Guest curator visits museum
Sometimes all it takes to appreciate something is an expert on the subject.
On Wednesday at 6 p.m., guest curator Gerald Nordland, led an audience of about 35 people on a walking lecture tour throughout the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art.
Victoria Rowe, director of the museum, said Nordland is originally from Los Angeles. He studied at the University of Southern California and Yale and has written art criticisms for several organizations, including the Los Angeles TimesMirror, Frontier magazine, and different art journals. He is also involved with many art galleries and museums across the country.
The art presentation, called In the Spirit of the Times, focuses on West Coast Abstract Expressionism and how it evolved. Nordland spoke of the artists’ pieces, and gave personal bits of information about the artists as well.
The art included in the show ranged from a redwood root with nails and jewelry embedded in it (artist Seymour Locks, “The Claw”), to lithographs done by various artists. Also seen was oil on canvas and a Fiberglas mobile (artist Robert Boardman Howard, “Nightwatch”).
Nordland commented on Lee Mullican’s piece called Mask (heat) – a tactile ecstatic, made up of painted wood sticks.
He called it “the motherload of pickup sticks.”
Jazz music by Studio 13 Jazz Band was incorporated into the art. Some of the artists featured in the art show were also involved in the band. Emerson Woelffer played the drums and Richard Diebenkorn played the trombone. Nordland played a jazz recording while talking about their art and how music affected their pieces of work.
“They were devoted to American jazz music,” Nordland said of the artists.
A museum brochure about the evening noted that the connection between jazz music and art is that both involve improvisation.
“We identified an expert in the field of art and inquired whether or not [Gerald Nordland] could come,” Rowe said.
Rowe said the purpose of the presentation was to provide an opportunity for the community to lcontextualize the art collection, so that people would understand the art.
Rowe said she heard an audience member say, “I’ve always looked at that piece of art, but now I actually understand it.”
Nelson Ahrnsbrak, a senior majoring in fine art, said he thought the presentation was “wonderful.”
Rowe’s favorite part was Nordland’s jazz music.
“The music was an inspiration. It was nice to add a layer of sound to the art,” she said.
-sarahwest@cc.usu.edu