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Do This! |
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| March 14, 2005 | |||
Check out the audio program and e-book How to Curate and Install Your Art Exhibit Like a Pro |
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| DO THIS: BE A BETTER CURATOR, PART II | |||
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In Part I of this series of article, I
discussed what the responsibilities of a curator are and how you can
apply them to your career. If you missed Part I, you can find it here:
http://www.artbizcoach.com/dothis/curatorI.shtml
In this week's issue, I will talk about installing the artwork.
You can train your eye to help you
become a better curator of your own work and even an originator of
group exhibits.
: :
Installation
Install artwork so it makes sense, whether it's thematically (by subject), by artist, or by medium. Many museums install chronologically, but that usually only works for retrospectives of an artist's life's work and progression or attempts to show an art historical evolution. Be bold. Show your work with artists working in a different medium. There are too many exhibits featuring only artists of one medium (pastel artists only showing with other pastel artists; quiltmakers only with other quiltmakers; and so forth). Yes, you need to participate in them, but you must also seek additional opportunities. Breaking free of medium-specific-only shows means opening yourself up to new people and, as a result, new audiences and buyers.
(The works featured on this page were
selected for thematic reasons. I'm celebrating St. Patrick's Day by
using an Irish theme plus the color green.)
: : Select
a Focal Point
For your showstopper--the one piece of which you are most proud and elicits audible gasps--make it really stand out through use of dramatic lighting, color (painted walls or pedestals), and/or placement in a prominent location.
: : Create
a Composition
Think of your installation as a composition unto itself. Distribute lines, colors, textures, and sizes thoughtfully. If you had to install the artworks featured in this week's issue, how would you do it?
: :
Look for Happy Accidents
Curators love intellectual visual humor and writers (critics) enjoy the process of discovering it. Put a painting with a door in it directly across from a doorway. Have the face in a figurative sculpture admiring another work of art. Got a work with a dog in it? Place it next to an assemblage containing bones.
You can expect Part III in your inboxes on
March 21. I'll be tackling finishing touches for your exhibits.
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| KNOW THIS | As the curator, you have complete control over how the works are shown. | ||
| THINK ABOUT THIS | There's more to an exhibit installation than hanging works on a wall or placing them on pedestals. | ||
| DO THIS |
Install art just as if you are creating
a composition. After all, that's just what you're doing. Your
installation is a composition in itself. Look at lines, colors,
shapes, sizes, textures, and subjects.
One of the things I do in my Museums
e-book is encourage students to become critics of
installations. I provide a worksheet you can take around to museum and
gallery exhibits while trying to hone your eye. If you don't have this
worksheet, you can make up your own or use a journal. Writing it down
will help you remember and instill new habits that lead to being a
better curator.
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Check out the audio program and e-book How to Curate and Install Your Art Exhibit Like a Pro |
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Copyright © 2005 Alyson B. Stanfield, Stanfield Art Associates. All rights reserved. I encourage you to forward all or part of this newsletter as long as you include the above copyright information and this link: http://www.artbizcoach.com |
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ALYSON
B. STANFIELD STANFIELD ART ASSOCIATES,
INC. |