by Anson The Ornery |
The museum profession can be an insular world causing the community to be suspicious of new ways of doing things. Well, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s latest exhibition “Unexpected Encounters” is doing things differently and many within the museum community find the exhibition to be an odd curatorial choice, somehow forgetting the title of the show. I thought they were right when I rounded the corner into the exhibition. I was greeted by a Rita Blitt sculpture flanked by a bizarre menagerie including a Scott Gobber painting that read “Piece.” Yes I read the painting as you do with most of Gobber’s work because he uses word play in his artwork. A collage by Red Grooms depicting Willem De Kooning riding a bike with one of the women from his abstract expressionist paintings and a straightforward representational nude oil painting by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. This hodgepodge of artwork continued along with my confusion as I walked into the main gallery of “Unexpected Encounters” but then it hit me! The Nelson-Atkins was showing artwork that has been stuck in storage to create a cost saving summer show.
Piece, 2011. Archie Scott Gobber, American (born 1965). Enamel on canvas, 37 15/16 × 59 1/4 × 2 inches. Purchase: acquired through the generosity of the Beckett Art Purchases Fund in memory of Samuel and Ethel Beckett, 2017.63. © Archie Scott Gobber. Image courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
I am a professional art preparator. No, spell check does not recognize “preparator” as a word. Lets just say I handle art. I am an art handler. Part of my profession takes me into the vaults of many different museums and it is crowded. Donors prefer to fund the fun stuff, like the art, which is great because without it there would be no need for the museum. On the flip side donors tend to neglect other important needs like “where are we going to put all this art?” because it is not as flashy to have your name on the “P. Funkcicle Storage Facility” as it is the “Sprite Art Quenching Gal-o-Rama Blast!” Please somebody make both of those things happen. “Unexpected Encounters” puts the collection into perspective with a wall graphic explaining it would take fifteen Nelson-Atkins to display all of their collection. That’s a lot of stuff to store. Which is why 97% of the Nelson-Atkins’ collection is kept in storage.
Well, guess what recently happened? The Nelson-Atkins after years of pleading with their donors finally acquired a shiny new storage facility. YAY! This meant that all that dang art had to be moved to a new storage site which allowed the museum to review their collection. I have hung art that waited ten to fifteen years after being acquired before it “fit” with an exhibition’s theme. So I love that The Nelson-Atkins said “the hell with it! Why wait? Flaunt it if you got it!”
Another wall graphic points out that in the last ten years the collection has added over 10,000 objects, highlighted by the fact that all of the objects displayed in “Unexpected Encounters” were acquired within the last ten years, which keeps the cost of the exhibition low because there is no artwork on loan from other museums. The Nelson-Atkins is pulling back the curtains to the museum’s inner workings by picking objects to show off the diversity of their collection. The sign of a quality museum is that everything looks effortless but there is a large team of art professionals behind every exhibitions. “Unexpected Encounters” educates visitors about all the roles within a museum along with how to experience a museum setting. The very way the show is arranged is meant to teach visitors how to look.
Absolut No Return, 2008. Hank Willis Thomas (born 1976). Chromogenic print, 95 1/2 × 47 7/8 inches. Gift of Shirley Bush Helzberg, 2018.3. © Hank Willis Thomas. Image courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
The first gallery is entirely figurative works funneling the viewer’s attention to a group of sculptures including an 18th century Buddhist statue next to “Daily Prayer,” a large 2010 ceramic, by Tip Toland. Figurative work is easier for most viewers to grasp and by placing these two objects together it shows that the importance of the human figure has continued throughout art history. If anything the first gallery is to ease the viewer into the next space which opens up in two directions.
To the left is a niche filled with language based artwork harkening back to Gobber’s painting at the entrance of the exhibition. To the right features furniture mixed with decorative objects like an 1815 side cabinet by George Bullock used as a pedestal for 1980s earrings, a comb and other household objects blending traditional with modern. By giving the viewer two ways to explore the space it prepares them for the middle gallery which goes into free fall by placing objects and walls to disrupt any flow the viewer may have had. The point is to free the viewer to roam through a mix of indigenous art, Color Field paintings, and Japanese woodblock prints all side by side. The viewer is encouraged to make their own path.
Landline Tappan, 2015. Sean Scully, American (born Ireland, 1945). Oil on aluminum, 118 x 74 3/4 inches (300 x 190 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Purchase: acquired through the generosity of Sean Scully, Dr. Luther Brady in honor of Lee Lyon and the William T. Kemper Foundation—Commerce Bank, Trustee, 2017.46. © Sean Scully. Image courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
In stark contrast is the last gallery arranged like the standard white cube of most museums containing, like the first gallery, only figurative works. The reason for this drastic change in the gallery layout is to gradually introduce the viewer to more and more freedom of exploration. By shocking the viewer with a stuffy traditional gallery after the prier free flowing area it illuminates how playful a museum can be with its space encouraging viewers new to the museum experience to return for future exhibitions.
“Unexpected Encounters” successfully lives up to its title. Museum professionals find “Unexpected Encounters” strange because the Nelson-Atkins has curated a show whose thematic kernel is diversity, emphasizing public education over scholarship. I can only hope “Unexpected Encounters” will lead to other shows that remove the fourth wall, like maybe a show of damaged artwork from the Nelson-Atkins’ collection that would otherwise never be shown. These artworks are talked about in hush rumors in the art world because every museum has a few. Creative shows that pull away the facade of elitism surrounding the art world can only increase visitation at the museum. As public funding of the arts dwindles and art patronage becomes privatized, Kansas City should count its blessings because we have THREE world class art museums that are FREE! “Unexpected Encounters” bucks the trend of the art world by being egalitarian.
