Mr. Holga, our walkabout photographer and reporter, recently took time lapse images during Peter Ligon’s printmaking class at Southern Methodist University (Go Mustangs!). The images were shot using his Nikon D7000, which has a built in intervalometer (shutter release timer).

During the time lapse video you can see all the stages of the printmaking process except creating the copper plate.

Here is a brief summary of the steps and where in the room you can observe them:

1. Put printing paper in water bath (rear right)
2. Place copper plate on hot pad for adding ink (rear under vent hood)
3. Completely cover the copper plate with ink and remove most of the excess
4. Remove the remainder of the excess ink with a tarlatan leaving only the desired ink for printing (tables just past the printing presses)
5. Remove paper form the water bath and wring out excess water using the blotting paper and roller (rear right)
6. Place the copper plate on the printing press (gray or red press in middle of room)
7. Place damp paper on top of copper plate
8. Place felts on top of paper
9. Turn wheel to press paper to plate
10. Remove felts
11. Gently remove paper from top of copper plate
12. Admire print
13. Remove copper plate
14. Clean printing surface of any ink left behind

These images were shot from 7-8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 12, 2011. Thanks to everyone in the video including Peter, Bernadette, Val, Brandi, Tina, Ronald, Jessica, Rives, John and Mr. Holga.

The time lapse video include The Chicken Dance performed by Die-Hard Polka Band from their album Polka, Polka, Polka. We liked the music so much, we bought the album.

Peter Ligon’s printmaking class at SMU is eight sessions from September through November. SMU offers other informal art courses to include drawing, painting and sculpting.

Related Posts

You Can’t Make Art without Getting Your Hands Dirty Part II – June 5, 2010

You Can’t Make Art without Getting Your Hands Dirty – November 11, 2009

Mr. Holga, our walkabout photographer, captured Big Tex being lifted into place for the 2011 State Fair of Texas. The State Fair is celebrating their 125th year.

The images for the time lapse video were taken on Monday, September 26, 2011. The State Fair of Texas likes to make a big deal about setting Big Tex on his perch. The event, which happened at 11 a.m., included school children, presentations, a charitable donation, news crews and a really tall crane.

The time lapse video is made up of thousands of single shots. Mr. Holga used his Nikon D7000 to capture one frame per second. The process to lift Big Tex into place takes only a few minutes, but securing his legs and unhooking the hoist takes longer.

Big Tex is the first video on our new YouTube Channel, which you can find at youtube.com/DallasArtNews.

We hope you enjoy the video.

Related Big Tex Posts on Dallas Art News

Special Feature: Big Tex Getting New Dickies Shirt – Aug. 2, 2011

Sculpture at the State Fair of Texas – Oct. 4, 2010

State Fair of Texas Announces Theme for 2011: 125 Years – A Timeless Tradition – Feb. 28, 2011

Big Tex Goes Up at the State Fair of Texas – Sept. 24, 2010

Workers pulling on Big Tex's blue jeans. (photo by Mr. Holga)

I’ve been fortunate enough to find myself on all the right email lists lately. I guess being the staff photographer and contributing reporter for Dallas Art News has it perks. Last week I received an invitation to see Big Tex get fitted for his new Dickies shirt. How could I refuse such an offer.

Had I know that I would be sweating to death in less than fifteen minutes, I might have reconsidered. If I remember correctly, it was also blistering hot last year when I first saw Big Tex set into place for the 2010 State Fair of Texas in September.

Click here to see Big Tex Goes Up at the State Fair of Texas. There is an image gallery at the bottom.

Big Tex has always been the highlight of my State Fair of Texas experience. I enjoy watching the crowds of people, both small and large groups, huddle together to get that perfect shot with Big Tex. I also enjoy the reactions when Big Tex starts talking to the children.

It is with this spirit that I attend these special Big Tex events. Not only do I get to take great photos of the big man, but I even get close enough to touch him. At first I considered being respectful of Big Tex and treat him like a work of art, but who could resist the urge to touch a legend like Big Tex. Certainly not me.

Dickies Shirt

This year Big Tex received a red, white and blue shirt to replace last year’s yellow and blue shirt. The new shirt was voted for on Dickies Facebook page. Not only did Dickies’ Facebook friend select the color, they also selected the style of the shirt.

The whole fitting process takes about twenty to thirty minutes. I’m sure it could be done faster without all the media hanging around. Just imagine if you were followed by a camera crew while you did your job. Creepy, huh.

I was told that Big Tex gets a new shirt every three years. I also heard the shirt was built to withstand the heat, wind and rain.

I kept asking what they did with last year’s shirt, but nobody seemed to have an answer. I can only image a really large closet somewhere in Fair Park with Big Tex’s old shirts.

Dallas Museum of Art Directory Bonnie Pitman in front of Jasper Johns painting (photo courtesy the Dallas Museum of Art)

In April 2011, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) announced that Bonnie Pitman would be stepping down from her post as the Museum’s Eugene McDermott Director this month due to health reasons. Ms. Pitman was gracious enough to grant Dallas Art News an interview to discuss the highlights of her tenure at the DMA.

After speaking to Ms. Pitman for only a minute we could tell that her ailment had weakened her voice. By the end of the interview we realized her spirit and love of art was fully intact. We only requested 15-20 minutes for this interview, but we feel that Ms. Pitman would have gone on for hours talking about the Dallas Museum of Art, the talented curatorial staff, their wonderful collection, the generous donors and you, the reason for every thing she had done for the last eleven years.

We asked Ms. Pitman about her favorite exhibits, works of art, acquisition and directorial perks, but we failed to ask about her accomplishments. Following up with Ms. Pitman through the DMA, she felt remiss for not mentioning the Center for Creative Connections, which opened in 2008. Ms. Pitman said the Center has quickly become one of the most popular destinations in the Museum, visited by about 2400 people a week. The interactive and innovative learning environment has provided a new model for art education and interpretation. Ms. Pitman, whose career started out in museum education, is especially proud of the Center.

This month Ms. Pitman was named as recipient of the 2011 American Association of Museums (AAM) Award for Distinguished Service to Museums. Ms. Pitman will receive her award at the AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo in Houston next week.

The Dallas Museum of Art kindly provided us some images from Ms. Pitmans career at the Museum. Click here to see the gallery of images at the end of the interview.

Q&A with Bonnie Pitman

Q. We see you started out as an artist but you switched to art history at Sweet Briar College. Do you still paint and draw?

No, I don’t. That is something I think about for the future. Being an administrator and curator overcame my creative abilities at some point.

It takes an enormous amount of time, passion and focus to be a good artist. I vividly remember realizing the moment when my hand was not as alive as it used to be. And so I put aside painting and drawing and decided to come back to it at another time, out of respect.

Q. Since you arrived at the DMA in 2000, can you tell us about a few of your favorite exhibits?

Oh, yes, there have been countless ones.

One of the great highlights for me was the J.M.W. Turner exhibition, which we were partners with the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum. I love Turner’s work and it was an extraordinary exhibition.

Another exhibition that was important because of our great collection was the exhibition on Mondrian (The Transatlantic Paintings: Work by Piet Mondrian, 2001) that we did when Dorothy [Kosinski]¹ was here. We took the exhibition from the Harvard Art Museums because we own the great James H. and Lillian Clark Foundation collection. It put our Mondrians into a beautiful context and helped our audience to more fully understand his work. For me it was one of the shows that [signaled] a turning point in our making the connections between our collection and special exhibitions.

The Fast Forward (Fast Forward: Contemporary Collections for the Dallas Museum of Art, 2006/7) exhibition over took the whole first floor of the Museum, including the Sculpture Garden. It was a celebration beginning in November 2006 and went through May 2007. Fast Forward was part of the joint bequest announced in 2005 to the Dallas Museum of Art from the Hoffman, Rachofsky, and Rose Collections, along with other promised gifts from Gayle and Paul Stoffel, Amy and Vernon Faulconer and Nancy and Tim Hanley among others. It also showcased our incredible contemporary collection. I can close my eyes and still see moments of that exhibition so clearly. [Fast Forward] was almost 70,000 square feet by the time we were all done. It was a massive exhibition curated by Maria de Corral (guest curator).

The beautiful Mayan show (Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship, 2006) was another really great exhibition that showcased some of the masterworks works in our ancient American collection. We were able to encourage our community to then go to the fourth level and see the collection of this important material.

Sword ornament in the form of a lion, Asante peoples, c. mid-20th century (photo courtesy the Dallas Museum of Art)

The one I loved that just closed was Roslyn Walker’s² exhibition on African masks (African Masks: The Art of Disguise, 2010/11). I thought it was a brilliant installation in terms of the presentation of the costumes and the regalia that the artists used. We did such amazing programming around it. And the smARTphone tour will be a permanent addition to our collections. I think this exhibition really brought to life a new level of understanding of African art. It was an incredible show and a surprise to everybody and got terrific attendance.

And the [Gustav] Stickley show (Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement, 2011t) that just closed [this month]. Six of our pieces were the framework for that exhibition and Kevin Tucker³ did a terrific job of creating that room and the style and the artist. His catalog added measurably to a new understanding of this artist’s work at the turn of the century.

There were some amazing shows. That is the wonderful part of being an encyclopedic museum is that you can see art from all over the world and throughout time. Of course Tut was great, but that was not an exhibition that we created. We presented it. So I picked shows the DMA created.

Q. How did you improve the DMA’s collection during your tenure?

The greatest joy of any director or curator in a museum is working on the growth of the collection, because that is something that will be forever in the community. That to me is the core of our responsibility.

There have been a number of ways we have worked on that. One is bringing in great curatorial talents in over the years: Roslyn Walker, African curator; Olivier Meslay⁴, European and American art; Jeffrey Grove⁵, contemporary art; Heather MacDonald⁶, European art; and Kevin Tucker, decorative arts and design. These great curators attract new energy for the Museum’s collection and bring in collectors and donors.

First you have to focus on the talent and then you have to cultivate the collectors in your community. And we have a lot to be grateful for because we have had new acquisitions in our European collections that Olivier and I had been working on with the Caillebotte (Yellow Rose in a Vase) and the Kirchner (Four Wooden Sculptures, rector / Ice Skater, verso) and the Signac (Comblat-le-Château, the Meadow, Opus 161) and the Vuillard (Chestnut Trees). I’m sure you have seen these new works on the second floor. These four major acquisitions were funded by the Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund. They have transformed that collection. For example we acquired our first German Expression work ever by Ernest Ludwig Kirchner.

The ability to work with the McDermott Art Fund consistently over the years acquiring works of excellence for the Museum has been one of my great joys. The Signac takes your breath away when you’re on the second floor. You just know when a painting is right for our collection and when you see it in the gallery and how it relates to other works of art there your heart stops and you just fall in love.

The McDermott Art Fund also acquired last year two very significant gold pieces⁷ for the African Collection, the first ever.

In the contemporary area it is amazing the growth in this collection. We have gotten so many works and recent gifts. [Like] the acquisition of the Marlene Dumas, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Jim Hodges, and still this, which is a dazzling ten panel gold leaf painting that he did. The Olafur Eliasson was recently up. There are so many works. The David Altmejd⁸ that we had up when we had the Performance Art exhibition that it is just a huge, broad range of growth in that collection.

Then you have when you talk about the global collections, the recent gift from the Pollock family of the Mayan eccentric flint⁹ from 600 A.D., which is a companion piece to the great eccentric flint we have on the fourth floor. They are both up now. And that is such a unique piece. The story is equally riveting. Lonnie Pollock bought this piece at the same time the DMA bought our eccentric flint. He loved it so much that he and his wife Shirley kept it in their home. It wasn’t until Shirley passed away that it came to the Museum. But we always hoped that it would come here. And this great Mesoamerican piece, that has been part of the Dallas community, to then see the family give it to the Museum all these years later is the story of Dallas. There are people who love art and then want to share it with their community.

The Barrett family¹⁰, Nona and Richard Barrett, have given so generously of their Texas collection of historical Texas early 20th century and more recently a few years ago contemporary collection.

It is extraordinary that people love art and they want to share it and the Museum is the forum or vehicle which is that place that that can happen. So our job is to share it and make it come alive in the community. There are so many wonderful donors and collectors to thank. These are just a few of them.

So, I’m really proud of the growth of the collection. A major part of the work we focused on together.

Q. In your book, Ignite the Power of Art: Advancing Visitor Engagement in Museums (2011), you mention four clusters: Observer, Participant, Independent and Enthusiast. Which one are you?

Laugh.

That’s a great question.

I think everybody is some combination of different clusters. There’s no question that I fit into two categories, which we learned in the research. One is I love art and I am definitely an Enthusiast because I just love going to museums and seeing them and participating in them in all ways. There’s no question about that. But I am also an Independent. I also love going to art museums and having art experiences on my own – just looking quietly and reflectively with the art. I think I am a combination of those two, the Enthusiast and the Independent. It just depends on what the moment is.

What are you?

We enjoy seeing the art. When an exhibit is really crowded, we enjoy looking at the people because they become so much more interesting.

People’s responses to works of art I think are at the center of how we learn. That’s why I think our Museum has been successful because we have taken what we have learned about our audience and really applied it thoughtfully and experimentally. So that has helped us to grow an institution.

Q. What is your jewel acquisition? What is the one piece you are most proud of?

That is an impossible question because it is like a family. You love them all so much.

and still this by Jim Hodges, 2009 (photo courtesy the Dallas Museum of Art)

In some ways the Jim Hodges, and still this (2009), this is this ten-panel piece with the two by two by eights with gold leaf that we bought. I happen to love Jim’s work. This one, if you’ve seen it encircles the viewer with this golden, enigmatic landscape, and I think it’s because I can walk in there and be totally transformed by the experience of that piece. It is probably one of my favorite pieces that we acquired.

I would say the other one that is right next to it is this incredible African gold lion that would have been on the hilt of a king’s staff. It is in the African collection.

And it is not because they are both gold, but because they are fairly recent acquisitions.

Thinking Bodhisattva, Gandharan culture, Hadda region, 4th to 6th century A.D. (photo courtesy the Dallas Museum of Art)

There are so many. I just look back over the eleven years that I have been here and fall in love over and over again whether it’s with Indonesian art or the great new Gandharan Buddha that we bought. If you go up to the third floor there is a Thinking Buddha¹¹. You almost feel him rising up. You can see the breath in his belly and the beautiful jewelry all over him and that is the power of art is when you are transported like that.

There are so many pieces. I would be hard pressed to pick just one.

Q. In the great hunt for art, what is the one that got away?

We have had grand chases for many pieces. The hardest part is being at auction these days because you get outbid.

I had a collector recently say to me that she thinks about all the ones that got away because that is the hardest part of it. You remember those.

Jazz Bowl by Viktor Schreckengost, 1930s (photo courtesy the Dallas Museum of Art)

There were several times we went after [Viktor Schreckengost’s] Jazz Bowl (1930s). We were outbid several times at auction and finally we were able to get one.

If you know the piece that you want you just have to stay present and eventually you will find it.

Roslyn Walker was looking for African gold. We probably looked at 40 pieces of African gold before we found two that we really loved and could present to the collection. It is the question that is sometimes interesting – for there are ones that got away.

Q. What is the best perk for being a director of a major American museum?

I think there are three things. I think it’s being in love with the institution’s mission and its connection to the community. And by that I am saying all the people that make it a great place, the staff, the trustees, the wonderful collectors and of course the audience that comes. For me that ability to connect art and people is at the center of my work and life and to have had the privilege of doing it in Dallas has been one of the great gifts of my career.

Q. If you could do it all over again here in Dallas, would you do anything differently?

The amazing part about Dallas, when I came here, people said to me that they wanted the institution to move forward and they were willing to support the kinds of experiments and changes that we went through like being open 100 hours starting with the Late Nights, experimenting with the website. So, what empowered the staff and the trustees was this partnership about making experiments and taking risks. I wouldn’t change that at all.

I wish there had been even more resources to do even more experiments and changes. The economy has challenged every institution in the community. We could have done more if there had been more.

We did an extraordinary amount with what we had. I don’t look back and think about anything that I would have changed. I just would have wanted to do more.

Q. You would have liked more resources to do more?

Who wouldn’t want that?

We could have bought more art. We could have brought more people into the Museum. We could have had even more extraordinary acquisitions and exhibitions.

What we did do was phenomenal. I think that is the accomplishment and the celebration. The institution has come to a new level of understanding about its role in the community and has a level of recognition nationally and internationally.

I look back with Jack Lane, who was the director before me, and with all our staff and the trustees and I say wow, we did really great work together.

Being a director is about the team. It is about everybody being a part of it. And being true to the mission of the Museum.

Q. How has the internet changed the museum experience? Is interactive content really making the museum more enjoyable?

Yes, and I think it is opening new doors. You can do the smARTphone tour from your office or your home. I think all of the new technologies, whether it’s the use of social media and having conversations on Facebook or participating in a Twitter treasure hunt during a DMA Late Night or presenting an interactive collections-based exhibition, like African Masks.

I’ll never forget when we went on Flickr and we found all these people taking photographs of our Museum. We didn’t even know this. We found there was a whole community out there recording events, the same as on YouTube, and sharing them with other people.

We began to talk with those individuals and communities and bring them into the Museum. You can see the Museum through other eyes, which is very exciting. You can provide more content on the internet or on the smart phone tours than you could ever provide in a 150 word label.

It is opening the whole museum experience up and making it transportable so you can have it right in your office or home. The internet has in fact made the DMA a global museum with an international audience.

When I was meeting with Tom Campbell¹², he was fascinated that I could three years ago bring up on my little iPhone and show him not just the web component of the Museum but showed him our smARTphone tours, which are these interactive tours at the Museum. And that led to a lot of changes at the Met.

We have been lucky to be on the cutting edge of a lot of that technology.

Q. Are you looking forward to the new park over Woodall Rogers?

Absolutely. It’s going to be a wonderful bridge between the Museum and the residential community on the other side of Dallas. I think it is going to enliven and connect the Trinity River Project to the new Nature & Science Museum all the way up to the [Dallas] Arts District. I think it’s going to be a great connector for many neighborhoods of this great city.

Dallas is a city that always thinks big. And that is a mindset that I appreciate, admire, and enjoy.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Jill Bernstein, Director of Public Relations at the Dallas Museum of Art, and the staff of the Dallas Museum of Art. This interview would not be possible without their efforts.

The Dallas Museum of Art kindly provided us some images from Ms. Pitmans career at the Museum. Click here to see the gallery of images at the end of the interview.

Notes

1. Dorothy Kosinski was the Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture and The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art at the time of exhibit.

2. Roslyn Walker is Senior Curator, The Arts of Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas and The Margaret McDermott Curator of African Art.

3. Kevin W. Tucker is The Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design.

4. Olivier Meslay is the Senior Curator of European and American Art and the Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art.

5. Jeffrey Grove is The Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art.

6. Heather MacDonald is The Lillian and James H. Clark Associate Curator of European Art.

7. New acquisitions in African art come from the Asante people of Ghana, dating from the first part of the 20th century. These works include:

• Linguist’s Staff (Kyeame Poma), made of gold-leaf and wood, is an important addition to the African art collection. Complete linguists’ staffs are not often available because most collectors are only interested in the finial, or sculpted “proverb image.” This linguist’s staff is an excellent example of its type, and exemplifies gold as an important material for making art.
• Sword ornament in the form of a lion, made of cast gold and felt, once adorned a ceremonial iron state sword that had a carved wooden hilt covered with gold leaf and sheathed in stingray skin. The few cast metal sword ornaments are authorized reproductions made from latex molds. This lion is a rare original casting.

8. In 2009, the DMA acquired a major large-scale sculpture by David Altmejd, considered to be among the artist’s most ambitious works to date. Measuring approximately 11 by 18 feet, it is called The Eye. Earlier that year, the Museum acquired The outside of inside, an installation by Olafur Eliasson.

9. In March 2010, the DMA announced the acquisition of a major work of ancient American art, the Eccentric flint with heads of K’awil, the god of royal lineage, from the Maya culture of Guatemala and Mexico (A.D. 600-900). Considered a masterwork of Mesoamerican art, the flint was acquired by the DMA as a bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence S. Pollock, Jr., and it is currently on view in the DMA’s fourth floor galleries of ancient American art.

10. In January 2008, The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) announced that Nona and Richard Barrett of Dallas gave more than 100 works from their outstanding private collection of contemporary Texas art to the permanent collections of both museums. The Barretts’ gift to Texas’s two largest museums, and to two of the nation’s most prominent artistic institutions, represents artwork from the 1970s to the present, with the majority of the pieces dating from the 1980s and 90s. This gift follows the Barretts’ earlier gift in March 2007 to the DMA of more than 60 works from their collection of early Texas art (primarily from the 1930s-50s) that was on display in 2007 in an exhibition titled Lone Star Legacy: The Barrett Collection of Early Texas Art.

11 Thinking Bodhisattva, Gandharan culture, Hadda region, 4th to 6th century A.D.
Terracotta. Height: 33 1/8 in. (84.138 cm), Width: 24 1/2 in. (62.23 cm), Depth: 7 in. (17.78 cm). Geographic location: Hadda region, Afghanistan
Dallas Museum of Art, Wendover Fund, gift of David T. Owsley via the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation, Cecil and Ida Green Acquisition Fund, and General Acquisitions Fund

12. Thomas P. Campbell is the director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Drifting Along the Edge by Eric Zener, 2009

Wet
Hotel ZaZa’s Art House & Social Gallery
May 18 through August 30, 2011

Continuing their partnership, Hotel ZaZa has announced its third collaboration with Turner Carroll Gallery and Art Advisors to bring the next show to the Stay ZaZa Art House & Social Gallery. The show is titled Wet and will feature new works by painters Eric Zener and Conrad Kern, as well as sculpture by Gino Miles. The exhibition featuring water-themed works of art will be open beginning May 18 and running through August 30, 2011.

The Stay ZaZa Art House & Social Gallery, located at 2400 McKinney Avenue, will be open to the public Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For private showings by appointment, please call (214) 912-7143.

“After the success of the last two shows by Turner Carroll, we are excited to see what the next show brings,” said Benji Homsey, president of Z Resorts Management and Development, LLC. “This partnership has proved to be an excellent use of the space in the Stay ZaZa Art House & Social Gallery. This event space has many uses, but hosting curated exhibitions by well-known artists definitely aligns with our vision for this creative extension to the hotel.”

Californian artist Eric Zener’s paintings portray his fascination with water. Sunbathers, swimmers, children playing in the water, and the movement of the water itself, upon impact, are consistent Zener themes. The concepts of water as life-giving force, the place of first home, and as an element of energy are compelling aspects which preoccupy Zener.

“I use our relationship with water, nature and each other as a metaphor for transformation, refuge and renewal,” said Zener.

Zener’s paintings are the subject of a new, 250-page monograph. He will be present at the opening reception at the Stay ZaZa Art House & Social Gallery to sign the limited edition monographs. His paintings are also featured in the current exhibition at the Long Beach Museum of Art in California. Zener’s work has been exhibited internationally in Australia, Japan and Spain and is included in numerous corporate, private and museum collections. His work has been featured in the Robb Report, Juxtapoz, Art & Antiques, Travel & Leisure, New American Paintings, American Art Collector, New York Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle and ArtNews Magazine.

Conrad Kern and Gino Miles are New Mexico artists. Kern’s color field paintings and Miles’ brilliantly colored sculptures both glisten with their layers of color and sheen. Miles’ sculptures have been exhibited internationally and are in many important private collections in Italy, where Miles lived and taught for several years. Both Kern’s and Miles’ works have been exhibited throughout the U.S., and Turner Carroll Gallery has coordinated large-scale public and privately commissioned works by each of these artists.

The Stay ZaZa Art House & Social Gallery is available for events such as art exhibits, business meetings, social events and many more. Private events may be scheduled for 16 to 150 guests. Through this venue, Hotel ZaZa is able to showcase its full-service hotel and catering services, while also offering creative freedom to the guest. For more information, or to book a meeting or event, please call (214) 468-8399 or visit hotelzazadallas.com.

For more information on purchasing the artists’ works, please contact Tonya Turner Carroll at the Turner Carroll Gallery at (505) 986-9800.

About Hotel ZaZa

Hotel ZaZa is a sensory experience that is refined yet relaxed. Its sophisticated and sensual interior design and culinary excellence is completed by a staff that pays impeccable attention to each and every guest, making them feel at home. Whether for business, a romantic weekend, or world-famous celebrities, both hotels blend intimate comfort with Stay ZaZa-style to create inspired accommodations, one-of-a-kind themed suites, and award-winning restaurants and spas.

Nestled in the fashionable Uptown neighborhood and next to downtown, Hotel ZaZa Dallas is a creative mix of warm, Mediterranean elegance and comfortable chic. This exceptional boutique hotel offers 4,500 square feet of function space, 152 rooms, 17 concept suites, the Magnificent Seven Suites, the award-winning Dragonfly Restaurant and Lounge, the relaxing ZaSpa and the Art House & Social Gallery. Reservations may be made at hotelzazadallas.com or by calling 888.880.3244.

Located in the heart of the vibrant Museum District and minutes from the world renowned Texas Medical Center, Hotel ZaZa Houston boasts 17,000 square feet of function space and is the perfect backdrop for any business meeting – not to mention home to some of Houston’s most memorable weddings and galas. Monarch Bistro and the tranquil ZaSpa combine to create the hotel’s breadth of impressive amenities. With more than 300 rooms, including Pool Villas, Concept Suites and The Magnificent Seven Suites, ZaZa exceeds all expectations. Reservations may be made at hotelzazahouston.com or by calling 888.880.3244.

Hotel ZaZa, a member of the Preferred Hotel Group™, was created by Charles S. Givens and Jeff Records and is owned by Givens-Records Developments. Operations management and marketing are provided by Z Resorts, LLC, led by Z Resorts President Benji Homsey.

Mz 443 / Untitled (Kao) by Kurt Schwitters, 1922

Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage
The Menil Collection, Houston
Through January 30, 2011

Post by Leslie Thompson

Click here for image gallery.

Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenburg. What do these famous artists have in common?  How about the fact that these men owe a great deal to the German –born artist Kurt Schwitters. The first major American exhibition on the artist in twenty-five years, Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage at The Menil Collection pays tribute to the great man who influenced a generation of modernists.

The exhibition focuses on Schwitters’ abstract collages, or what he has termed as “Merz”- a word as fragmented as his work, derived from a German ad for “Commerzbank.” The artist began producing collages and assemblages in 1918, shortly after befriending the Dada group. Although never officially a member, Schwitters adopted many of the principles of Dadaists and employed radical approaches to creating art. These strategies are apparent upon entering the first gallery, wherein the viewer encounters collages and assemblages that mix paper and various materials with paint.

Each gallery examines and explores the relationship of painting to collage.  For Schwitters, the processes of painting and collage were complimentary to each other, combining the two in several ways: works in which Schwitters paints on top of collage materials; collages incorporating papers with which the artist used to clean his paintbrush; and then other works that include discarded scraps Schwitters painted specifically to use as collage material.

As evident in its title, the exhibition concentrates on Schwitters’ use of color in his abstract collages. As guest curator Isabel Schulz points out, the artist experienced a number of phases in the effects of his colors. His early work is dominated by dark tones, as seen in Merz Picture Thirty-One from 1920. His work proceeds to exhibit luminous colors with rich contrasts. A later gallery reveals collages dominated by large proportions of black, as in Untitled (ASINET 9) from 1923.  Towards the end of the exhibition, the viewer notices Schwitters’ tendency towards blending white into his colors, creating softer compositions like Untitled (France), 1946/47.

Perhaps the climax of the entire exhibition is the reconstruction of Schwitters’ original 1933 Merzbau. For the artist, the Merzbau served as a studio, a venue for talks, recitals, parties; a place where anything and everything could be collected and transformed into abstract art. Visitors can enter the cave-like installation, a room full of painted white wood and plaster objects. There are ample nooks and crevices to explore, sprinkled with found and constructed objects and images. Unfortunately, air raids during WWII destroyed the original Merzbau. Thanks to careful analysis of archival photographs, visitors have the opportunity to experience this long-lost treasure. And let me tell you- it is quite a treat.

How does Schwitters remain relevant today? Just stroll through the last gallery and view how the German artist influenced a generation of American modernists with his exploration of the many possibilities of collage. On display are examples from the work of John Chamberlain, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly and the like.  Even to this day, Schwitters’ spirit continues to permeate the world of contemporary art. Don’t believe me? Visit the Menil and see for yourself

Tree of Life by Jeriberto Castillo

Collection of Mexican Folk Art to Distinguish Museum

Click here for image gallery.

During a press conference held at the Tyler Museum of Art, TMA Director Kimberley Tomio was joined by Laura and Dan Boeckman in announcing that the couple donated one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive collections of contemporary Mexican folk art to the Tyler Museum of Art. The collection is titled The Laura and Dan Boeckman Collection of Mexican Folk Art, and includes over 650 pieces collected in the last two decades from every state in Mexico, excluding Chiapas. The gift is the largest single donation by one source in the Museum’s history.

“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of Laura and Dan Boeckman in not only choosing to share their immense collection with the Museum, but also their commitment to sharing it with the public,” said Mrs. Tomio. “The gift distinguishes the TMA and also broadens our collection to further represent the diverse and vibrant culture in which we live.” The Museum installed a permanent wall case in the lobby dedicated to showing pieces of the collection in an area of the Museum that is always open and free to the public.

The announcement of the gift coincides with two major anniversaries for Mexico, the 200th anniversary of its independence and also the 100th anniversary of the country’s revolution. “The year 2010 will forever be significant to the Tyler Museum of Art now as a reminder of our country’s connection to Mexico both from a historic and contemporary perspective, and we are thrilled to announce this gift during such a significant anniversary year,” said Mrs. Tomio.

Mr. Boeckman commented that one of the reasons he and his wife chose the TMA to be the recipient of the gift was because of its plans to build a new museum. “We are very supportive of the Museum and hope that this gift will help further the TMA’s progress towards completion of the new building project,” he said. “We also wanted to find a city that had a large Hispanic population.” According to the Office of the State Demographer, in 2009, the Hispanic population in Tyler totaled 40,345, nearly 20 percent of the city’s total population. The Tyler Independent School District reports that in 2008-2009, 38.9 percent of its overall student population in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade was Hispanic/Latino.

“The vision statement of the TMA states that the Museum will be ‘a destination for people seeking a dynamic culturally enriching experience in the visual arts.’ The Laura and Dan Boeckman Collection of Mexican Folk Art ensures that the Museum’s collection represents the cultural heritage of the growing segment of our community. This is important as the Museum strives to serve our local and regional population in its diverse entirety,” said Mrs. Tomio. “We look forward to promoting awareness and understanding of the rich artistic legacy demonstrated by this collection in our educational programming both for students and adults.”

About the Collection

The Boeckmans, Dallas-area patrons of the arts who count the Museum Tower project in the city’s downtown arts district as their own, collected the vast bulk of the artworks during their travels in Mexico. “Both my wife and I have traveled extensively in Mexico, and we spent a lot of time in the interior, especially during the late 1980s and early 1990s,” said Mr. Boeckman. “We began collecting pieces of folk art, and we eventually decided to make an effort to collect pieces from every region. Stephen Vollmer was instrumental in this process.” Stephen Vollmer, former curator of Art of the Americas at the Tucson Museum of Art and former chief curator at the El Paso Museum of Art, helped arrange local contacts for the Boeckmans, drove them to sites, and assisted them in other ways while he worked in Mexico.

“The mass of the collection was gathered in-situ [in the place they were produced] and then crated and packed at the time of acquisition,” said Vollmer. Then the crates would either be flown or driven back into the states. Mr. Boeckman says that he and his wife felt compelled to preserve this art form that at the time of their collecting was already changing, if not beginning to disappear.

“Much of Mexican folk art is utilitarian,” he explained. Decorative plates, for example, are expensive to produce which inhibits their production by contemporary folk artists. “It’s simply cheaper to buy paper plates than to make them yourself. Also, the untrained folk artists are diminishing in number for various reasons, one being that their communities have been disrupted,” said Mr. Boeckman.

Few comparable collections are as comprehensive as the Boeckman Collection, making it exceptionally representative of Mexican folk art. [San Antonio Museum of Art’s collection consisting of thousands of pieces, formed when a large portion of the Rockfeller Collection was gifted, is a leading collection of its kind. The Boeckman collection, while smaller, offers an excellent “view into Mexican culture, according to Mr. Vollmer, and provides a perspective of historical and contemporary values that complements the academic art that most museums concentrate on.” Mexican folk art has made considerable impact on American art, especially that associated with the American Southwest.

Many different types of works are included in the collection, ranging from ceramics, textile, woodcarvings, papier mâché, paper, straw and seeds. Some of the objects are decorative artworks of daily use such as utensils, for example plates and water jugs, as well as toys and ornaments, while others are intended for ceremonial and ritual use such as elaborately detailed candelabras and trees of life. There are pieces used in traditional festivities like the intricately decorated sugar skulls and skeleton figures that are associated with the celebration of el día de los muertos, or Day of the Dead.

Looking Forward

With the Boeckman collection coming to the Museum, the education department has started programming lectures and workshops specifically addressing Mexican folk art as well as to incorporate it into the existing programs such as Family Days and Outreach Art Activities. Already this Fall, the Museum has invited, as guest speakers, specialists in the field such as Sylvia Orozco, Executive Director of Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin and Marion Oettenger, Director of the San Antonio Museum of Art, who is scheduled to give a lecture on November 8. In the future the Museum is planning to publish a comprehensive catalog of the Collection as well as to organize more exhibitions from the Collection.

“It is our hope that the Laura and Dan Boeckman Collection of Mexican Folk Art will help foster an interest in fine arts among our local and regional Hispanic populations,” said Mrs. Tomio. Price Arredondo, director of Hispanic Business Services for the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce, sees the Boeckman Collection as a cultural watershed for East Texas, particularly for youth in the region.

“This lays the groundwork for the Hispanic community to not only be aware of the Museum if they aren’t already, but to get them excited about the arts and take an active role in helping to keep the city moving forward as a cultural center,” Arredondo said. “That’s what this is really all about – especially for the young people. This is a great way to start getting them involved.”

Of course the size of the collection brings with it challenges for an already shrinking space. “The Boeckman Collection is a great example of why the Museum needs more space! Frankly speaking, we have outgrown our current facility, and with the addition of this collection, we now more than ever need the additional storage and exhibition space the new museum will provide,” said Mrs. Tomio. An area in the education wing of the new facility will display selections from the Boeckman Collection on a regular basis, and the breadth of the collection will make it possible to have curators develop a variety of special exhibitions, focusing on different aspects and themes of the works.

The TMA has completed construction documents for the new museum and has entered into Phase Two of its fundraising efforts. Once a certain percentage of funds have been raised to the new building, the TMA will unveil the building’s design and break ground on the Museum’s new property, which is located at the intersection of University Boulevard and Lazycreek Drive in Tyler.

Currently, a focus exhibition of pieces from the Laura and Dan Boeckman Collection of Mexican Folk Art is on display in the Museum lobby and the Tyler Public Library this month. The selection of works relate to the Day of the Dead holiday, which is celebrated in Mexico and by Mexican Americans living in the United States.

The Tyler Museum of Art, accredited by the American Association of Museums, is supported by its Members, Tyler Junior College, and the City of Tyler, and is located at 1300 S. Mahon Ave., adjacent to the Tyler Junior College campus off East Fifth Street. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. (The Museum is closed Mondays and major holidays.) Lunch is available in the Museum Café from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and the TMA Gift Shop is open during Museum hours. For more information, call (903) 595-1001 or visit www.tylermuseum.org.

Untitled Ceramic Vessel by Rick Dillingham, 1985-86

Case Studies from the Bureau of Contemporary Art
New Mexico Museum of Art
November 19, 2010 through March 20, 2011

Click here to see a gallery of images for Case Studies.

The New Mexico Museum of Art will present an exhibition of works from its Bureau of Contemporary Art, a fictitious entity created for this exhibition in order to emphasize contemporary art’s prominent place within the museum’s permanent collection. Case Studies from the Bureau of Contemporary Art will be on view November 19, 2010 through March 20, 2011.

As the term “case studies” suggests, the exhibition presents particular lines of inquiry into the contemporary collection. Among these thematic excursions are war and its aftermath; figuration and the human condition; minimalism, monochrome and seriality; and materiality and rawness.

There are nearly forty artists in Case Studies, from New Mexico and beyond, including Dieter Appelt, Erika Blumenfeld, Louise Bourgeois, Sarah Charlesworth, Constance DeJong, Tom Joyce, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, Bruce Nauman, Larry Poons, Kim Russo, Peter Sarkisian, Peter Voulkos, Erika Wanenmacher and Joel-Peter Witkin. The 60+ artworks on display represent ceramics, sculpture, painting, drawing, prints, photography, and video. Acupuncture needles, butterflies, martini glasses, and charred books are among the other unconventional materials to be found in the show.

The museum’s contemporary collection consists of over 5,500 works and is defined as holdings dating from 1970 to the present, although some earlier pieces which would have set the stage for artists working in the subsequent decades are also included in this exhibition, including a 1967 ink drawing by Eva Hesse and a 1959 Robert Ryman painting.

“Case Studies is an occasion to show some of the gems of the collection, and to think about the linkages that bridge works from different moments in time, cultures, and mediums,” says Curator of Contemporary Art and Case Studies curator Laura Addison. “Much of the contemporary collection has been largely unseen. This exhibition will reveal some of those surprises.”

Among the unexpected holdings of the New Mexico Museum of Art collection are a series of Cubanborn artist Ana Mendieta’s Silueta photographs; Delilah Montoya’s exploration of Chicano social issues through the vehicle of a home altar; a large-scale display of 158 pieces of ceramic blackware by Eddie Dominguez; a protofeminist wax sculpture by Louise Bourgeois; and Meridel Rubenstein and Ellen Zweig’s multimedia installation about New Mexico’s atomic legacy.

Case Studies opens with a public reception on Friday, November 19, 5:30-7:30pm, hosted by the Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico.

The New Mexico Museum of Art

The New Mexico Museum of Art was founded in 1917 as the Art Gallery of the Museum of New Mexico. Housed in a spectacular Pueblo Revival building designed by I. H. and William M. Rapp, it was based on their New Mexico building at the Panama-California Exposition (1915). The museum’s architecture inaugurated what has come to be known as “Santa Fe Style.” For nearly 100 years, the Museum has celebrated the diversity of the visual arts and the legacy of New Mexico as a cultural crossroads by collecting and exhibiting work by leading artists from New Mexico and elsewhere. This tradition continues today with a wide-array of exhibitions with work from the world’s leading artists. The New Mexico Museum of Art brings the art of New Mexico to the world and the art of the world to New Mexico. The New Mexico Museum of Art is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

Tibetan Buddhist Monks creating a mandala sand painting at the Crow Collection of Asian Art (photo by Mr. Holga)

Mr. Holga, our walkabout photographer, visited the Tibetan Buddhist Monks at the Crow Collection of Asian Art on Wednesday, October 6, 2010. The monks are creating a mandala sand painting out of millions of grains of colored, crushed marble, which is lovingly laid into place in the tradition of this ancient spiritual art form.

Click here to read Tabetan Buddhist Monks Return to the Crow Collection of Asian Art.

It’s not too late

There is still time to see the monks and the beautiful mandala. The sand painting is on view at the Crow Collection until Saturday, October 9, when the monks dismantle it between 1 to 3 p.m.

Sculpture by Justine

State Fair of Texas
Through October 17, 2010

The 2010 State Fair of Texas is a little over a week old with less than two more weeks to go. It’s about time you bought a corny dog and checked out some art, especially the sculpture. Fair Park has been sprinkled with sculptures made of metal, mosaic tiles, bronze, wood and ceramic. The sculptures are mostly located all along the walk ways nearest the main entrance and lagoon.

More Visual Art

If sculpture isn’t you cup of tea, then head over to the Creative Arts building on the east side of the Cotton Bowl. There you will find paintings, drawings, photography, hobbies, collectibles, quilting, sewing and more. All works on display are competition winners from child to adult levels.

We would like to show more two-dimensional art but most of the drawings and paintings are hung around the ceiling or are behind glass in the Creative Arts building. We realize floor space is at a premium during the fair, but there has to be a better way to enjoy these artistic works. The fair grows a little each year, but the Creative Arts building does not.

Gallery

The gallery of sculptures below is a small sample of what can be found around the fair grounds. It will take a little while to see all of the works. The best part is the sculptures are located in the less populated and more shaded areas of the fair grounds. We hope you enjoy.

Be sure to tell us what you thing about the sculptures at this year’s State Fair of Texas. Use the comment field at the end of this post.