Music and art go hand in hand. And what better pairing for Tara Donovan’s ‘extraordinary’ art than a performance by percussionist Nick Hennies?

This Saturday, you can experience the sounds Nick Hennies as he performs music from his forthcoming album, Psalms, as well as Objects, a new work dedicated to the exhibition Tara Donovan: Untitled and composed especially for this installation.

Drawing connections to Donovan’s work, Hennies’ piece makes seemingly familiar sounds become strange and new.

Check out one of Nick’s performances below:

New Sound Facilities #1 – Nick Hennies & Sandy Ewen from You and Yours on Vimeo.

Filed under: Art, Current Events, Exhibitions, Public Programs

For the opening of the new Ancient Art of the Mediterranean gallery, I completed a couple of conservation treatments on objects that haven’t been on view in a long, long time.  One of the objects is this Canosan vase which is from the 3^rd or 2^nd century B.C.E.  Here’s a video of the IMA’s Director and CEO talking about the vessel and the new gallery he curated:

Before this more than 2,000 year old artwork came into my Objects and Variable Art conservation lab, it was safely stored in two separate boxes—one box contained the ceramic vessel, the other contained the 9 pieces that were detached from it.  There’s a photograph in the historical files dating to the early part of the 20^th century showing how the vase was assembled when it was acquired in 1928.

My job was to carefully re-assemble these pieces and fill the missing areas to make the joints appear more seamless.  Finally, I inpainted my fills to make them less visible (if you get up really close to the case, you can see my work).

Aaron Steele, the IMA’s Digital Assets Specialist & Associate Photographer, photographed this object before and after my conservation treatment up in his photo studio.  Have a look:

Before treatment photographs

After treatment photographs

Filed under: Art, Conservation, IMA TV

Oooo la la…The Textile and Fashion Arts galleries got a face-lift

The Paul textile and fashion arts galleries opened with a bang in 2006 with a spectacular exhibition, I Do, The Marriage of Fashion and Art curated by Niloo Paydar. (Here’s a little secret: this is one of the first exhibitions I worked on when interning at the IMA in 2003)

Installation view, I Do, The Marriage of Fashion and Art, fashion arts gallery, 2006

Installation view, I Do, The Marriage of Fashion and Art, textile arts gallery, 2006

The exhibition utilized both the Paul textile arts and fashion arts galleries with the door open to adjoin the spaces. The placement of the doorway is specific, acting as a bridge for the two galleries to accommodate larger comprehensive exhibitions, such as the case with, I Do. When the door is closed, however, either the exhibitions are varied or the galleries are dark, allowing the museum to utilize the space as an area for the IMA to prepare for upcoming exhibits.

Installation view, All Dressed Up; Recent Additions, textile arts gallery, 2007

Always keeping our environmental footprint in mind, we reused the risers built specifically for the inaugural exhibition, (I Do) for the next five, yep that’s right, five exhibitions. Over the course of four years, our exhibition designers toyed with the placement of supplemental risers, wall colors and graphics in order to update each space according to the unique exhibitions housed.

In the case of Dior; The King of Couture, the gallery structure remained the same, but the dramatic use of color and wall graphics helped transform the space.

Installation view, Dior; The King of Couture, fashion arts gallery, 2007

In the case of Simply Halston, we created an alternate environment by exhibiting pieces flat on the wall as well as placing close to 30 pieces in the gallery. We lightheartedly refer to this format as the cocktail party scheme vs. the debutante ball, al la Dior.

Installation views, Simply Halston, fashion arts gallery, 2008

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Filed under: Art, Design, Exhibitions

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Daily Drop Cap

Blog: Daily Drop Cap

he Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Each day (or at least each WORK day), a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap will be posted for your enjoyment and for the beautification of blog posts everywhere.

ArtBabble SERIES: Dutch Design

Dutch Design Series by Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

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Filed under: Art, Current Events, Design, New Media

The current Star Studio exhibition, More than Four Legs: A Closer Look at Chairs asks visitors to think carefully about and look closely at chairs. Of course, since this is a Star Studio exhibition, visitors are also encouraged to translate these thoughts and observations into practice by creating a model chair to display or take home.  I thought it might be fun to share images of a few of the chairs that visitors have left in Star Studio.

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Filed under: Art, Design, Education