One of the things that I love about museums that have blogs is how easy it can be is to get a hold of counterparts when you need something. In the most recent instance of this, we were able to film Valerie Hegarty talking about her work in 21 and her piece, Fallen Bierstadt, takes its inspiration from another work, Bridal Veil Falls owned by the North Carolina Museum of Art. One quick comment on the NCMA blog and we had a high resolution file to incorporate into our little video, yay!
If you read our blog, chances are you will really like the NCMA blog, which gives a behind-the-scenes look at the goings on direct from staffers—it’s definitely in my own feed reader and I love the opportunity to get to know the people working there. Chad is no exception—though we’ve never met, I know him well enough through his blogging to not be surprised at all when he, after seeing the above video, sent along a note that said “I’m now imagining our painting out in the wilderness, having adventures.” Nice : )
[edit! Valerie is taking questions via our blog. Leave a comment and she’ll answer when she checks in!]
Sarah Baley’s show “Bois” opened at Collette Blanchard Gallery on the Lower East Side last Thursday night and we are very happy to have this image by Sarah in the collection.
Sarah Baley (American, born 1969). Dug, 2005. From the series: Bois, 2009. Chromogenic print, 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Artist, 2009.14.
Youth culture and sexuality have often influenced both fashion photography and contemporary art. The work of Sarah Baley, an emerging Brooklyn-based artist, is indebted to the confluence of interests and close dialogue between these worlds in the recent decade. Her series “Bois” is an exploration of a Brooklyn-based, lesbian community who identify as bois. Many in the group call themselves gender queer, which implies a rejection of the gender binary system and an embrace of sexuality as a sliding scale of possibilities. In Baley’s view, sexuality has become one of the few ways in which people can still express freedom. In this image, “Dug,” Baley placed her subject—staged her, dramatically lit—by the East River close to the Brooklyn Bridge. The evolving industrial urban landscape, reflected in the rapid development of Brooklyn’s waterfront, functions as a metaphor or mirror for the group’s fluid definition of sexuality and gender. This photograph will be included in an installation of contemporary art at the Museum this coming August and Sarah’s show is on view at Collette Blanchard Gallery through June 17, 2009.
Seher Shah recently stopped by the Brooklyn Museum to see her large drawing Jihad Pop Progressions 5 – Interior Courtyard 2, 2007 on view in the fourth floor Contemporary galleries.
Part of her “Jihad Pop” series, the layered imagery merges private imagery, iconic Islamic spaces, and universal geometric forms. Seher’s visit provided a wonderful opportunity to hear her insightful−and impromptu—comments about the piece.
Have you ever had one of those days where everything falls into place? When Eugenie Tsai blogged about Valerie Hegarty’s Fallen Bierstadt back in October, she mentioned we needed to do a follow-up post with our paintings conservator, Carolyn Tomkiewicz. Eugenie said we needed get her to explain the process of arranging the debris. This piqued my interest, but I got a little busy and forgot to follow-up with Carolyn. Last Monday, I was touring a couple of friends around the Museum, which was closed for the day, and as we entered 21: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Brooklyn Museum, I spotted Carolyn on the floor with the debris:
Luckily, we all had plenty of cameras to document the moment and Carolyn was gracious enough to give us a quick on-camera video interview about what in the world she was doing. So, now, meet the conservator:
People have been asking how I learned of Sun K. Kwak. I first noticed Sun’s work well over a year ago through the gallery that represents her. I obtained basic information about Sun and looked at installation shots of her previous projects at the Queens Museum of Art, NY; Gallery Skape, Seoul, Korea; Samsung Life Building, Seoul, Korea; The Drawing Center, NY; Haus Der Kulturen der Welt Museum, Berlin, Germany; etc. A few months later, when Sun was in a group show in a gallery in Chelsea, I went and looked at her work in person. It was a small piece compared to some of her previous works, but it still gave me a good sense of the texture and method of her work.
This past winter, when we were looking to schedule an exhibition on very short notice for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery on the 5th floor (the “Rotunda”), I remembered Sun’s work. I got in touch with her through her gallery, asked her to come to the Museum to walk through the Rotunda with me and to see if she thought she might be able to work with the space. I then asked her for a tentative proposal and did a studio visit with her to talk about her ideas more in-depth.
Then we followed the usual procedures—presenting the idea to the Exhibitions Division, then recommending and presenting the idea to the director—before we added it to our exhibitions calendar. Because we had very little lead-time for this show, everything had to move quickly. Thanks to Sun, her assistants, and staff from all departments of the Museum, we were able to pull together Enfolding 280 Hours in just two months.
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