"Red on Edge": Tell + Show Gallery Discussion

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

The Krieble Gallery was transformed into an experiential learning lab on Sunday, for the first in a series of gallery talks devoted to exploring Sewell Sillman's modernist approaches to the treatment of color, line, and time. In "Red on Edge", Amanda Burdan, the curator for the newly-opened Sewell Sillman exhibition Pushing Limits, gave an engaging lecture on how Sillman's artistic practices drew on the radical ideas behind modernist color theory. Attendees had the opportunity to see firsthand how these techniques influenced the art on display in the gallery, and even got a peek at works that are not a part of the exhibition.

The next interactive gallery discussion, titled "Reflecting on a Line," will be held on Sunday, March 7 at 2 p.m. Expect to discover some surprises hidden within the pages of Sillman's personal sketchbooks, which help tell the story of how he developed his unique drawing style!

Getting inside the mind of an artist

If you're curious about the creative process, a peek at an artist's personal sketchbooks (Sewell Sillman's are pictured at left) can be a guilty pleasure. But what about the problem-solving, and exploration of new techniques, that lie at the heart of that process? To answer those questions, the museum will be hosting a series of experiential art labs and gallery talks inspired by Sillman's own creative process, aimed at allowing participants to really dive in and gain an understanding of the techniques he applied over the course of his career. Using his own fine art portfolios and personal sketchbooks as hands-on inspiration, Tell & Show gallery talks will stimulate discussion about how he tackled the problems of color, line, and time. In addition, two series of art labs, one geared to children and the other to adults, will set up drawing and painting exercises as a way to play with the techniques Sillman himself used.

These Sunday activities are free with museum admission. Read more about them here, and then get your creative juices flowing with a visit to the exhibit and an afternoon of artistic exploration!

"Rural Modernism"

On Sunday March 29, at 2:00 PM, I'll be giving the last gallery talk related to "The Road Less Traveled: Thomas Nason's Rural New England."  In this talk, as in the video below, I'll be discussing prints in the exhibition that suggest Nason's familiarity with the aesthetics of modern art.  It may sound like a contradiction in terms, but I think of Nason as a experimenting with something I'll call "rural modernism."  I'll also compare Nason's prints with work by Grant Wood, Charles Sheeler, and Charles Demuth.  This video takes a closer look at Nason's wood engraving Factory Village, the subject of which is a distinct departure from his  typical scenes of rural New England life.  

  

See you on Sunday

I heard so many interesting questions about printmaking last night at the Member's Preview for the Thomas Nason exhibition that I'm thinking about adding an additional gallery talk focused on his technique.  Did you know that the Encyclopedia Britannica contacted Nason in 1951 to get permission to use his images in their entry on printmaking?  That's how technically admired he was in his time.  

This Sunday at 2 PM I'll be giving a gallery talk entitled "Nothing Gold Can Stay: Conjuring the Past in Thomas Nason's Prints of New England."  In this informal discussion, I'll focus on the melancholy evident in Nason's farm scenery.  Both Nason and Frost expressed, each in their own medium, a kind of despair at the passing of traditional New England ways.  We'll look in depth at Farm Buildings, A New England Scene, The Leaning Silo, A Deserted Farm, and Factory Village.

More gallery talks will follow, one comparing Frost and Nason and another on the modern elements in Nason's prints.