Hankblog

Robert Rauschenberg died yesterday, at age 82. Here’s Michael Kimmelman’s piece in the New York Times, and Alan Artner’s in the Chicago News Tribune.

Here at the Henry, we’ll be showing a few Rauschenberg works from our collection on the mezzanine this summer. We’ll be exhibiting Booster along with several test stones that were created as part of this ambitious project. This was already in our exhibition schedule - but it now seems appropriate that we will be able to commemorate this amazing artist.

Image - from MoMA.org - Robert Rauschenberg. (American, born 1925). Booster from the series Booster and 7 Studies. 1967. Lithograph and screenprint, composition: 71 1/2 x 35 1/8″ (181.7 x 89.3 cm); sheet: 72 3/16 x 35 9/16″ (183.4 x 90.4 cm). Publisher and printer: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles. Edition: 38. John B. Turner Fund

I recently discovered that Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA) are now showing their work at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. The show goes until June 15. SANAA designed the new New Museum building, which appears as a stack of boxes, each one shifted off-center from the level above or below it. It made me happy to see that there are a bunch of Rabbit chairs in the cafe! SANAA had their first U.S. exhibition at the Henry from November 2007 to March 2008.

The New Museum of Contemporary Art, photo by Dean Kaufman.

Here’s another informative lecture hosted by the Henry! If you are a fan of Josiah McElheny’s The Last Scattering Surface, you won’t want to miss this one.

Seeing the Big Bang: Lecture by Thomas Quinn
Thursday, May 15, 7 PM
Auditorium
FREE

Josiah McElheny brings together the diverse fields of conceptual art, studio art and cosmology through his installation The Last Scattering Surface. In this presentation, Thomas Quinn (UW Research Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Adjunct Associate Professor of Physics) will discuss the way The Big Bang is visualized in the field of astronomy through images and animations selected in relation to McElheny’s work.

The Master of Fine Arts 2008 Community Celebration is just around the corner. FYI: Friday, May 23 at 7pm, everyone is invited, be there or be square. 19 students + ceramics, fibers, metals, painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture = 45 pieces that represent the culmination of each artist’s creative process over the course of their degree. In anticipation of the opening this Saturday, today and throughout the exhibition, hankblog is spotlighting different artists with images of their artworks, beginning with Alicia Basinger:

Basinger had her first solo museum at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland as a Wendy L. Moore Emerging Artist Series recipient in 2005. She has a BFA in ceramics with a minor in glass. She has four pieces in MFA 2008, pictured below is Ripe. 2008. Balloons, acrylic, and water. Courtesy of the artist.

Since the Master of Fine Arts annual exhibition opens in one week, we thought you would be interested to know that some of the artists will also have solo shows at the Ceramic and Metal Arts (CMA) Gallery at the UW (4205 Mary Gates Memorial Drive - Google Map). Each artist will have an opening reception at 6pm on the first day of their show. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11am–6pm.

May 13-17 Rachel de Conde
May 20-24 Kinu Watanabe
May 27-31 Alicia Basinger
June 3-7 Evan Blackwell (The image below is detail from one of his Straw Masses).

The Gates
Saturday, May 10, 2 PM
FREE

In 2005, Christo and Jeanne-Claude completed The Gates, one of the largest art installations created in history. Beginning with footage from the artists’ first announcement of the project in 1979, this new HBO documentary by renowned filmmakers Albert Maysles and Antonio Ferrera chronicles the 25 years Christo and Jeanne-Claude dedicated to their ambitious work of art and its impact while on view in New York’s Central Park from February 12 through 27, 2005.

As a University of Washington student, I pass by the Henry Art Gallery and continue through the western entrance of the campus fairly often. I’m a somewhat recent transplant to Seattle, so when the installation of Robert Irwin’s Nine Spaces, Nine Trees began (on the lawn immediately to the east of the Henry), I didn’t know what to expect, nor did I know the history of the piece. The install progressed slowly over many months, and I would always walk by, wondering what the space would transform into.

When it was finally completed, I honestly didn’t know what to think. The purple chain-link fencing just seemed so out of place. But thanks to some great art news and reviews from around town, now I know why. Brand new on Artdish is Gary Faigin’s review. Jen Graves wrote about her visit to the site last month on the Slog. Their perspectives have helped me to understand Nine Spaces, Nine Trees a little better.

It is true that people still don’t come into this public space very much. Even though it provides a meeting place, large tables and benches, and even a decent place to people-watch (with some amount of privacy), it is underused. It just doesn’t seem all that inviting from the outside. Maybe this will change as the weather warms up, but I wonder. Maybe it would help if people knew of its history at the old Public Safety Building in town.

It will be interesting to see how people adapt to this space over time.

Tonight, the Music Dialogue with KEXPs’ Jon Kertzer and Philip Schuyler, UW Ethnomusicology Division Head and Associate Professor of Music.
Details:

Music Dialogue with Jon Kertzer and Philip Schulyer
Wednesday, May 7, 7 PM
Auditorium
FREE
World music KEXP DJ Jon Kertzer and UW School of Music Professor Philip Schulyer will share a music dialogue related to Kader Attia’s Algerian musical interests.

Tomorrow, a lecture from photographer Roger Ballen. (Check out a conversation with Ballen here.)
Details:

Artist Lecture: Roger Ballen
Shadow Chamber
Thursday, May 8, 7 PM
Auditorium
FREE
Tickets available at the Henry admissions desk beginning Thursday, May 1. Seating is limited. First come, first served.

Celebrated photographer Roger Ballen will present a lecture on the breadth of his outstanding career. Ballen’s early work in South Africa in the 80s and 90s is highly regarded for its unflinching views of village life. His recent Shadow Chamber series reveals a new interest in creating painterly effects in surreal tableaux.

And SATURDAY, a special preview screening of The Gates!
Details:

The Gates
Saturday, May 10, 2 PM
FREE

In 2005, Christo and Jeanne-Claude completed The Gates, one of the largest art installations created in history. Beginning with footage from the artists’ first announcement of the project in 1979, this new HBO documentary by renowned filmmakers Albert Maysles and Antonio Ferrera chronicles the 25 years Christo and Jeanne-Claude dedicated to their ambitious work of art and its impact while on view in New York’s Central Park from February 12 through 27, 2005.

Are you on Facebook?
Add these to your Facebook events:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=29486963312
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=31651601456
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11028839667

The Violet Hour
Opening Celebration: Friday, June 20, 8pm
Member and Patron Preview: 6pm

Food, Drinks & Summer Revelry
in the Henry’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Sculpture Court

Live music by Zeke Keeble!

FREE Members
$8 Students & Seniors
$10 General Admission

The Violet Hour is curated by Henry Associate Curator Sara Krajewski. Major support is provided by Arts Fund, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and PONCHO. In-kind support is generously provided by OutBack Power Systems and Silicon Energy.

The Development team here at the Henry, affectionately known as DEVO, seeks a Development Associate.
Read the whole job posting below the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »