LINCOLN WITH NEWS FROM THE LINCOLN
DeCordova Exhibition Charts Artistic Landscape
Ben Aaronson/Staff Writer
Thu May 22, 2008, 0730 AM EST
To select just a dozen pieces to represent such a diverse
population is no easy task, but that is exactly the task that faced curators at
the
“It’s not an easy decision. There have been times that an artist may have been recommended every year for years before finally getting in the show,” said Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo.
Originally entitled the Artists/Visions series, the
exhibition has been showcasing
More than any other exhibition, Lafo said, the Annual reflects the museum’s mission to support local artists and champion contemporary art in all its forms.
The selection process is ongoing throughout the year, Lafo said, as curators visit artists and attend shows in the region, keeping a list of prospective candidates for the Annual. Curators invite many artists to submit proposals and receive many other unsolicited submissions, she said.
Each year in November or December, the curatorial staff, which includes Lafo, Curator Nick Capasso, Assistant Curator Dina Deitsch and Koch Curatorial Fellow Kate Kempsey, meets to make selections for the next year’s Annual from a pool that often includes more than 40 artists and artist teams. Lafo said the team operates on consensus rather than having each curator pick his or her favorites.
Unlike other shows that are centered around a set theme or medium, the Annual represents a diversity of media and content.
“It’s a really liberating experience for us to have a show that is truly curators’ choice. It gives us a way of showing a diverse group of artists all together in one place,” she said.
The 12 artists and artist teams showing in this year’s exhibition cover many different media, including installation, sculpture, photography and painting. Featured in the 2008 Annual Exhibition are: Mitchel Ahern, Matt Brackett, Leah Gauthier, The Institute for Infinitely Small Things, Niho Kozuru, Yana Payusova, David Prifti, Mark Shoening, Vanessa Tropeano and Marguerite White, all of Massachusetts: Eva Lee of Ridgefield, Conn.; Kirsten Reynolds of Newmarket, N.H.
While there is no central theme tying all the pieces together, the works featured in the Annual often touch similar ideas, Lafo said. In this year’s exhibition, any of the artists are commenting on the excess of information in this age, she said.
“Artists react to things that are happening in the world,” Lafo said. “There are things that are sort of in the air and that ends up in the show.”
With a variety of media and subject, designing the layout of the exhibition could also be a challenge if not well planned, Lafo said. Each proposal is submitted with a specific space in the museum in mind and the curators select the projects that will work best in the given space, she said.
“It’s still a challenge in that you have to make it work. We wouldn’t put four people doing four major installations at the same time just because it would be unwieldy and impractical,” she said.
As it is, the exhibition may not be unwieldy, but it is certainly expansive, with works spread throughout the floors of the museum.
The exhibition even spills over into outdoor exhibition space where installation/performance artist Leah Gauthier is cultivating melon seeds for her installation, “Melon.” Funded by a special grant from The Artists Resource Gauthier will grow the melons over the course of the summer, culminating in a performance piece on August 16 when she will serve the fruit to audience members.
Other scheduled performances include Mitchel Ahern on Sunday, June 14, and The Institute for Infinitely Small Things on Saturday, May 24, and Sunday, June 15.
Many of the artists will present talks for participate in the Eye Wonder Family Program throughout the exhibition, which runs through Aug. 17.
For more information about the 2008 DeCordova Annual Exhibition, including museum hours and tour schedule, call 781-259-0505 or visit www.decordova.org.