NEHMA hosts new cultural experience: The Squares and the Beats
The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University’s art museum is hosting a new exhibition, “The Squares and the Beats” which opened on Jan. 28.
On display until May 6, the exhibit consists of 14 objects gifted to NEHMA by art collectors Jeffrey and Meri Lane in 2021. The 14 pieces are done by six different artists.
Curator of collections and exhibitions Bolton Colburn explained the preponderance of the gift consisted of something called assemblage art.
“Three artists were assemblage artists and the other three have one piece each, and they are a little different in that they were artists that were seen in California the generation prior to the assemblage artists,” Colburn said. “So naturally, we began to play with the idea of one generation reacting to another.”
Analia Evans, museum attendant, said the assemblage art movement came from California in the 1960s and ‘70s, and portrays the idea everyday objects can be recycled and turned into art.
‘The Squares and the Beats’ is an assemblage show, which is collaging with recycled materials, and I think if you’re looking at the amount of waste that we leave behind, having people take that waste and trash and turning it into art is really cool,” Evans said.
The exhibition description page on the NEHMA website states, “The terms ‘square’ and ‘beat’ are taken from the era of the 1950s and 1960s and applied loosely here. The term Beat has its origins in music, the beat, particularly in American Jazz and Blues, as well as its colloquial meaning of being tired or down as in, ‘I’m beat.’ ‘You’re square’ was a derogatory term used by the Beats to describe the values of conventional mainstream culture, which they were rejecting and reacting against. For the Beats, the art that came the generation before them would have been considered square or out of date as well.”
Evans compared the way the three assemblage artists differentiate from the artists that come before them.
“The Squares and the Beats is a great example,” she said. “It is the juxtaposition of the ideals in the 1950s and the changing ideals of the ‘60s. You have your Squares who were — pardon my French here — hardasses, who were very much sticklers for tradition and don’t want to break away from tradition. The Beats were the younger generation, challenging the status quo. They stepped away from tradition and made their own way for their voices to be heard.”
Colburn said the exhibition took about nine months to put together, from creating a theme to figuring out the installation, and is an important reflection of the cultural and social setting of the current times.
Others involved include the chief curator Katie-Lee Koven, exhibition registrar Zaira Arredondo, and coordinator of exhibitions and collections Selina Christensen.
“Some exposure to 20 and 21st century American art is really important for students, especially with students that aren’t familiar with museums or familiar with art,” Colburn said. “Because you’re getting to know a lot about the history not only of the arts and culture of Utah, but the history of arts in the United States. That’s invaluable.”