Joe Louis, painted by Tomata du Plenty. This work can be seen in the Boxers and Backbeats exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, Ga.
West Coast punk art created by a countercultural musician heavily involved in the drag world and the development of the synth-punk music scene, whose visual artistic career really only began when he found old paint supplies in a Hollywood alleyway, may seem like a strange exhibition choice for an art museum in a Southern community. However, this is exactly one of the upcoming exhibitions at the Georgia Museum of Art because here in Athens, and especially at the museum, originality and innovation is celebrated.
"Boxers and Backbeats: Tomata du Plenty and the West Coast Punk Scene" is on display at the Georgia Museum of Art from Oct. 4-Jan. 4. The exhibition includes portraits of boxers and musicians created by Tomata du Plenty, as well as a number of prints and zines from various other artists influential to the West Coast punk scene, such as Mark Vallen and Ray Pettibon.
Tomata du Plenty (known as David Xavier Harrigan before he adopted his new identity) helped define the "punk rocker" that became popular in the West Coast in the 1970s. He was a founder of the drag theatre group Ze Whiz Kidz and the singer of the synth-punk band the Screamers. He began to delve into painting in the 80s. He welcomed his "outsider" status due to his lack of training, claiming that he would prefer to sell 100 paintings priced at $25 each than a single painting for $2500.
This exhibition intimates one of the most unique characteristics of Athens -- its prominence in the music world and its interdisciplinary involvement with the arts. In tandem with the concurrent exhibition, "The … of E6," Boxers and Backbeats demonstrates the trans-American nature of cultural arts and helps contrast two very different but equally vivacious examples of the intersection between music and visual art. The works of art were donated by collector Gordon W. Bailey in honor of R.E.M. members and Athens musicians Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry.
A number of Georgia Museum of Art events will feature this exhibition:
On October 4, the Georgia Museum of Art will be opening a new exhibition that, in tandem with other events and exhibitions at various Athens art locales, celebrates and unveils a group central to the heritage of the Athens arts scene. The Georgia Museum of Art's portion of this citywide commemoration, "The . . . of E6, Part of Athens Celebrates Elephant 6," will include art from album covers, works inspired by these individuals and their music, and other pieces influential to the artists honored and the culture they represented and galvanized.
The Elephant 6 Recording Company was formed in the early 1990's by Robert Schneider, Jeff Mangum, Will Hart, and Bill Doss, four friends from Ruston, La. who moved to Athens. The first EP from the recording company came from Schneider's band, the Apples in stereo, and began a new Athens aesthetic that has become ingrained in the town's artistic heritage. Other bands, such as Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel, were borne out of the movement, with band members often switching between groups. A sub-genre of music can still be traced back to these origins today, with bands such as of Montreal and Elf Power.
Lynn Boland, curator of the exhibition, said in a UGA news article, "For many of us, the scene surrounding the collective defined Athens of the 1990s; not just the music, but the entire creative endeavor and its collaborative spirit. I would say it largely defined my formative years and it has been a great honor and undeniable pleasure to work on this exhibition."
The exhibition will be shown from Oct. 4, 2014 to Jan. 4, 2015. During this period the museum will host a number of events focusing on this topic. On Oct. 8 at 2 p.m., Boland will present a public tour; museum event 90 Carlton: Autumn will feature the exhibition (free for members, $5 for nonmembers) on Oct. 10; Oct. 11's Family Day will be music-themed and children will be able to create their own band posters; at Museum Mix on Oct. 16 DJs will use this collective as inspiration; on Nov. 6 a film screening of "The Past is a Grotesque Animal," a documentary about Kevin Barnes, of Montreal's frontman, will be shown; and the exhibition will also be the theme of Teen Studio on Nov. 6, where teenagers can workshop with a local artist.
Sometimes we think we could make our own globetrotting quiz show about the peregrinations of our director, Bill Eiland. The first photo here comes from the reopening of the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota. You can browse the rest of the set here.
Then, a few minutes ago, we got the following photo from Bill's phone, featuring Pierre Daura Curator of European Art Lynn Boland. Knowing that this week he's on the West Coast, we guessed but got it wrong.
It turns out that they're at the Japanese American National Museum, browsing an exhibition of works by cartoonist Stan Sakai. Lynn and Bill are out in California working on our upcoming exhibition of large-scale resin sculptures by the artist De Wain Valentine, about whom we've posted here before.
Last week I attended the 99th annual conference of the College Art Association (CAA) in New York. The main impetus for my attendance this year was an invitation to participate in a session on technologies used for teaching art and art history called “Digital to Analog: Changing Technologies.” My fellow presenters were Cherise Smith, from the art history faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, and Wendy Redstar, a studio art professor at Portland State University. My paper gave an overview and evaluation of the Georgia Museum of Art’s use of technology for education, as well as our presentation of new media art. Items I covered included our new website and some of its in-the-works additions; our forthcoming smart phone apps; the Second Life version of our museum; our Kress Project and its potential for new media submissions; our collections database and our plans to upgrade it; the digitization of our Pierre Daura finding aid; digital didactics I’m considering for our galleries; and our new media and time-based exhibition programming in our Alonzo and Vallye Dudley Gallery (currently featuring a video by Anthony Goicolea). The audience seemed duly impressed with our many initiatives, and I’m pleased to say that my paper was very well received.
More important, my solicitation for other ideas on how to use technology to further our mission was met with enthusiastic feedback after the session. Perhaps the most exciting idea I heard was from Matthew Lewis (London Metropolitan University), who told me about an iPhone app developed by the Learning Technologies Research Institute, London. This app offers a real-time/real-space digital overlay of what various historic building components looked like in the past and/or their interior construction. One way this might be applicable to us would be to use it for our Menabuoi altarpiece reconstruction in our Kress Gallery, where there is currently a wall drawing that suggests the original ensemble. Building on our wall drawing and incorporating the dismembered Menabuoi panels, such an application might begin by providing information about typical trecento iconographic programs (the placement of saints, for instance). It could then show you images of some of the elements of the altarpiece that have been identified and explain how their exact placements are uncertain (e.g., the three-quarter-length saints in the second register, or the roundel figures at the top). Then you could decide where you think these elements should go: You would hold your iPhone or similar device up, and, on your screen, you would see what the whole thing might have looked like as you move your phone around in front of you. How cool is that!?
This year’s conference offered many other useful sessions, and I was especially gratified to see that more museum-related topics were offered than in the past. Of particular interest to me was one entitled “Making Museums Matter: Integrating Collection and Exhibition Programs with College Curriculum.” Colette Crossman from the Blanton Museum of Art at UT Austin discussed ways to engage chemistry, studio art and art history majors in the galleries through conservation studies programs, which included unframing paintings in the gallery to allow students to further their understanding of technical and stylistic issues. Carin Jacobs (Graduate Theological Union) focused on faculty use of museums’ collections and ways to encourage repeated visits and sustained close looking. One of the best suggestions I heard was to solicit extended label text (the descriptions that sometimes follow the basic label information) from professors in multiple departments. That way, a single work of art might have two, three, or even more labels addressing connections to a wide range of different academic disciplines, all with the authors’ information given. According to Jacobs, this method helps break away from the single, authoritative, institutional voice common to this type of text.
Another particularly relevant session for me was entitled “Recurating,” in which one of the topics was the recreation of historical exhibitions. As I am currently preparing something of a re-creation of the 1930 exhibition of the group Cercle et Carré (Circle and Square), Reesa Greenberg’s discussion of similar projects involving El Lissitzky’s 1927 Cabinet of Abstraction offered valuable insights about the issues involved in such undertakings. Another noteworthy session (although there were many others of scholarly interest to me) was called “Beyond the Slideshow: Teaching the History of Art and Material Culture in the Age of New Media” and was a good complement to my session. David Jaffee discussed the Digital Media Lab at the Bard Graduate Center, which is a wonderful model for using technology for teaching. Its use of wikis for course materials was especially inspiring. Donald Beetham from Rutgers University presented art-historical uses for Second Life, where GMOA was used as an example of what museums are doing in the virtual world.
In other College Art Association news, Georgia Strange, director of the Lamar Dodd School of Art, was elected to the CAA Board of Directors. Congratulations, Georgia! We're all glad you'll be helping lead this important organization. On a historical note, Lamar Dodd himself was the 1954-56 president of CAA.
Of course, being in New York City, it would have been criminal not to see some art too. I visited some galleries in Chelsea, where the most impressive show I saw was Christian Marclay’s “The Clock” at Paula Cooper Gallery. It’s a 24-hour montage of scenes from different Hollywood movies in which a clock appears. All of the times that appear in Marclay’s video correspond to the actual time the viewer is seeing them. The exhibition has been the rave of the New York art scene, and as Marclay is someone I’ve been following for years—I know him through his interest in music, sound, and visual art--it was great to see him get this kind of recognition.
I managed to make it to MOMA (or at least their second, fourth and fifth floors), the Met (albeit far too briefly), and the Guggenheim for its exhibition “Art in Upheaval: Modern Art from the Guggenheim Collection, 1910–1918," which was also right up my alley. I do have to say that my past adoration of these venerable institutions was diminished somewhat now that I compare every museum to our own newly renovated and expanded facility. We really do have a world-class building and collection! I had hoped to visit the Frick Collection and the New Museum while I was there, but when in NYC, there never seems to be enough time. At least I’ve always got reasons to go back!
Lynn Boland, Pierre Daura Curator of European Art at the Georgia Museum of Art and adjunct professor of art history at the University of Georgia, will lecture on Salvador Dalí and his connections to Surrealism at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
In “The Supreme Pleasure of Being Salvador Dalí: Hand-painted Dreams and Surrealism Nightmares,” Boland will speak about the Surrealist movement as well as an overview of Dalí’s art. He will cover Dalí’s relationship with other Surrealists and how they affected his later career.
The lecture will be held in the Hill Auditorium on Thursday, November 4th, at 7 PM.
Tickets are free but limited to 2 per person. They are available through the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office at 404-733-5000. Tickets to the Museum are sold separately.
Lynn Boland, GMOA’s Pierre Daura Curator of European Art, will be giving a lecture as part of the exhibition. He will discuss the Surrealist movement and its underlying theories along with an overview of Dalí’s art and his relationship with other Surrealists.
As promised last week, here is part two of “Notes from the Midwest:”
My last installment ended with Bill, Beau, and me in Milwaukee, having had an inspiring day at the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM). We drove back to Chicago that evening just in time to pick up the indomitable Dr. Perri Lee Roberts from O’Hare. Perri Lee (most people call her “Perri,” but we like to be Southern about it) is Senior Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at University of Miami, and authored our most recent publication, and one of our grandest efforts to date: the three-volume Corpus of Early Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections: The South. Never one to rest on her laurels, Perri Lee is now embarking on an exhibition for us. To quote from the prospectus: A prominent scholar, teach, curator, administrator, and collector, Ulrich Alexander Middeldorf (1901-1983) is a well-known figure in Renaissance art historical studies. Prompted by his belief that the so-called minor, decorative arts were essential to an understanding of the history of the material world, he assembled a unique collection of Italian medals, plaquettes, textiles, and wrapping paper.
Middeldorf was also a key researcher of the Kress Collection, part of which is now housed at GMOA. Middeldorf’s own collection of medals, plaquettes, and textiles resides at the Indiana University Art Museum. We were originally scheduled to meet up with Perri Lee in Bloomington to look at those objects, but fate was kind and gave us a couple extra days with her beforehand. More on the Middeldorf exhibition research and planning momentarily.
We started the next day with a trip to the Smart Museum at the University of Chicago. Although their space is limited—have I mentioned lately how lucky we are to be getting such a great building in only a few more months?—their collection is superb. I was especially interested in the way they organize their galleries thematically, rather than by period or region. This is a strategy I intend to use on a more limited scale in our Holder Gallery, in which we’ll display our European art from the 18th-20th centuries. I find that this approach encourages meaningful comparisons while allowing one to show a broad range of artistic styles in a relatively small space.
After our visit to the Smart, the three of us hit the road for Champaign/Urbana to visit Beau’s folks and their outstanding collection of American Post-War art. On the way, we made a stop at Governors State University in Middle-of-Nowhere, Illinois (Monee, IL, technically, but I never saw a town). In part one of this post, I said that we visited “one of the best, but least-known, outdoor contemporary sculpture collections in the country.” That may have been bordering on hyperbole, but for its renown—or lack thereof—it really is the best sculpture park I’ve seen. Twenty-six monumental public sculptures reside on a rugged 750 acres tract, where the only groundskeeping is a mown trail through the underbrush. It takes some hiking, but the interaction with the works this offers makes it well worth the sweat and bug-bites. Highlights for me included their sculptures by Mark di Suvero, For Lady Day, 1969 (54’ x 50’ x 35’), and Martin Puryear, Bodark Arc, 1982 (2.25 acres—I love the dimensions in acreage), as well as a temporary installation by Icelandic artist, Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir, Horizons, 2007-08, pictures of which are included in the slideshow above.
Continuing on the drive to Champaign, we brainstormed about possible titles for the Middeldorf exhibition. After some failed attempts at alliteration on my part and Perri Lee’s, Bill came up with the winner: “Materials of Culture.” Of course, this will be followed by the typical colon and more descriptive subtitle.
We made it to Champaign in time to see some of Randy and Shelia Ott’s collection and to freshen up before dinner. Meeting Beau’s parents, it was easy to see where he got both his unfailing charm and his impeccable taste. We had a thoroughly delightful evening at the Ott’s home, filled with conversations ranging from art (of course), to Portuguese Fado music (Bill and Randy are both fans), to cattle breeding (both Randy and my dad were large animal veterinarians), not to mention a meal that was as beautiful as it was delicious. They had us over for breakfast the next morning, and then we hit the road again, this time for Bloomington.
When we arrived in Bloomington, work on our project was already well underway. Christa Thurman, formerly Chair of Textiles at the Art Institute of Chicago, is helping us evaluate Middeldorf’s fabric samples to determine which we will use for the exhibition, and she and Nan Brewer, IU Art Museum’s curator of works on paper, had already examined most of the hundreds of textiles in their collection. After some more looking and talking, we narrowed our selection further, choosing pieces made in Italy during the Renaissance that offer a range of styles and techniques. I’m really excited about the “wall power” these will bring to the show; they’re gorgeous.
That evening, Heidi Gealt, director of the IU Art Museum, took us out to dinner, where we were joined by her husband, Barry Gealt, and Bill Itter, both accomplished artists and studio professors at IU. Bill Itter actually has a show up at the Lamar Dodd School of Art’s Gallery 307 right now, which I highly recommend. I’m a big fan of both Barry’s and Bill’s work, and had a wonderful time hearing about their pedagogical approaches at IU as well as their student days at Yale (both were in the MFA program there at the same time as artists like Chuck Close, Richard Serra, Nancy Graves, etc.). To top off the evening, we were treated to a double rainbow as we left the restaurant.
The next morning, Bill Eiland went to see Bill Itter’s collection of African pottery while Perri Lee and I returned to the IU Art Museum to look at Middledorf’s medals and plaquettes. Here again, we were choosing objects created during the Italian Renaissance. These will be a perfect complement to the textiles, I think. Although they’re not particularly exciting from a distance, for me, they sustain close study much longer, and offer a range of fascinating subjects, from portraits to mythological narratives.
Our last stop on the trip was Dayton, OH. We reluctantly dropped Perri Lee off at the airport and checked in at our hotel. After a couple hours catching up on emails, we went to Carol and Jim Nathanson’s home for hors d'oeuvres, giving me a chance to see their collection, which is especially strong in works on paper. Carol is a recently retired professor of art history at Wright State University, and is writing our forthcoming collection-catalogue of works on paper, Tracing Vision. Jan Driesbach, director of the Dayton Art Institute (DAI), joined us at the Nathanson’s, and we all went to a German restaurant for dinner, where we “closed the place down.”
The next morning, Bill was up at the crack of dawn for a 7:30 meeting with the Dayton Art Institute’s board of trustees. I met up with Jan and Bill a little later and we went to the DAI to speak with their staff. Since this post is getting pretty long and my time is running short, I’ll restrain myself from waxing too poetically about their galleries and collection, but suffice it to say I was deeply impressed with both. I do have to note that theirs is the only Carl Andre sculpture whose label acknowledges that one may walk on the work (I usually have to confirm with the security guards that to do so is OK). Before closing, I also have to give a shout-out to Will South, DAI chief curator, who joined us for lunch and whom I very much enjoyed meeting. By one o’clock we were back in the car, on the long road back to Athens, GA.
Our fearless leader, Dr. William U. Eiland—hereafter referred to as Bill—and I have just returned from a marathon road trip around the Midwestern United States, visiting museums and private collections, and meeting with colleagues about various projects. On any trip with Bill, one can count on long hours made enjoyable with outstanding art and wonderful people. This trip was no exception.
Bill’s journey actually began in Indianapolis two weeks ago this Saturday. He was there for a meeting of the American Association of Museum Directors (AAMD), where, in his leadership role, he works to hold other institutions to the high ethical standards expected of accredited museums. I arrived four days later for a visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), to study their works by Pierre Daura. The museum is rich in Daura’s Spanish Civil War images, and we are currently organizing a traveling exhibition on this period of his work. A standout was Daura’s pastel, My Brothers in Arms, 1939, which you can see here. The works on view at the IMA are also well worth the trip. Visitors to their permanent collection are first met with a monumental mural by Sol LeWitt, whose deductive paintings, drawings, and sculptures I’ve always adored. They’ve got a good video about it here. The IMA also has a remarkable collection of Neo-Impressionists/Pointillists, as well as this country’s best collection of works from the Nabis (followers of Gauguin) working at Pont-Aven, France around the turn of the twentieth century. One other note about Indianapolis: if you are a state or federal employee and traveling there for business, use www.FedRooms.Com for a discount at The Conrad, to get a luxury hotel room for the price of a dive motel. It may have been the first room I’ve stayed in with real clothes hangers!
The next morning, I met up with Bill and we headed up to Chicago. The people of Chicago are remarkably welcoming; the whole city seemed to greet our arrival by donning red and black and holding a tickertape parade…although I guess it could’ve had something to do with the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup. Our first order of business was to meet with the Terra Foundation. For those in the know, the name Terra is synonymous with the highest level of excellence in all projects. Working largely behind the scenes, they bring “American art to the world and the world to American art,” to quote their apt tagline. We had a pleasant and productive meeting, and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to partner with them on future projects.
We followed our meeting with a trip to the venerable Art Institute of Chicago. When I was last there in February for the College Art Association’s annual meeting, I spent hours in their new modern wing, which was designed by Renzo Piano and houses almost a quarter of what I teach in my Modern European survey course. This time, we explored other areas of the museum -- a good thing since there’s always more to see than time allows. I had never visited the galleries housing the Thorne Miniature Rooms, and was thoroughly taken with the little windows into domestic settings of days past. Before we left, I insisted that we visit the Impressionism/Post-Impressionism galleries so that I could pay homage to Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884, which I make a point of doing anytime I’m in Chicago. The first time I had the opportunity to see this painting was the summer after an elementary art teacher had explained Pointillism to my first grade class, and to this day I credit that enlivened, enlightening experience as a major factor in the development of my own desire to interpret art.
That evening we met up with Beau Ott, a private collector of mid-century American art who is helping us put together an exhibition of DeWain Valentine’s work, about which I’m particularly excited. I first heard about Beau when my advisor at the University of Texas at Austin, Linda Henderson, borrowed Ed Ruda’s Redball, 1965, from him for her exhibition Reimagining Space: The Park Place Gallery Group in 1960s New York, so I was anxious to meet him. Aside from an incredible collection, Beau is as nice a person as one is ever likely to meet, and studies American art from the 1950s-70s with a passion that is infectious.
On Friday, Bill and I started our day at the Chicago History Museum to see their outstanding textile and fashion collection. We also met their curator of costumes, Timothy Long, whose fashion sense—he looks like a model—is only surpassed by his scholarly acumen. We hope to borrow from them for an exhibition we’ve got in the works. From there, we went to the Thomas McCormick Gallery to acquire a Picasso etching, The Dream and Lie of Franco, 1937, which I’ve had my eye on since February for my aforementioned Spanish Civil War exhibition. Now that it’s a “done deal,” I can say that it was a great deal for this work. After that, Beau got us into a phenomenal private collection of Chicago Imagists (comprising groups like The Hairy Who, The Monster Roster, and other important, representational artists of late 1960-70s Chicago, whose wildly wonderful work I like to think of as "Surrealism for the '70s"). After that we visited the Block Museum at Northwestern University, where we saw their MFA show and an exhibition of European prints, The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650.
The next day, the three of us headed north. Our first stop was the Racine Art Museum (RAM). We had planned to just “pop in,” but as luck would have it, RAM curatorial assistant Dave Zaleski had also popped in, and treated us to a tour of the galleries, library, and administrative offices. Their current exhibitions are all about insects, and some of the work was unsettling, to say the least, but it was nonetheless exquisite in its execution and installation. Given RAM’s focus on design and crafts, it should have been no surprise that we all also left their shop with much lighter wallets.
Our main destination of the day was the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM). I hadn’t heard much about MAM, which is surprising given the quality of their collection and their building, which was designed by Santiago Calatrava and features massive, cantilevered wings which open and close twice daily, serving as a sunscreen. Their collection of Minimalist sculpture located on their first floor is world class, but their real treasure is the Mrs. Harry L. Bradley Collection of twentieth-century European and American art, which occupies their fourth floor. I could go on about it for pages, but will instead direct you to their site. So entranced with the collection were we that we chose the quickest lunch we could find, a hot dog cart just outside the museum. There I committed the culinary sin of putting ketchup on my dog, and had to promise Beau that I would never do that back in Chicago, lest I get us all beaten up or run out of town (for the record, mustard, relish, and sauerkraut are all acceptable in any combination . . . just no ketchup). We wound down our day in Milwaukee with a stop at a lovely fin de siècle-themed bistro. Beau and I tried absinthe (sans wormwood) for the first time, which I considered art historical research, given the preponderance of early twentieth-century European artists featuring the beverage in their art (Degas and Picasso, most famously). At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it (but in case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t put in for reimbursement on that one).
The second half of our road trip was every bit as exciting, so tune in next week for the second installment of this post, where I’ll recount our visits to one of the best, but least-known, outdoor contemporary sculpture collections in the country, along with more museums and astounding private collections.
We have some more information on the performance art piece that we are sponsoring atAthFest. Amelia Winger-Bearskin, assistant professor of studio art at Vanderbilt University, will present Square Dance/Round Dance on Friday, June 25 at 10 p.m. in the Rialto Room at Hotel Indigo between musical acts Wilma and Caroline Aiken.
Square Dance/Round Dance will be an audience-interactive performance that blends elements of traditional American square dancing, American Indian round dancing, mysterious celestial lights and a contemporary dance club atmosphere.
Amelia’s work often seeks to reveal the hidden support systems of arts and entertainment industries by investigating the parts that usually go unnoticed.For this performance, flashlights and instructions will be given to members of the audience, who will take on the role of a light show, thus complicating the typical relationship between spectator and spectacle in a music venue.
Visit Amelia’s website and click here to read an essay about her written by GMOA’s own Lynn Boland, Pierre Daura Curator of European Art.
Georgia Museum of Art / Pierre Daura Center Graduate Internship
GMOA is accepting applications for a part-time, paid graduate-student intern to work in the Pierre Daura Center/Department of European Art. The Daura Center initiates and promotes the exhibition and study of the works of Pierre Daura (Catalan-American, 1896-1976) and the contextualization of his oeuvre and career. The Daura Center Graduate Intern will assist the Pierre Daura Curator of European Art in organizing and researching the Pierre Daura archive and collection, as well as assisting with the museum's programming in European art: research, exhibitions, publications, and acquisitions. The Daura Center graduate intern will receive $2000 per semester. Start/end dates and schedule are negotiable.
Summer 2010: 12 weeks, 15 hrs/week (application deadline: May 3) Fall 2010: 15 weeks, 12 hrs/week (application deadline: July 16) Spring 2011: 15 weeks, 12 hrs/week (application deadline: Dec. 7)
To apply for an internship, please submit the following: • Cover letter including your name, home and university addresses, telephone number(s), and email address • Full resume or c.v. with education, employment history, and references • Letter of recommendation (optional for Summer 2010 internship) • Sample of academic writing
Send applications for this internship to:
Lynn Boland Pierre Daura Curator of European Art ATTN: Graduate Internship Program Georgia Museum of Art University of Georgia 90 Carlton Street Athens, GA 30602-1419
OR submit electronically lboland at uga.edu
In addition to the above opportunity, the museum regularly offers flexible, unpaid graduate and undergraduate internships in a variety of departments. For more information concerning unpaid internships, please visit http://uga.edu/gamuseum/info/employment.html or contact Carissa DiCindio, associate curator of education, at cdicindi at uga.edu.
Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art will be able to receive a "buy one, get one free" discount on tickets for the production of Steve Martin’s play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” and the post-performance audience talk-back with the director, cast and GMOA’s own Lynn Boland, Pierre Daura Curator of European Art.
This offer is available only for the matinee on Sunday, April 10, at 2 p.m.. All Friends have to do is mention the discount at the Town and Gown Players’ box office to receive it. The regular ticket price is $12.
An earlier blog post provided detailed information about Boland’s background and participation in this event. For more information about the performance, check out the Town and Gown Players’ site, and to make reservations call 706-208-TOWN (8696).
We've already brought you some details of what new Pierre Daura Curator of European Art Lynn Boland was doing on his couple of weeks in Europe, but he now has a whole photo slideshow up, embedded below.
Lest you think he was gallivanting around the Continent, here are some excerpts from his report on his research trip:
I embarked on my recent research trip with a number of related objectives. Foremost among them, I sought to familiarize myself with Pierre Daura’s oeuvre through careful study of his work in person, so that I might develop an expertise in his styles and methods. Along with my survey of Daura’s artistic production, I also undertook research specifically geared toward our upcoming exhibition, Cercle and Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art, and with an eye toward developing future exhibitions that would include Daura. Another goal of my trip was to make connections with staff at other institutions with significant collections of Daura’s work in order to foster future collaborations. The trip was also something of a scouting mission to help plan a Daura-related group trip for museum patrons. I am happy to report that the trip was a success on all fronts. A brief summary of each of my visits to these institutions is below, with reflections on each of these objective following.
MACBA, Barcelona: I met with Ainhoa González (registrar), who showed me the four paintings by Daura in their collection from the Cercle and Carré period. While they have not shown them recently and have no immediate plans to do so, they are enthusiastic about GMOA using them for our exhibition, and about the exhibition in general.
Artur Ramon Art, Barcelona: I met with Mònica Ramon and Artur Ramon, who showed me most of the paintings by Daura in their gallery. Although there have not been any recent sales of Daura’s paintings, Artur recently purchased a seascape by Daura from a Parisian gallery. In addition to Daura’s paintings, they also showed me a very nice port-scene by Daura’s friend Bosch Roger. There were also some other notable works on display in the gallery, including a gorgeous pastel portrait by Ramon Casas, and a series of paintings by César Paternosto (b. 1931), a contemporary Argentine artist (living and working in NYC since 1967) who I’ve been following for some time. Paternosto came out of Torres-Garcia’s constructivist School of the South, and is represented in the United States by Cecilia de Torres.
MNAC, Barcelona: I met with Teresa Guasch (paintings) and Mercè Saura (works on paper). The opportunity to study MNAC’s Daura’s paintings and their extensive collection of Daura’s works on paper was essential to me as I move forward with our various Daura projects, especially since I’m currently lacking access to our own collection. For instance, by examining prints alongside their preparatory sketches, I was able to get a much greater sense of his studio practice. This visit was also especially helpful for me to start thinking about works to include in a future Catalan landscape exhibition, and even more so for a possible Spanish Civil War exhibition—they have a large number of very powerful prints and drawings from this period. I had little time to visit the MNAC galleries, but it was enough to bring me fully on board in support of a future Ramon Casas/Santiago Rusiñol exhibition (or even just Casas).
Museu de Montserrat: Eva Buch (curator) showed me the paintings by Daura in storage and Father Laplana gave me a tour of the galleries. I had hoped also to obtain more information about the St. Ceclia prize Daura won for his Path to St. Michael’s of 1931, but I was not able to make any tangible headway there. I do think that I’ve “planted the seed” for future findings.
Museu Diocesà de Menorca, Ciutadella: I met with Gabriel Julià (director) and Rafael Portella (General Vicar) who showed me and Teresa the Daura gallery and the works by Daura in storage. While their collection of works by Daura did not offer any surprising new discoveries, since I had gotten such a good sense of his work at MNAC, this visit proved just as important for other reasons. As you know, they have the largest permanently displayed collection of Daura’s oeuvre, but lack any art professional on staff. They are interested in changing out some of the paintings and prints on display, to offer returning visitors some new works to enjoy, so Teresa and I made some suggestions for a possible reinstallation.
Musée Paul Dupuy, Toulouse: Mireille Serniguet (registrar) spent most of the day showing me Daura’s drawings, prints, and paintings on paper in their collection. As at MNAC, the size and scope of their collection helped provide me with significant insight into Daura’s work. There are a number of images that could be included in a “Catalan Landscape” exhibition. After most of the day in the print room, I also met with Jean Penent (director and head curator) and had a very nice chat. He is enthusiastic about our Daura-related projects, and asked to be kept apprised of any Daura publications we produce. He also gave me some catalogues to add to our library.
Augustins, Toulouse: Axel Hémery (director), who is very personable, showed me the works by Daura in storage. He is enthusiastic about our upcoming Daura projects and about any potential loan of the works in their collection, but there are currently no plans at the Augustins to show them. He was apologetic about not having any works by Daura on display, but pointed out their limited exhibition space for paintings.
Musée Henri Martin, Cahors: Laurent Guillaut (director) showed me the works of art and Daura artifacts in their collection, which reveal much about the artist's life in nearby St. Cirq-Lapopie.
Maison Daura, Saint Cirq-Lapopie: Martine Michard (director) gave me a tour of the building. While much changed since the family’s residency, it was useful to acquire a sense of the place, and it was a delight to view the stairwell murals. I’m not sure if the logistical considerations would be too great to overcome, but I do like the thought of some sort of artistic exchange or collaboration with Maison Daura at some point, a possibility that also interested Martine.
The full extent of the usefulness of this trip will be revealed as we move ahead with the various planned and proposed projects—as they say, “the proof is in the pudding.” I believe that the trip was absolutely essential as we plan for the reopening of the Pierre Daura Center, to include developing the finding aid that will serve to help re-announce the archive’s availability and promote its use, and developing exhibitions that will prominently feature Daura’s work. This undertaking has already served me well, as I’ve been able to offer suggestions for Heidi Gealt‘s exhibition that I would have been unable to make otherwise. In short, it allowed me to begin embracing my role as a Daura expert. The main “take-away” for me at this point involves not only the works of art themselves, but also their relationship to their subjects. I returned with a feeling of having confirmed one of my initial theses: one of the common threads among Daura’s works in diverse styles is a sense of being true to the underlying sentiment of the subject. This is never truer than in his landscapes. Clearly, this knowledge was only possible having actually visited these places.
The most important working relationship fostered by this trip was undoubtedly between Teresa Macià and me. She was a huge help in every aspect of the Spanish portion, and Menorca would have been impossible without her assistance. It was also wonderful to compare notes on Daura and Cercle et Carré. As noted above, everyone I met with was enthusiastic about our upcoming projects, and I have no doubt that they will all continue to accommodate any reasonable requests we may have. Teresa and I also talked about how nice it would be to have the Cercle et Carré exhibition tour in Europe. Given the reactions I got, this seems possible to me in terms of securing venues.
Cercle et Carré research at Bibliothèque Nationale, Bibliothèque Kandinsky, and Centre Pompidou Public Reference Library was less fruitful than I had hoped, but I was able to confirm some facts that will be necessary parts of my catalogue essay, especially concerning the public and critical response to the 1930 exhibition. The research I undertook in the Michel Seuphor archive at the Letterenhuis in Antwerp was even more useful. Largely untouched, as yet, there is a wealth of Cercle et Carré material there (correspondence, related exhibition announcements, press clippings, etc.), which will be critical for the catalogue. There are some objects (some postcards, especially) that I would like to reproduce in the catalogue, and possibly even include in the exhibition.
It takes only a couple of minutes with GMOA’s new Pierre Daura Curator of European Art Lynn Boland to recognize him as a wonderful addition to the GMOA staff.
Boland came into both his new job here at GMOA and the field of art history by what he calls serendipitous luck. Having moved to Athens while in high school, Boland attended UGA for his undergraduate degree. Boland’s initial intended major was music, but after some exploration, he settled on art history because of the interdisciplinary nature of the field, which appealed to his broad range of artistic interests.
It was on the recommendation of an advisor that Boland applied for and landed an internship at GMOA during his senior year. Placed in the development department, partly for his snappy dressing, Boland gained experience in and exposure to all aspects of museum operation. After finishing his undergrad degree, Boland was hired at GMOA as an administrative assistant and he worked this first job at the museum until heading off to graduate school in Austin, Texas.
In Austin, Boland developed his interest in modern European art into a dissertation on modern European art and music. Boland has harbored a passion for modern art and for the abstract since his days as an undergrad. He says it is the energy and the dynamism, along with the difficulty, of these works that inspires him to try to make this type of art accessible to a broader range of people. Rather than strictly an art historian, Boland sees himself as a cultural historian, someone interested in how visual culture fits into the larger cultural framework.
Boland’s choice to enter museum work instead of continuing as a teacher partially arises from his desire to keep expanding the range of his studies. He not only is extremely excited about being able to work with and promote the Daura collection, an invaluable resource he hopes to make more widely available, but also is looking forward to preparing the Cercle et Carré catalogue and exhibition. Next month these projects will take him across the Atlantic, to Spain and to France, for research.
Along with putting the finishing touches on his dissertation, Boland spends his time away from the museum either puttering around in his garden or playing the piano, both favorite hobbies of GMOA’s newest curator.
