As the first quarter of the year ends this week (hello, April!) I want to celebrate some museum-going that I did during the winter. For me, part of welcoming a new year and envisioning a fresh new self involves a natural desire to see new things. To "get new things in my eyes." I like to do this by visiting museums. This winter I went to 3 museums with various family members. Here's a recap with some photos!
I took a Friday lunchtime to visit this local treasure with a special & artsy family member. The museum is small enough to see in an hour (it is inside what used to be a train station, if that helps to picture the size). Here are some photos of 3 of the exhibits.
"Evolving Traditions: Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers"
Professional regional woodworkers combine artistic inspiration with their significant furniture-making skills.
This is one of Charles Shackleton's "Chairs of Enlightenment." It's a bit hard to tell, but the upright areas on this chair-back are actually lit up. Shackleton's wall-label tells us that in the time of Chippendale (18th century), the back of the chair was where the artisan really got to show off ornate work.
Jason Breen created this remarkable piece (with paintings by Margaret Shipman) and calls it "Cephalopod." He explains on the wall label that it is an "altar to the Earth" and made of wood from a beloved fallen apple tree. The dome is Spalted Maple (a sugar maple that has started to rot). Fun fact: I blogged a bit about Jason Breen's woodworking shop back in 2011.
Painting with Paper: Natalie Frank
Natalie Frank uses pigmented cotton and linen paper pulp to create feminist portraits that are literally painted WITH paper. Frank explains that she was inspired by "the roles of women in tales of the Brothers Grimm, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and the 17th-century feminist tales of Madame d’Aulnoy."
"Woman with Fox," Natalie Frank. I love how the fox's little paw breaks through the bottom edge of the piece. The paper medium looks so fluid and bold.
Woman with Crow, Natalie Frank. What an arresting face and expression!!
Inspired by the Past: Vermont Glass Guild
We LOVED this exhibit. The museum had received some ancient pieces that spanned 4,000 years and came from places all around the world, like Korea, Iran, Costa Rica, and China. Of course, the BMAC is a non-collecting museum of contemporary art... so the plan is to use this as a study collection. The Vermont Glass Guild took on the challenge first and created new works inspired by these ancient items. The pairings were really cool! You can take this virtual tour if you want to see more of the show.
This archeological-dig piece was created by local glass artist Robert Burch and called "Brattlebeach 2121." It's inspired by the large storage jar up in the corner (Iran, 5000-3500 BCE) as well as other ceramics from the collection. It's kind of fun and irreverent to see the items just jumbled together with sand (and even glass hermit grabs mixed in). It helps to set the scene of jumping around in time.
We loved these glass pull-toys (a manatee, an owl, a cow, and birds) made by Marta Bernbaum and inspired by the "bull-shaped vessel" (Iran, 1000-700 BCE) that's raised up in the center.
Close-up of the manatee pull toy.
A few weeks later, this same family member and I made the drive out to Manchester, Vermont, to the Southern Vermont Arts Center. The museum campus is nestled on a wooded hillside a little outside of the town Manchester, where it has been located since 1950 (the Southern Vermont artists group itself has apparently been around since 1922). There were two main exhibition buildings on the former estate--and when we visited they were showing Hiroshige in one building, and contemporary woodblock prints in the other.
Hiroshige and the Changing Japanese Landscape
First we went to the Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum, where a BUNCH of Hiroshige woodblock prints were on display. Utagawa Hiroshige is the 19th century Japanese woodblock master (1797-1858). The museum signs did a good job of explaining a bit about his life and his art. I learned (or was reminded) about ukiyo-e, which means "pictures of the floating world" and refers to the imagery in the prints that reflects life's enjoyments like theater, sumo wrestlers, beautiful women, animals, landscapes, and teahouses. One room was full of prints of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido, which was the 300-mile long road between Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto (the imperial capital). The combination of the mundane (women dragging customers into a teahouse, as seen in the second image below) and majestic (views of Mount Fuji!) made these prints hot sellers at the time. It was remarkable to see so many all in one place--all from the collection of a Vermont artist.
The World Between the Block and the Paper
The other main building of the SVAC, Yester House, was devoted to a contemporary showing of mokuhanga. This new-to-me word means "wood block print." I learned here that the tradition of woodblock printing is alive and well in the world today! There is a vibrant group of women that call themselves the Mokuhanga Sisters. Not only was their work displayed in this show, but each artist invited another mokuhanga artist to show their work as well.
"Two times two," by April Vollmer, author of the book Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop.
"Delirious birds and bees," by April Vollmer. You can see how she uses several individual blocks to repeat patterns in each quarter for a kind of mandala effect.
These are "Apple Tree" and "Fir Tree" by Mariko Jesse.
"Two Bears in the Woods" by Ayao Shiokawa.
"Water from Heaven" and "Linden Falls" by Terry McKenna.
"Fold Mokuhanga Luminous Magenta," by Mia O.
I love the story of these four prints by Katsutoshi Yuasa. During the pandemic, he found online a live webcam that had a view of Mount Fuji from the same angle as one of Hiroshige's Stations of the Tokaido. He created this 4-seasons approach called "VR Tokaido 1-4" both inspired by Hiroshige as well as the accessibility of the view. The web cam during the pandemic let the artist see Mt Fuji similar to how those who bought Hiroshige's prints could enjoy this view. (He explained this in a Zoom artist's talk given later in February--you can
see the replay here.)
"Queering Space-Time" by Matthew Willie Garcia. I love this.
"Avo" by Brendan Reilly. I'm really inspired by the two steps shown here. I want to come up with my own simple progression like this. Good art doesn't have to be all complicated.
Museum #3: MASS MoCA, end of February
During winter break (end of February) we followed our tradition of heading to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, MA. We love it there! This was at least our third family trip and they have quite a few permanent installations that we know well. (You can also read my blog about our 2018 visit.)
I enjoyed the art as usual, but this time I decided to photograph some of the in-between spaces at the museum. Since it's an old factory that's been renovated and converted to galleries, I enjoy finding little nooks where I can revel in the factory-ness that still clings.
The doorway to the big "Building 5" exhibit. This is always an amazing place because it's just HUGE and artists can go wild filling the space with whatever their imaginations can limn. Glenn Kaino's "In the Light of a Shadow" was there this time. It was a moving and revelatory 30-minute shadow and sound experience that brought me to tears with its simple yet powerful messages about humanity's place in the universe. Wow.
This stairwell has floating shelves covered with figurines (dolls and action figures of all kinds).
The French version of a "don't touch the walls" sign in the permanent 3-floor Sol LeWitt section.
I realized if I looked out a window I could see over to the "Cosmic Latte" room by Spencer Finch--that's the light installation on the second floor of this brick building. (See also the closed ice cream shop below, and a lone crow in the tree above.)
Table and chairs in a stairwell.
Look at THIS stairwell! I love its feeling of being slightly off limits... like you're not supposed to be there, like you've sneaked behind a scrim and are seeing the real workings of things.
A kind of artistic cul-de-sac. Where even am I?
Goodbye MASS MoCA! Goodbye winter 2022! Here's to a warm, flourishing, beautiful Spring ahead.
