Community: bloggers@brooklynmuseum

To those of you who are regular readers to this blog, you may remember my colleague, Jakki Godfrey’s post from May 27 detailing the deinstallation of the dragon and zinc lion to accommodate roof work.  Over the summer, both objects were cleaned by objects conservation staff.

Unfortunately for the objects conservators, not to mention the zinc lion, pigeons found the sculpture to be a very comfortable apartment in a very desirable location.  The amount of bird guano inside the sculpture was both astounding and disgusting.  Guano is both acidic and rich in nitrates, which can be corrosive to the metal of the sculpture and needed to be removed from the interior.  This only proves that the job of an art conservator is not always glamorous.

This week, both sculptures were rigged back onto the roof now that the needed roof repairs had been completed.  Mariano Brothers a specialized rigging firm, returned to reinstall the sculptures.  But what were we to do about the pigeons?

To this end, we contacted Birdmaster, a firm that specializes in installing protective netting and screening that prevents birds from setting up house on buildings and sculpture.  After the riggers installed the sculptures, not taking any chances with those pigeons, we wrapped the lion in plastic, a la Christo, to await the arrival of the crew from Birdmaster.

Pigeons need a 3″ hole in order to set up a nest and two flew immediately over to sit on the head as soon as we removed the plastic, but William Barretto and Brian Dwyer expertly cut and secured with stainless steel wire, resin coated stainless steel mesh and stainless steel spikes to block the access. The birds will be disappointed at the loss of their home, but it’s a happy day for the lion.

The other day I started blogging about the museum’s cool collection of psychedelic posters.  These posters were displayed mostly in hippie boutique windows and on the streets of the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco from the mid 1960’s through the early 1970’s.  Although they were produced as advertisements for concerts, these posters became the background of the psychedelic scene and were works of art in their own right.

David Singer (American). [Untitled] (Boz Scaggs/Cold Blood…), 1971. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 7/8 x 28 in. (55.6 x 71.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.27. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

The posters were created by a diverse group of talented artists hired by concert promoters Chet Helms and Bill Graham.  The principal designers in the group were Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley and Rick Griffin, who were often called the “Fillmore Five”.  Some of the artists, such as Moscoso and Bob Fried, had formal art training while others, like Greg Irons and David Singer, were mostly self taught.  A few were natives of San Francisco, many others migrated there.  They were possibly drawn to the artistic climate and the sense of freedom and experimentation that had been emerging in the San Francisco area since the 1950’s.  Bonnie MacLean was the only female artist in the group steadily employed in making posters.

Left: Greg Irons (American). [Untitled] (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), 1969. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 1/8 x 14 in. (53.7 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.193.  ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com. Right: Bonnie MacLean (American). [Untitled] (The Doors/Chuck Berry), 1967. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 1/16 x 14 in. (53.5 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.100. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

What these artists had in common was that they attempted to unify, through their art, the ideas and spirit of the counterculture movement of which they were a part.  With the use of florescent color, surreal imagery and, often times, to the uninitiated, illegible text, they vividly captured the heady vibe of the time. This may have been easy for them to accomplish because, it has been said, they were stoned much of the time!  Their imagery often made subtle, and sometimes obvious, reference to the flourishing drug culture.  The loud, vibrating colors in their work also echoed the high-decibel music and light shows which these artists were commissioned to advertise.

Left: Bob Fried (American). [Untitled] (Big Brother and the Holding Co….), 1968. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 7/8 x 13 13/16 in. (55.6 x 35.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.123.  ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com. Right: Lee Conklin (American). [Untitled] (Steppenwolf/Staple Singers/Santana), 1968. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 1/8 x 14 1/8 in. (53.7 x 35.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.133. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

Although each artist developed a very distinct style of expression, you can see various influences in their work, from Early American illustrators, the Vienna Secession and the Art Nouveau style, to comic book art, pop culture and advertising graphics.  They manipulated these forms, used bizarre optical effects and collage, and sometimes photography.  Two of the photographers whose work was incorporated into the poster designs were Herb Greene and Jim Marshall (who was the chief photographer at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival).  Greene and Marshall are also featured in the current museum exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll:  A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present.  Check out the blog next week for more on these posters and the artists that created them.  Please also visit the museum’s Contemporary Collection pages to view more posters and the rest of our contemporary collection.

New York City is getting ready once again for the annual 5 Dutch Days event! This five-day celebration encompasses the five boroughs of New York City, and celebrates the continuous influence of Dutch arts and culture in NYC. Numerous institutions participate in this event; see the 5 Dutch Days website for more information on Dutch themed activities such as walking tours, lectures, concerts and more.

Dismantling of the Schenck House. Records of the Department of Decorative Arts. Objects. Installation: Schenck House, [11] press and photographs (1933-1964).

Dutch culture has had its fair share of influence on us here at the Brooklyn Museum. One of the largest objects in our collection, the Schenck House features prominently in our connections to Dutch-American history. This month the Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives are reflecting on the ways Dutch history has influenced our collections, we are currently highlighting published and archival materials documenting the ongoing influence of the Dutch.

Sunday News clipping on Schenck House restoration, May 12, 1963. Records of the Department of Decorative Arts. Objects. Installation: Schenck House, [11] press and photographs (1933-1964).

In celebration of the ongoing influence of Dutch arts and culture, the Museum Libraries and Archives are highlighting a recent archival accession, a collection of documents regarding the Jan Martense Schenck House. These documents have recently been processed and are now available [pdf] to the public for research. Included in this collection are images of the Schenck House on its original location in Brooklyn; letters from numerous Schenck family descendents who have visited and supported the Schenck House over the years; and newspaper clippings from the 1964 Museum installation. We have also produced a list of published resources [pdf] on the Schenck House and Schenck family genealogy in the Museum Libraries. If you would like to schedule a visit to see any of these materials, please send us an e-mail. We are open to the public for research on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Schenck descendant Edith Schenck DeLozier visiting the Schenck House in 1964. Records of the Department of Decorative Arts. Objects. Installation: Schenck House, [07] corresp: A-G (1961-1974).

If you are a Schenck descendant please let us know, as we always enjoy hearing from Schenck family members!

Once permanent installations are set into place, the opportunities for placing previously unseen works on view are rather rare—even with a collection as deep (with over 6000 objects) and well-regarded as Brooklyn’s collection of African art (ranked among the most important holdings of art from the African continent in North America). The chief opportunities come from outward loans of objects on display in the permanent galleries, allowing an equally intriguing work from storage a “guest spot” in the open casework, or through textile rotations. (Look for more on the latter in another posting.) Thus, it was with considerable pleasure that I, along with our crack Art Handling, Conservation and Design teams, was able recently to return our Kuosi Society Elephant Mask, by an unknown artist working in the Bamileke style, to view from an extended hiatus in storage.

The circumstances for the Elephant Mask’s return were a bit unusual. As you may have noticed, it currently has pride of place in our shop, gracing the cover of the newly published catalog of the African collection, African Art: A Century at the Brooklyn Museum.

The mask was one among a series of candidate objects, of the roughly 130 in the book, for the cover slot on the catalog (more on this process another day, as well). Once it was selected, our Chief Curator and I met and decided that it needed to be returned to view in the permanent galleries.

The Elephant Mask had last been on view in 2001, when the current version of the “Arts of the Africa” galleries was last completely reinstalled. After a brief sojourn on the 1st floor, it was returned to storage the following year, out of conservation concerns (the cloth background, from which it is primarily constructed, is best preserved with limited long-time light exposure). Unfortunately, the casework and mount in which it was displayed were not retained.

While a new case was being constructed, our Conservation team set about re-examining the work, first determining if it was stable enough for display—and, if so, for how long. Once convinced that it could be returned, our mount-maker began the task of studying the construction of the mask, in order to best design a metal mount that would both bear the weight of the entire composition and, in particular, support the large, round projecting ears, which are only loosely sewn on to the edge of the mask’s face.

The result was cleverly simple—a post that runs from the bottom of the case (largely obscured by the trunk) into a round, foam support behind the face, with two half-circles extending from the central core, running along the edge of the face and the back and bottom of the ears.

(When you examine the object closely next time in the galleries, note how the mount was painted with specks of color, to mimic the beaded patterns on which it is overlaid.)

Consultation with our Chief Designer determined that the mask could be inserted into the existing installations with minimal disruption. A late 19th century funerary headdress, or tugunga, in the neighboring Bamum or Tikar styles was re-oriented in the gallery, from the current location of the Elephant Mask onto an axis in direct line of sight with the (former) Hall of the Americas.

After a few, small paint touch-ups on the walls, the Elephant Mask was ready for its return last month.

The mask itself is among the boldest and most colorful examples of Bamileke beadwork that I know - a genre that ranges from certain types of clothing and items of personal adornment, to the decoration of large, ceremonial or political objects, like stools. Moreover, the mask remains in stunningly good condition (most such masks would have been discarded - or sold - only after they had become worn, no longer suitable for continued use). The artist has, very cannily, used a combination of complimentary shades of blue beads, against an indigo-blue cloth background, in contrast with a smaller number of red, white and ochre beads to add visual interest to the radiating circular and wedge motifs covering most of the surface. The mask, as a persona of political enforcement within the Kuosi Society, was used by the Bamileke fon, or king, in periodic displays reinforcing his own authority. (For the full gallery label, visit the object in our online collections). Better still, come examine it in person, and re-discover the depth and variety of Brooklyn’s world-class African collection.

Terence Koh’s Untitled, a stack of thirty-three glass cases, is a striking presence in the Contemporary galleries.  Almost every case contains an artifact that’s been painted white. Some of these date back to the artist’s childhood while others are from friends and lovers, or flea markets. The sculpture is like a shrine that preserves meaningful relics from various chapters of Koh’s life. Unlike many artists, he embraces the effects of entropy and decay on his work, such as mold, or glass shattered in transit.

Terence Koh (born China, 1977). Untitled (Vitrines), 2006. Mixed media, variable. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Peres Projects, Inc., 2008.34.

The piece is part of a larger body of monochrome work in which Koh explores the meanings of white in different cultures, ranging from purity to mourning. With its investigation of temporality and allusions to eventual death, the Brooklyn Museum’s glass stack provides an introspective counterpoint to Koh’s flamboyant public persona. (See his website) Sex and death are themes that run obsessively throughout all aspects of his work.

As part of Performa 09, Koh will be at the Brooklyn Museum on November 7^th for Target First Saturday to perform Saaqiou. At 9:30 p.m., he will be performing and DJing in the Rubin Pavillion, incorporating the Rodin sculptures.