The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art discusses non-traditional art. Lowbrow has been used for art that some people, usually not the artists, consider not worthy of high brow or high class society. Lowbrow Pop Art often includes the nude, hot rod cars, and TV celebrities. It is a controversial term and some may consider this type of art surreal while others would not agree and may consider it abstract expressionism. This style came about post WWII, 1940’s-1960’s but continued and still exists. The culture at the time, especially in California, including beach type movies and the opening of Disney Land in California, inspired the art that was different from previous styles. Lowbrow art became popular on concert posters, comics and cartoons. Later it was used on album covers. These things actually helped to spread the art more than it would have in a museum.. Lowbrow art, which sometimes had a “hippie” reputation, is narrative, in other words something in the image is happening or about to happen. The servicemen coming back from war brought with them Polynesian desires and that played in to the Lowbrow art as well. Women have been able to play a more involved role with Lowbrow art than with many others, perhaps because it is more open of a style.
This video was interesting and taught a lot about one basic style of art. The only way this would help with the art exhibition project would be based in this particular style. The video did not really discuss the display of art in general. It touched on the fact that Lowbrow art is not well represented in museums and that they needed to create their own shows. Many curators do not give Lowbrow art credit as being a fine art. I personally found that I like many of the Lowbrow art pieces. It was nice that the video showed so many to give the viewer a real feel for the style. I find many of the works fun and a reminder of a time past. The artists try to be open to its viewers which makes Lowbrow a consumer based art as opposed to museum or gallery based. The galleries that do contain an abundance of Lowbrow art are those the the Lowbrow artists themselves set up. Juxtapoz is a magazine that has spread this style of art from California and the West Coast, where it is more popular, to places like New York City on the east coast. It is now working it’s way all over, even into classic museums, like NYC Galleries, and people’s homes.
The video Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach discusses how The National Gallery of British art known as The Tate due to the collection of artist Henry Tate. Alfred H. Barr Jr., director of The Museum of Modern Art in New York pioneered displaying art on blank white walls with flexible lighting. The works of art were then arranged by rooms based on particular movements or artists. He did this to show the evolution of art separate from political or social history. This method was critiqued and changed partly due to the number of new types of art (which often was a reaction to Barr’s model), including video, uniqued sculptured structures and more. The Tate Museum began taking art off the walls, and using the floor, the video and other unique works to bring life and noise to the museum space. History and social modems were also considered, gender roles, ethnicity and sexuality. Tate organizers decided to set up four basic categories; landscape, still life and the nude. They setup three areas in the museum encompassing these basic themes; Landscape/Matter/Environment, Life/Object/Real Life, and History/Memory/Society. This gives them more options as to where and how to display the works of art. Many people can view these displays in different ways. Some may appreciate the mix of old and new, paintings and sculptures, ect. Others appreciate the new ideas and it opens up minds to new connections of art. The use of the categories allows for moving of artworks since many pieces will fit into any one of the categories.
The videos are very helpful in explaining what goes into deciding how to arrange art and what categories are to be used. While watching, I was thinking back to the two gallery visits I’ve had so far. These two museums were set up quite differently. Parts of them seemed based on Barr’s model while other locations followed a thematic design like that of the Tate. There is plenty to consider, and opinions included when choosing how to arrange a display.
The video, An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, discussed how the director, of more than thirty years, Philippe de Montebello, worked. This displays of this massive worldly museum are no simple task. Great detail needs to be given to each and every piece and display to be sure they are appropriate and of best quality. This requires knowledge of art all over the world and what would best belong together. This would mean taking out personal opinion. As director, he needs to work with many curators on what pieces to purchase for display. Sometimes curators, who have certain specialities, need to convince Montebello by bringing that actual art work to the museum to see live. The museum has more than 100 curators and large departments for the many different types of displays. The director takes the artwork choices to the Board of Trustees who make the final decision regarding purchases. The curators need to know the history, the medium, connection to other pieces or the display, and the inspiration when presenting these pieces to the Board.
This video also explores what it takes to store, care for and conserve the art works a museum owns. It takes extreme care to restore and preserve every type of art work. It is often a challenging job to keep the piece in its original state. Each type requires a different attack in order to do this. The way a piece was made, the materials used and the origin need to be taken into account. A piece cannot always be restored to original position, which is a choice conservationists need to consider. There are even times that a piece, broken, is left alone because of the almost new art that has been created.
The director also needs to consider the location of pieces within the museum itself. This is an immense job at the Met due to its size and vast collection. Many are the largest of their sort in the Western hemisphere. Lighting and windows are considered as well as the size of the piece and the room. Exhibitions have stepped into the 21st technology age by being available online and in catalogs but nothing can compete with seeing the exhibits in real life.
This video was perhaps the most beneficial of the three in regards to our exhibition project. Although it discusses one museum in particular, it went into great depth as to what it takes to get a museum in walk through condition. Creating an exhibit is a business of its own almost separate from the museum as a whole. The tips on art work choice, restoration, location within a museum, themes and even the direction a piece faces will all be helpful to me in creating my own exhibition project.
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