Evolution of Ordinary Booklet

8/7/2019 Evolution of Ordinary Booklet

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VISIT THE EXHIBIT AUGUST 2010 AT THE HIRSHHORN

Independence Avenue at Seventh StreetWashington DC 202-633-1000

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Open Daily10 am to 5:30 pmAdmission is free

www.hirshhorn.si.edu


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Join us at the Smithsonians Hirshhorn Museum as we explore

ordinary things and everyday objects rom their invention

and ideation through the creation o contemporary art. The

exhibit wil l highl ight the his tory o ordinary things, rom

paper cl ips to neckties, and wil l showcase contemporary

art using these objects.

Work by prominent ar tis ts rom around the country wil l be

eatured in the lower level gal lery during the entire month

o August 2010.

explorethe evolution

of ordinary things


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the historyof everydayobjects

MOST EVERYTHING that

surroundsus is artifcial, other

than the sky and the trees, lakes

and rivers. Our perception o

lie is fltered through the design

process and the touch o human

hands. We live with thousands

o inanimate everyday objects

that oten arent given a secondthought. Pencils, paperclips, saety

pins, zippers, chairs, rugs, roads

and light bulbs. All these things

have a unique history; a story

behind how they were created

and where they began.

THE OBJECTS and histories on

display throughout the Evolution o

Ordinary Things exhibit are just ahandul o all the items that make

up our everyday lives. It would be

impossible to include everything,

as more things are popping up

everyday. This part o the exhibit

serves as a background and an

introduction to the examination o

everyday objects as a medium or

contemporary art.


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concept +modern art

FROM THE BEGINNING,humans have taken whatavailable resources they haveand created art. The urge tocreate has embedded itsel inthe human experience. Fromthe early cave drawings, to theimpressionist painters expandedpalette, the mediums that are

available or the creation o artare ever growing. Fast orwardto modern times. We are allsuering a sensory overloadour world is ull o objects andartiactswe oten have a hardtime ocusing and unctioning.But to the artist, the world is anunlimited resource or dierentmedia and creations.

THERE IS a required amounto artistic input, or interpretationwithin this orm o art, whichsets itsel apart rom the stilllie, portraits and landscapepaintings that had orever beenthe backbone o the art world.As the world gets more complex,and we as a society are exposed

to much more than we have everbeen beore, the way in whichwe create our art evolving at anexponential rate.


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theexhibit

THE EVOLUTION o Ordinary

Things begins with the history o the

objects and artiacts we interact with

on a daily basis and continues to

ocus on the contemporary art that is

being created using these objects.

THE EXHIBIT ocuses on the North

American olk artists that are activelycreating art today. All o the artists

that are highlighted in the exhibit

are actively contributing and are

continuing to grow as artists in todays

busy society. They bring with them a

unique perspective, which is displayed

through their compositions and visions.

THE GALLERY showcases many

dierent genres o art, rom sculptureto mixed media collage. Whether

its painting, installation or graphic

design, there is a little something here

or everyone to enjoy.

The exhibit will run the month

of August 2010 in the lower

level gallery at the Hirshhorn

Museum of Contemporary Art.


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contributingartists

EUGENE BRUENCHENHEIN

Freelance artist, poet, sculptor,innovator, arrow maker, plant man,

bone artiact constructor, photogra-

pher, architect and philosopher, Von

Bruenchenhein is one o the most

complex and multiaceted American

sel-taught artists. Born in Marinette,

Wisconsin, he sel identiied at an

early age as an artist. Von Bru-

enchenhein produces expansive bod-

ies o work in poetry, photography,

ceramics, painting, and drawing.

NEK CHANDChand is a visionary sel-taught artist

whose thousands o cement animal and

human sculptures occupy a 25-acre

site-specifc art installation, the Rock

Garden, in Washington, D.C. Chand

uses large pieces o broken concrete

and bricks to build her sculptures, paint-

ing and arranging them until they seemto take on a lie o their own.

MALCAH ZELDISBorn in the Bronx in 1931, Malcah

Zeldis engagingly taps into and

captures the pulse o the urban

landscape. Her scenes o everyday

lie and biblical and historical

subjects are oten laced with

autobiographical elements. Audacious

in her color palette, Zeldiss hues

vibrate with rhythmic intensity.

THE GACThe Great Artist Collective, ounded

in New Orleans in the 1970s, looks

to urther the olk arts in the community

by working with local artists to

produce outstanding collections and

collaborations. The group is active inthe community and provides classes and

resources or those wish to get involved

and learn more about what it means to

be a olk artist in America today.

HENRIK OLESENIn his conceptually rigorous and

oten witty work, Olesen investigates

structures o power and systems o

knowledge to reveal inherent logics

and rules o social and political

normalization. Olesens projects, based

on in-depth research, have addressed a

range o subjects including legal codes,

the natural sciences, distribution o

capital, and art history, and have taken

the orm o posters, liers, text, collages,

sculptures, and spatial interventions.

ANNETTE MESSAGER

One o the most important contemporaryartists working in the United States, Mes-

sager ragments images and language

to explore the concept o fction, the dia-

logue between individual and collective

identity, and the social issues o normalcy,

morality, and the role o women. In her

work she orceully illustrates the idea

that all things, a childs beloved toy, a

photograph, a piece o embroidery, a

word with unambiguous meaning, can be

transormed into antas tic expressions.


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programs+ events

HENRY PETROSKI: 8.5Join us as speaker Henry Petroski

talks about his new book The

Evolution of Useful Things. 8 pm.

PAPER CLIPS PROJECT: 8.7Full screening of the Paper Clips

Project in the lower galler y. 6pm.

KIDS WORKSHOP: 8.8Local artists put on a workshop for

kids ages 5 to 12. 2pm.

SCULPTURE DEMO: 8.19Annette Messager demonstrates her

work from concept to creation. 4pm.

Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden.

PARTY IN THE PARK: 8.30

Celebrate the end of the exhibit witha special event in the Hirshhorn

Sculpture Garden. 8pm.

All programs and events are free

and open to the public. For more

information visit www.hirshhorn.si.edu.


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The Smithsonians Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is a leading

voice or contemporary art and culture and provides a national platorm

or the art and artists o our time.

We seek to share the transormative power o modern and contemporary

art with audiences at all levels o awareness and understanding by

creating meaningul, personal experiences in which art, artists, audiences

and ideas converge.

We enhance public understanding and appreciation o contemporary

art through acquisition, exhibitions, education and public programs,

conservation, and research.

artists + art + audience

wheneverydayobjectsbecome

your medium,there areno limits.life becomesart and artbecomeslife.

Documents

Evolution of Ordinary Booklet