindell since the start of the semester, and is now brainstorming ways in which to get the rest of the SLU community to follow in their footsteps.

With ideas ranging from an ad in the student newspaper to putting a pile of candy in the quad, these graduate and undergraduate level Pulitzer stars are looking for any way to bridge the gap between Washington Blvd. and Lindell.  At the SLU event, the students and the Pulitzer hope to make the art and institution more approachable and accessible.  With the students acting as docents to the visitors along side other gallery assistants, many of whom are also SLU students, the visitors are given an opportunity to discuss the art with their contemporaries.

By addressing the question of why an art institution seems unapproachable to students, these SLU students have found ways to connect the Pulitzer to their university.  I hope more of the SLU community can conquer their fears and follow these students across Lindell to join us all at the event in April.  (Amy, intern and gallery assistant)   

Contemporary: Dada

What does Dada mean to you?

• Is it the nihilistic art movement of the 1920s?
• Is it the first words you/your child uttered?
• Does it mean the Contemporary's bi-annual fundraising event?

Yes it is that time of year again, when we as museum professionals ask our patrons for ongoing support, in return throw a party and arrange money-can't-buy opportunities, like last years Superbowl tickets, trips to museums with curators, etc.  Last year's Arts Desire auction and evening event was memorable, was it for the hot pink lips I wore across my chest? (on a t-shirt).

This year will no doubt be equally entertaining, with Carson Kressley from Queer Eye as Honorary Ball Chair and a special opportunity to thank our outgoing Board Chair Susan Sherman.  I am going to harangue organizer Erinn to find out what to expect, meanwhile you need to get your outfit organized.    (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Aglow

One of my favorite aspects of the Pulitzer is how different times of day, even different times of year, have a dramatic effect on the lighting in the galleries.  For example, light bouncing off the watercourt can create a variety of patterns on the walls, or light coming through the skylight occasionally creates a blue halo around Blue Black. 

A bonus of Minimalism and Beyond is the way some of these works of art create effects of their own depending on the time of day and the amount of light pouring in through the windows.  The most dramatic is definitely Gold Mats, Paired (For Ross and Felix) the gold field by Roni Horn on our Mezzanine.  Surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, the angle of the afternoon sun hitting the gold not only creates a blinding effect on the top of the work, but also a brilliant, glowing effect between the two mats.  Take a look (click on the image to enlarge):

(Rachel)

Contemporary: More archives

Last month I detailed my compilation of a binder for Orange County Museum because Girls' Night Out was their traveling exhibition.  I have spent the morning collating the same information for the exhibitions we opened this time last year: Osorio, Ross and Dzine.  Osorio was the only one that traveled (in a slightly different format) but it is information which is very handy for ongoing grant writing, good historical detail for new employees and can act as helpful blog material too.

It doesn't seem like a full year since Dzine was in the museum applying paint and envirotex to the 42 ft. sq. wall in Gallery A (now Alison and John Ferring Gallery) . Ruby was on the floor drawing and pinning flowers to the wall in Gallery C (now Nancy and Kenneth Kranzberg Gallery) while Alexander Ross' paintings were unpacked from crates!  Searching the archives both physically and virtually threw up an interesting post from long ago.  Enjoy.         (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Serra at UCLA

In a post on today's MAN, there was a link to a LA Times article about a torqued ellipse by Richard Serra that is scheduled to open this September.  The article details some of the installation process, aspects of which sounded really familiar.  Steel plates were fabricated in Germany, shipped to the United States, and then carried on flat-bed trucks to the work site.  Afterward, the plates were lifted off the trucks and onto temporary supports, where they will then be welded into permanent supports and surrounded by gravel and decomposed granite. 

It sounds familiar because this is a similar process that took place when the Serra sculpture Joe was installed in our courtyard.  It was interesting to read how the process at UCLA was so similar, and I thought I would link to a past blog about this process for comparison.  Click here for part one, here for part two, and here for part three.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: Pulitzer Visit

This morning I was feeling a little despondent about some of the tasks ahead of me; checking copy for artist's biographies for the next exhibition, organizing a (massive) mailing of our Great Rivers Biennial 2006 catalog to colleagues nationwide, archiving of our magazines, etc.

I suddenly realized there was no visual stimulation going on, so being a Wednesday I nipped next door to the Pulitzer for my lunch hour.  Minimalism and Beyond is very different from our current offering and provided a wonderful contrast. Adding some formal art historical intellect to my otherwise computer dominated day.  While there, I was talking with their gallery attendants about what visitors appeared interested in. 

    When you walk into our buildings what similarities do you notice?  What differences? 
    How do you feel about the lack of labels at the Pulitzer for well-known artists? 
    Do our labels at the Contemporary help or hinder your enjoyment? 

This list goes on, please share your thoughts with us.         (Mark)