Toledo Museum of Art

The official Tumblr of the Toledo Museum of Art.

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Artist Doreen Garner collaborating with Toledo Museum of Art Glass Technician Ryan Thompson. On Friday, Oct. 14, 2016, at 7 p.m. in the GlasSalon, Garner will discuss her inspirations during a free Guest Artist Pavilion Project talk. Visitors can see her at work Oct. 12-19 in the Museum’s Hot Shop.

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Artist Q+A: Doreen Garner

Doreen Garner’s sculptures often shock: her choice of material hints at the depths of what the human body contains. But the Rhode Island School of Design graduate aims to provoke thought, not disgust. In her work, she explores the history of exploitation around Black bodies in the medical industry. On Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the GlasSalon, Garner will discuss her inspirations during a free Guest Artist Pavilion Project talk. Visitors can see her at work Oct. 12-19 in the Museum’s Hot Shop.

What was your path to becoming an artist? I feel like it was decided or destined really. My mom taught me how to draw when I was three, so I was always being taught how to create.

What moved you from childhood art classes to a career as an adult? When I was ten and my sister was eight, she had a stroke that left her physically and mentally disabled. I began using art as a means to express myself more than just to create work. I used it to release frustration, and express any feelings of pain that I had. That’s when I decided to take my career as an artist seriously. Which seems really young, but that’s just how it’s been.

Where are you currently located? I’m from Philly, but right now I live in Brooklyn, New York.

What kind of materials do you use most?

I use glass of course. The sculptures I’ve recently created are made from silicone and hair.

Has being in cities had an influence on your work? Yes. I did one or two residencies that were out in the wilderness and that was a mess for me. I’m just not productive in those spaces.

Some of your work is inspired by Hela cells, which are the product of research done without consent on Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman in Baltimore. How did you discover Henrietta’s story? I work with glass, which is a beautiful and precious material, so I was trying to figure out ways I could create tumors in glass. I was doing more research into what tumors look like, and one of my mentors at school mentioned Henrietta. When I started doing research I found her story mind blowing. Her physician took samples of cells from her tumor without telling her, and found the cells were able to reproduce. Her cells were sold and exchanged throughout the world producing a cure for polio, much research in HIV/AIDs, cancer and many other bio experiments. Her family didn’t benefit financially from any of the medical breakthroughs and only found out about their mother’s cells when doctors began to reach out to them in hopes of harvesting more of her family’s cells. She’s considered to be immortal because her cells live on, which is strange. Her body lives on even though she’s gone.

Is there a sense of activism to your work depicting tumors?

I discovered that most if not all medical experiments performed in the 1700–1800s were done on black bodies. It made me want to find ways I could tell the history visually about black bodies being used for medical research. In most of these cases, they would deny use of anesthesia on black patients because they believed they were able to tolerate pain more than white people, which we all know is absolutely false.

What draws you to these kinds of subjects?

There are many facets of slavery and black oppression that we as an American society have not acknowledged or processed. As I continue this research it is like I'm peeling away layers of an onion. It just doesn’t stop and in fact gets even more horrifying. Reading a lot of this documentation during my commute often makes my stomach turn knowing that black people have experience such sustained torture. It isn’t fair that we’re expected to move on before being given a chance to respond. I like to believe my work is helping and encouraging people to respond.

[whenyouworkatamuseum]

Museum Dance Off 3 - Round 1 Match-Ups & Voting Schedule!

Because so many museums entered Museum Dance Off 3: Tokyo Drift this year, Round 1 voting will last over 9 days, and then pick up speed with rounds 2 and 3. It all leads to the Fury Road to the Thunderdome grand slam finale! Voting will be Monday - Friday beginning on April 18th at 8am Eastern Time, and each voting for each set of videos will be open for 24 hours. 

HOW TO VOTE

Visit www.whenyouworkatamuseum.com each weekday starting April 18th at 8am EDT and view that day’s videos. Voting will be open each day from 8am - 7:59am the next day. 

Vote for your favorite video. 

Encourage your friends to vote on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook using #MDO3 or email/text/share/semaphore/carrier pigeon them a link. 

Do it again the next day with a new round of videos! 

Please note that there is no voting on weekends.

ROUND 1: DAYS OF THUNDER

Day 1 - Mon, April 18, 2016 Madison Children’s Museum, Madison, WI, USA  Seal Cove Auto Museum, Seal Cove, ME, USA  Epping Forest District Museum, Waltham Abbey, Essex, UK  The Canadian Museum Of Immigration At Pier 21, Halifax, NS, CAN

Day 2 - Tue, April 19, 2016 Thinkery, Austin, TX, USA  Museum Victoria,  Melbourne, VIC, AUS Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, MO, USA Chemung County Historical Society, Elmira, NY, USA

Day 3 - Wed, April 20, 2016 Weltmuseum Wien, Wien, Austria Farmers Branch Historical Park,  Farmers Branch, TX, USA  Fishbourne Roman Palace, Fishbourne, West Sussex, UK First Division Museum At Cantigny, Wheaton, IL, USA 

Day 4 - Thu, April 21, 2016 Toledo Museum Of Art, Toledo, OH, USA  Canada Aviation And Space Museum, Ottawa, ON, CAN Halton Region Museum, Milton, ON, CAN The Henry Ford, Dearborn, MI, USA 

Day 5 - Fri, April 22, 2016 Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA  Galloway Station Museum, Edson, AB, CAN Museum Of Applied Arts And Sciences, Ultimo, NSW, AUS Annapolis Maritime Museum, Annapolis, MD, USA 

Day 6 - Mon, April 25, 2016 Minneapolis Institute Of Art, Minneaspolis, MN, USA  History Colorado, Denver, CO, USA Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery, Tunbridge Wells, UK Brooklands Museum, Weybridge, Surrey, UK 

Day 7 - Tue, April 26, 2016 Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT, USA  Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA, USA  Fort Ontario State Historic Site, Oswego, NY, USA  Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, USA 

Day 8 - Wed, April 27, 2016 The Museums Of Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CAN National Museum Of American History, Washington, DC, USA  Sam Noble Museum, Norman, OK, USA

Day 9 - Thu, April 28, 2016 Yarra Ranges Regional Museum,  Lilydale, VIC, AUS Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville, VA, USA  Chrysler Museum Of Art, Norfolk, VA, USA  National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, AUS

ROUND 2: TALLADEGA NIGHTS 

Day 1 - Mon, May 2, 2016 Winner Round 1, Day 1 vs Winner Round 1, Day 2 Day 2 - Tue, May 3, 2016 Winner Round 1, Day 3 vs Winner Round 1, Day 4 Day 3 - Wed, May 4, 2016 Winner Round 1, Day 5 vs Winner Round 1, Day 6 Day 4 - Thu, May 5, 2016 Winner Round 1, Day 7 vs Winner Round 1, Day 8 vs Winner Round 1, Day 9

ROUND 3 - CANNONBALL RUN

Day 1 - Fri, May 6, 2016

Winner Round 2, Day 1 vs Winner Round 2, Day 2

Day 2 - Mon, May 9, 2016 Winner Round 2, Day 3 vs Winner Round 2, Day 4

FINAL ROUND: THE FURY ROAD TO THE THUNDERDOME

Tues May 10, 2016

Winner Round 3, Day 1 vs Winner Round 3, Day 2

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That’s right. TMA has entered the world of Museum Dance Off. Help us get to the Thunderdome and vote for our video on April 21!

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Silvia Levenson (Argentinian, born 1957), Strange Little Girl #7. Kilncast Bullseye© glass and mixed media, 2014. 41 ¼ by 16 ¾ in. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 2015.41. Gallery 29.

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Alison Elizabeth Taylor (American, born 1973), Kitchen. Wood veneer, oil, acrylic, and shellac, 2014. 92 x 116 in. Purchased with funds given in memory of Larry Thompson by his children and grandchildren, 2014.22. Wolfe Gallery.

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Petah Coyne (American, born 1953), Untitled #1176 (Elisabeth–Elizabeth). Taxidermy birds, chandelier, candles, silk flowers, chandelier wax, black spray paint, pearl-headed hat pins, black wire, quick-link shackles, cable, cable nuts, chain, silk/rayon, velvet, felt, thread, Velcro, 2007–10. 70 ½ by 62 ½ by 78 ¾ in. Purchased with funds from Rita Barbour Kern, 2012.102. Wolfe Gallery.

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Louise Bourgeois (American, born France, 1911–2010), Shackle Necklace. Sterling silver, forged, drilled, designed about 1947–48; made 1998–99. H. 6 7/8 in.; W. 7 5/16 in. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 2010.45. Gallery 34 (Jewelry Gallery).

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Rachel Ruysch (Dutch, 1664–1750), Flower Still Life. Oil in canvas, about 1726. 29 ¾ by 23 7/8 in. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1956.57. Gallery 23.

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“We walked all around this big museum. A museum is a place where you can see art or animals. This museum has stuff like Jesus and I saw a statue of somebody cutting a head. I’ve been drawing the statues but I’m not good at drawing lips, and the hands have three fingers instead of five because that’s easier. I probably shouldn’t show you this one because… I don’t want to say it. You can see their… their… their…. BUTTS.”

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<3 <3 <3

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EAR | EYE: Listening to and Looking at Contemporary Music and Art

Feb. 19: 7 p.m., Wolfe Gallery for Contemporary ArtIn partnership with the doctoral program at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts, TMA presents a performance and discussion series that explores the relationship of contemporary music and art through music performances in response to specific works of art. Free admission.

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#ArtMinute: Canaletto, “View of the Riva degli Schiavoni, Venice”

Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto (Italian, 1697–1768), View of the Riva degli Schiavoni, Venice. Oil on canvas, late 1730s. 8 1/2 by 24 7/8 in. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1951.404.

In the age of the Grand Tour, when travel to the famous sites of continental Europe marked the finishing touch of every young gentleman's education, art was the ultimate souvenir. Demand rose for paintings of a city or site that were faithful enough to identify the precise location. The son of a prominent designer of theatrical scenery, Canaletto became the most distinguished 18th-century Italian painter of these topographical views, or vedute. The flicker of light on the water, the stance of the gondoliers, and the clearly delineated buildings against a crisp blue sky demonstrate his passion for recording the details of his native city, Venice—often aided by a camera obscura (an optical device that uses light and lenses to project an image).

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#ArtMinute: Edouard Vuillard, “La Salle Clarac”

Edouard Vuillard (French, 1868–1940), La Salle Clarac. Oil with distemper on canvas, 1922. 38 5/8 by 45 5/8 in. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1999.2. Gallery 35

In an ornate gallery in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, a man and three women (one only partially visible at the left) look at, read about, and contemplate Greek antiquities. While capturing contemporary Parisian life, La Salle Clarac is also an image about the act of looking at art. Edouard Vuillard encourages us to identify with the spectators in the painting by using a low vantage point for the scene that sets us at their level. Painted not long after the devastating destruction of World War I (1914–18), the picture also reminds us of the function of museums to preserve and present humanity’s artistic and cultural heritage for posterity.

Vuillard achieved the unusual matte surface by applying distemper—a water-based medium that dries quickly—along with slower-drying oil paint.

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#ArtMinute: Gustave Doré, “The Scottish Highlands”

Gustave Doré (French, 1832–1883), The Scottish Highlands. Oil on canvas, 1875. 42 3/4 by 72 1/8 in. Gift of Arthur J. Secor, 1922.108. Gallery 33

The rugged, cloud-wreathed mountains in this painting dwarf the hunter and his dogs in the foreground. This contrast of scale between human and nature communicated the sense of awe many 19th-century travelers felt in the Scottish Highlands, romanticized as one of the last unspoiled corners of the British Isles. French artist Gustave Doré made his fame (and a vast fortune) as a prolific illustrator of editions of the Bible, Dante, Milton, Shakespeare, among others, but painting was his greatest passion. "I illustrate today to pay for my paint and my brushes," he proclaimed.

Doré first visited Scotland in 1873. He recalled, "I went with a party of friends under the pretext of salmon fishing; but… I caught, as you may suppose, very few fish, and soon devoted myself exclusively to the catching of landscapes."

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Sneakers Connection: Butterflies

The artist Damien Hirst worked with Converse to design the shoe (Product)Red (2010), which features butterflies. Hirst is known for his use of actually butterfly wings to create his series of Kaleidoscope paintings that relay both his obsession with death and his celebration of life. Butterflies, like those shown on this vase, represent beauty and transformation from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly. The butterfly was a source of spiritual symbolism in ancient Greek culture, and in Christian imagery it signifies the resurrection of Christ. Butterflies also, of course, fly, and flight relates to athleticism and grace.

Converse x Damien Hirst, Product(RED), 2010. Converse Archives

Ludwig Kny (British, 1869-1937), Butterflies Vase. Blown glass, enameled and engraved, ca. 1900-1910. Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott, 1986.61. Glass Pavilion, Gallery 3

The Rise of Sneaker Culture explores the athletic shoe from its origins in the mid-1800s to its current place in high-fashion. This traveling exhibition, organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, is the first exhibition in the United States to present a comprehensive survey of the sneaker’s complex design, history, and immense cultural significance. The exhibition was curated by Elizabeth Semmelhack, Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum. Generous support for the national tour is provided by Macy’s. The local showing is supported in part by Brooks Insurance, KeyBank and Taylor Cadillac. Free admission.

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#ArtMinute: Edward Steichen, Isadora Duncan in the Parthenon, Athens.

Edward Steichen (American, born Luxembourg, 1879–1973), Isadora Duncan in the Parthenon, Athens. Gelatin-silver chloro-bromide print, 1921. 19 3/4 by 14 3/16 in. Gift of The Apollo Society, 2002.13. In Canaday Gallery as part of the special exhibition Degas and the Dance, on view through Jan. 10, 2016

The founder of Modern Dance, Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) traveled the world promoting her ideas on free and natural movement, women’s rights, and dance as a “high” art. She was particularly interested in the simple, natural dances of the ancient world as represented by classical sculpture and Greek vases, dancing in free-flowing drapery, with bare feet and loose hair. Her dancing and her philosophy created a sensation, gaining her worldwide fame and making an impact on fashion and culture.

Edward Steichen, similar to Duncan’s crusade for the elevation of dance, championed photography as a fine art. In this majestic image, Steichen visually translates Duncan’s theories by photographing her in the ruins of the Parthenon, Athens. Steichen recalled, “she contributed what only an artist like Isadora could contribute. She made a gesture completely related to the columns.”

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What We’re Reading

Vacation with a Book!

Whether you are headed to warm weather destinations to escape the cold or toughing it out with cozy blankets and hot beverages, head librarian Alison Huftalen has curated a list of light, art-related reading to help pass the time.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt Gutenberg's Apprentice: A Novel by Alix  Christie The Art Forger: A Novel by B.A.  Shapiro     A Man & a Dream: The Book of George W. Stevens by  Nina Spalding Stevens Museum of Seraphs in Torment: An Egyptological Fantasy Thriller by David  Pinault Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and its Treasures During World War II by Geri Chanel Shocking Paris: Soutine, Chagall and the Outsiders of Montparnasse by Stanley Meisler Hidden Faces by Salvador Dali Leaving Van Gogh: A Novel by Carol Wallace The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease Leonardo and the magic art cart by Marianne Bickett

Art Book Club

The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making

Jan. 12: 5:30–7 p.m. | Museum Reference Library Jan. 14: 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Meet in Libbey Court On Tuesday, Jan. 12, join the Art Book Club for a discussion of The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making by David Esterly; then on Thursday, Jan. 14, take part in a special Docent-led tour titled ‘Woodcarving: From Furniture to Frames.“ The Art Book Club is free and open to the public, but registration is requested; email [email protected] or call 419-254-5770 to sign up.

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Sneakers Connection: Apollo

Under Armour’s Speedform Apollo shoe (2014) is named after the Greek god Apollo, who is also represented on this ceramic mural by Henri Matisse. The mustard-colored sun with bursting rays above the face suggests Apollo’s association with the sun; he drove his chariot to move the sun across the sky daily. Apollo is also associated with the idealized body of the kouros (a beardless, athletic young youth),just as sneakers often suggest athletic aptitude and youth.

The Rise of Sneaker Culture explores the athletic shoe from its origins in the mid-1800s to its current place in high-fashion. This traveling exhibition, organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, is the first exhibition in the United States to present a comprehensive survey of the sneaker’s complex design, history, and immense cultural significance. Generous support for the national tour is provided by Macy’s. The local showing is supported in part by Brooks Insurance, KeyBank and Taylor Cadillac. Free admission.

Image Credits: Henri Matisse (French, 1896–1954), Apollo. Glazed ceramic tile in plaster with ground marble, 1953. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1983.40; Under Armour, Speedform Apollo. nicekicks.com