Brooklyn Museum

Hi Rebecca,

Thank you for being in touch about Kiki Smith's work. The webpage on the Museum's site has some great resources, which it looks like you have already found. You Tube has some other videos that might be of interest to you in your reseach about Kiki Smith's art making process (search: Kiki Smith). If you are on Facebook, I recommend becoming a friend of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art's page. We post regularly with links to materials about the artist and have a few press links and videos posted already, and will continue to do that throughout the run of the exhibition.

All Best,
Sarah Giovanniello
Research Assistant, EASCFA




fromFronsee Fronsee
toinformation@brooklynmuseum.org

dateMon, Feb 22, 2010 at 11:38 PM
subjectExhibition Information
mailed-bymail.usf.edu

hide details 11:38 PM (2 hours ago)


Hello,

I am writing to you out of my great interest in Kiki Smith's work. I am working on my BFA in Studio Arts at the University of South Florida and am referencing her for my current project. I am inquiring about your current Sojourn exhibit. I really enjoyed the behind the scenes videos of her installation and Catherine Morris's curating process posted on your website. I was wondering if you had any more information about the exhibit or Kiki Smith's process that you could send.

Thank you,
Rebecca Fronsee

Peer Critique

I discussed my project with Kathryn Davis. She is using used clothes from the thrift store to sew together her work. She is creating a sort of cycle of the seasons of one's life with the universal and personal meanings they can represent. I really like her idea and the patterns that she picked out. I think it would be interesting to see this cycle come together and have some circular effect (to emphasis the cycle). Because of the formatting of this project I think she can best do that with creating patterns in the different merges of color and lines. I think I'd have a stronger opinion of her work once I see her start to sew them together and can really visualize the outcome.

Summaries

The first chapter was all about the artist Bonnard and the mark he made in art history. The chapter starts out discussing Picasso’s parroting views after Bonnard’s death. Picasso questioned his ability as an artist to seize the power from nature. The rest of the chapter goes into Bonnard’s life experiences, specifically his intimate relationships. Much of his later work reflects his relationship with his wife, Marthe. Bonnard always compared her to a bird in her liking for water, her startled look, and her weightlessness/fragility from her poor health. Bonnard had two known affairs with models during their relationship. He greatly considered leaving Marthe for one woman, but couldn’t bring himself to do it and eventually came back to her. The woman tragically killed herself and Bonnard painted an old unfinished painting of her through his memory. Marthe had him destroy all of his paintings of her except this last one (Young Women in the Garden). He began to describe himself daydreaming while painting and forever portraying his aged wife in her prime. Marthe and him always lived modestly for the income he had coming in. Eventually Marthe passed away in 1942, and his works began to incorporate happiness with decay. He even painted her many years after she died in the tub. I think this chapter successfully goes into the depth of his work and how he could represent a figure that is only half there, a ghost of the present. In Bonnard’s work things don’t happen, they are implied.

In the ninth chapter, The Art of the Pilgrimage is stressing the importance of seeing art in its original intended live state. There is an immense different in seeing a photograph of a piece than if you were to see the depth, texture, space, and organization. The author goes into much description about the many examples of historical and contemporary live experiences from these works. From the experience through the space and scale of the work to the reactions and emotions that are ignited by your other senses. I definitely agree that there should be a bigger push for the movement to visit more work in their original contexts than online images.

Dream World

I felt this project turned into a social experiment, because of the patterns in reactions. It seemed for the most part people who were alone did not seem at all as curious or intrigued as those who were in groups. There were many people who did not know if my friends were real. I was very surprised to find that someone had the reaction that is shown in the clip below.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the various reactions I recieved, all still holding the passerby's attention. In a public setting, I was very pleased with the turn out of this piece.