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.

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

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

In 2008, the textile arts gallery changed dramatically not just because of the type of art exhibited, but by the use of color and the addition of tables. Shared Beauty, Eastern Rugs and Western Beaded Purses was an exhibition that compared and analyzed shared motifs used in rug making and in beaded purse design. The result was quite stunning.

Installation view Shared Beauty, Eastern Rugs & Western Beaded Purses, textile arts gallery, 2008

The last exhibition using the stationary curvilinear risers was Fashion In Bloom. FIB as we affectionally called it, traced the sartorial shifts in silhouette for women’s fashion over the course of 200 years. Notice how the supplementary riser (on top of the big curve) flipped around to create a new footprint as well as how the door was used for the title graphic.

Installation view, Fashion in Bloom, fashion arts gallery, 2009 (Note the green riser)

After four years, of using what we got- to the best of our ability, we decided that it was time to remove the stationary risers. It is important to note, however, that our waste not, want not, mentality did not go out with the risers.

In fact, for the installation of our latest exhibition, Body Unbound, Contemporary Couture from the IMA’s Collection, our chief exhibition designer pulled out of storage our trusty, modular risers created and used for the traveling exhibition, Breaking the Mode; Contemporary Fashion from the Permanent Collection, LACMA as well as in European Design Since 1985.

Here is a sneak peak of our re-vamp in process. You will have to stay tuned for the final transformation… coming soon.

painting, textile arts gallery

painting, fashion arts gallery

modular risers, under construction

risers freshly painted

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

IMA Work of Art:

The Turkey Pasture by William Baxter Palmer Closson

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Finally took time to go up to the galleries for this (Artist talk Dec 10): http://www.imamuseum.org/ex…

These chairs are being created by artists of all ages using a simple template as a starting point.  Feeling inspired to try your hand at creating the next innovation in seating design?  Drop by Star Studio and get to work.  As always, the activity is free and available all hours that the museum is open.  Can’t make it to Star before the show closes?  You can still make a chair!

Download a printable template adapted from the die-cut that Carla Hartman designed for use in Star Studio.

Download Chair Template