Having been a gallery assistant at the Pulitzer, I can't recall how many people I've seen glide their palms over the Pulitzer's walls with a look of admiration. Yes, these walls are smooth, but knowing nothing about concrete, I've never been nearly as awed as some visiting architects. Still, the more I learn about the building, the more I appreciate the brainwork and assiduousness behind the "Ando concrete."

Early last Friday, Facilities Manager Steve Morby explained to me what makes the concrete here special. He became acquainted with it when he worked on Ando's first project in the United States, the Eychaner Residence in Chicago, completed in 1998. Steve had been working with concrete for 25 years, but in his paper "Constructing Concrete as an Art Form," he explained that he had "never seen such exacting details, and the expectations of such high levels of wall quality were amazing."

Although Ando is not the first to use exposed concrete in the way he does, as architect Thomas Daniell pointed out in 2007, the process for making an Ando wall is still unusual, and because Ando uses it consistently to affect a building's overall environment, it has become his trademark. In the following video, Steve describes the procedures for making concrete and how his construction team altered them to create the Ando quality.

Last Wednesday afternoon, Gallery Assistant Jason Holler spoke with a visitor who had a fantastical memory to share on one of the masterpieces in the Old Masters exhibition. He asked her to write it down, and this is what the note reads:

"In the 1950s, my mother's living room was sort of Danish Modern except for a large reproduction of Tiepolo's The Crucifixion over the television. As a 3-year-old, the picture frightened me enough that if the room was dark, I wouldn't enter unless I had a flashlight. I would shine the flashlight directly on the picture to make sure none of the figures had climbed down off their crosses or moved. I can vividly recall shining that flashlight on that picture numerous times, but I don't know what became of it. We moved when I was four years old and the picture did NOT go with us."

One thing I enjoy about this little story is it illustrates how much drama the brain can extract from just oil on canvas. No surround sound or eye-popping special effects, and still figures descending from a picture is surely as riveting as any half-hour of Up in 3D. (And can we imagine how that ghastly execution scene looked to the less culturally-stewed 3-year-old?)

Like reading a book as opposed to watching a movie, a painting leaves room for the imagination to create sounds, smells, textures. (The clopping horse, the flying dust, the wailing women-I feel chaos in The Crucifixion.) We learn about ourselves in this process of viewing. We're active creators, and although the painter, like Paolo Domenico Finoglia with his Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, may guide our gaze through the use of shadows and shapes, the mental reel while looking at a painting is different for each person, and the uncharted territory is exciting.

A side note: When I googled "The Crucifixion reproduction," thinking about why people buy reproductions, a link to Dali's The Crucifixion popped up, and I recognized it as a framed poster, which I had observed in bewilderment as a 4-year-old in my Cajun mamaw's living room.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). Directed by Max Reinhardt. Shown from left: Mickey Rooney, Olivia de Havilland. Photographer; Mickey Marigold. Warner Bros./Photofest. © Warner Bros.

This Friday, June 26, we'll be celebrating the summer solstice by projecting Max Reinhardt's 1935 version of A Midsummer Night's Dream at 9pm in our courtyard. Doors open at 7pm.

Since it doesn't get dark outside until 9pm, we'll be entertaining our guests for the first two hours in a variety of ways. The most exciting of which, to me, is a reunion of the performers from the Pulitzer's now finished series: Staging Old Masters: Former Prisoners Perform at the Pulitzer.

Select scenes, such as the St. Sebastian, Self-Portrait with an Easel, and As You Like It - Shepherd & Shepherdess, will be performed in our courtyard throughout the night. These performances were originally done in front of specific artworks in our galleries, but by moving them outdoors, we hope to accomodate a bigger audience than was allowed indoors. In addition to these skits, we'll be serving free refreshments and as usual, our Old Masters exhibition will be on view for the duration of the evening.

Are you excited to come? Have you circled the date and time in red marker in your calendar? Are you waiting with baited breath? I am too, but never fear, Friday will be here soon enough!

Swift as a shadow, short as any dream; Brief as the lightning in the collied night. A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1. 1

This event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends!

The Staging Old Masters weekend performances are over at the Pulitzer, and I'm feeling more rested without the hectic work week it involved. Yet, somehow I felt healthier from the energy that came with each of those shows. 

As Visitor Services Manager, I had many roles before, during, and after each performance, but my favorite one was holding the doors open at the beginning of each performance. It was at this moment I could smile and participate with my loudest "boya, boya, yo!"–joining in the procession of actors' chant and smiling with each performer as they entered the door. 

My least favorite part of Staging Old Masters was Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favorite things about working at the Pulitzer is that there is often an element of the unexpected in our projects. Our current exhibition, Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer, provided just such an element in the form of Staging Old Masters. The program for Staging Old Masters called for small groups of actors to perform short theatrical pieces in front of the Old Master paintings that inspired them. 

This is not a typical activity in special exhibition galleries, and we had numerous discussions among the staff to establish parameters for the performances. Our primary aim was to ensure the safety of the paintings while providing enough space for the actors to perform effectively and the audience to view the performances easily. There was the additional twist of its being a mobile theatrical experience: the actors and the audience would be moving through the galleries to different paintings/performance sites during the program.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last week we held an event called DJ/VIDEO: A Night at CAMSTL. This was the second of these types of free events that we offer to the public. We had free food and drinks, the exhibitions running all evening, a DJ, and an "art experience." People were able to grab a bite and hang out while listening to music and watching a stop motion video making in process by Tony Gaddis. Read more about that in an article from the Riverfront Times. Click here.

The Front Room today opened with a new exhibition containing work by artists Sam Moyer, Lesley Vance, and Stan VanDerBeek. See the work by viewing the virtual tour below and read more about the show on the museum's website. This exhibition will be on view until July 26, so you have plenty of time to come check it out in person as well.

 The Contemporary is taking part of a program through Bank of America called Museums on Us®. This program provides Bank of America customers with free admission to cultural, arts, and educational institutions nationwide. The first Sunday of every month Bank of America customers can get into the museum free of charge when they present their ATM, check or credit card and an ID. There are more than 100 other institutions participating in this program, so if you can't take advantage of it here in St. Louis, take a look at the list of all other places you can visit for free.

From being a typical museum visitor, to an intern on the "inside," here are Caroline's thoughts:

Over the past few years, I have occasionally visited the Contemporary as a casual observer, and as I finish up my first week as an intern, I can't help but look back and see how my ideas have changed.

Outside, I was struck by the beauty of the building's minimalism, the outer façade wrapped in a futuristic metal mesh. Within, the interior is a sparse collection of white walls, crisp angles, and strategically-placed skylights. Such simplicity contrasted sharply with the imposing grandeur of the typical conception of a museum, elaborate stone monuments that commemorated the great art of the past. But as its name implies, the Contemporary is all about now. There are is no permanent artwork to gather dust or become overly familiar after years of visits. Exhibits change every few months, and The Front Room features exhibits as fleeting as a single day, true to the constantly shifting, blink-and-you'll miss-it nature of contemporary art. 

On my first visit, I quickly realized that on the whole I understood contemporary and conceptual art about as much as a third grader could comprehend Moby-Dick. I saw a whale and a crazed captain, but that they remained. Used to "traditional" art, I was content dissecting the minutiae of mythology and obscure symbolism. But confronted with a pile of Mylar Christmas trees, a floating mass of black wires, or a room empty save for a strategically-placed rug, I only saw objects. It was over my head, even literally in some cases.  Only after investigating the artist's background or intentions could I start to get a feel for what was happening in the space around me. I realized that trying to understand contemporary art requires digging just like the comprehension of a centuries-old painting does.  Instead of searching for outward-referencing symbols, though, conceptual art requires searching for the artist's own personality, message, or philosophy and then applying it to what you see on the surface of their works. 

Of course I can't pretend to be any kind of expert, but this is what I have come up with so far. And as I continue to learn about the inner workings of the Contemporary as well as the public exhibitions, I'm willing to keep an open mind for whatever new experiences come my way. What's that? There's currently an exhibition that takes place entirely over the phone? And another one that includes a room filled with TVs, each showing a different film by the artist? I'm there.

One of the great things about working at a contemporary art institution is the chance to be a part of the fun events we host. DJ/VIDEO: A Night at CAMSTL is coming up on Thursday, June 25. We have hosted a similar event in the past, DJ/MAGIC: A Night at CAMSTL, which was fantastic. The event ended up radiating a "hang out" kind of an atmosphere. People came, drank free wine and enjoyed a few snacks, listened to music, and watched a magician work his magic. These types of events are a terrific way for people to experience art that may not normally come into a museum. We offer a tour of the work, and the exhibitions are available to see all evening. Even if a guest doesn't consciously view the exhibitions, they are at least seeing it and probably subconsciously thinking about it! Here is more about Thursday night's event.