Behind the Exhibition: Letterforming
While many people visit exhibitions, the process behind creating them often remains aloof. In order to demystify the process of curating an exhibition, Brittany Forniotis, '15, interviewed Paul Bright and Marcus Keely, the Director and Assistant Director of the Hanes Gallery about the creation of its latest exhibition, Letterforming.
Photo: Hanes Gallery
Letterforming, a project Bright and Keely had been contemplating for some time, dealt with the development and interaction of language, text, and images. An uncomplicated historical overview, ranging from ancient pictorial texts to contemporary international logos, was presented in order to “highlight moments of ferment” in this process of development while being both impressionistic and didactic in nature. The exhibition was on view from October 21 through December 8, 2013.
When asked when it all began, Bright and Keely gave a surprising answer - the year 2008. Although they had been developing this exhibit for the past five years, things did not gain focus until a year and a half ago, when they first discovered that SECCA was going to be exhibiting Graphic Design in Production. However, they both agree that it was not until December 2012 that “things got real” and the work on Letterforming became pointed. The idea was one that seemed to them as something that “needed to be done.”
The process of curation was one that happened haltingly, according to Bright. He indicated that there was a struggle to work around everything else that his job as the Director of the gallery entails. Part of this, he says, was due to the fact that much of the initial curation was mental – mainly thinking about ideas that related to the objects they had in mind and figuring out what exactly the “stuff” was that they had in the show.
Photo: Hanes Gallery
Keely said the first confirmed work was a paper piece by Delio Gennai, an Italian artist featured in the 2012 exhibit Of Paper. The next touchstone object was the Jasper Johns' 0 through 9. From there the rest of the pieces seemed to work themselves out. Bright articulated that he tends to work from objects he’s interested in and then lets the ideas radiate from them in order to help form and focus the concept.
Bright’s advice to students interested in curating a show? Start with an object. Then think about your work or the work you’re curating, in a free-associative or fermentative manner, while making sure to ask specific questions about your object. He also added that it often is best to have a tight focus and then investigate larger themes. Most importantly, Bright encourages students to have a vested interest in the exhibition. Without this interest, it can be difficult to follow through with the often arduous process of curating an exhibit.