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.

These images will help you get a better idea of how the exhibitions, Chantal Akerman: Moving Through Time and Space and Carey Young: Speech Acts, look in the Contemporary’s space. They will help you envision the works as we discuss them in the future. You can see more images on the museum’s exhibition pages.

Chantal Akerman:
 
 

Carey Young:
 
 
 

This past weekend I was in a wedding, and believe it or not, this topic popped into my head as I was preparing for the day. A group of girls were getting their hair done when overheard someone tell a hair stylist that the hair of one of the girls looked like a work of art. I started to pay attention as she used a comb to tease part of her hair then place bobby pins in strategically to hold each piece of hair in place. The stylist would step back every so often, comb in hand and a spare pin in mouth, to observe what she was creating. Then she would get back to work. As I was filling in a friend on my observations, she completely agreed…everyone is an artist. She works in a local pizza joint (and has for some time now, so she knows what she is talking about). She went into some pretty strategic details about the way the sauce should be spread, the way the cheese is laid, and where is piece of pepperoni should be placed…she is a pizza making artist.

Carey Young believes this as well. In her exhibition, Speech Acts, at the Contemporary, Young created a call center where you, as the visitor participate in the creation of the work of art by picking up a phone and choosing which number to press, which questions to ask and so on. Young also chose two Charter Communications call center agents to take part in this exhibition. These are the voices guests hear on the other end of the phone. These call center agents…also artists.

I love thinking about the art in everything we do and how each person qualifies as an “artist”…construction workers as they intensely use their tools to create a wall or a shelf or a home; chefs as they add just a little spice, and a little garnish to create a food masterpiece; top executives as they think creativity to work out a deal with a new client; and telemarketers as they develop a speech to say to the consumer and figure out exactly how to phrase to each comment and response…who else?

Artists Christopher Orr, J. Parker Valentine, and Rezi van Lankveld are currently exhibiting work in The Front Room. From now until June 28 you can see the exhibition at the museum, and you can also see a virtual tour of their work here, in a past post. Last week, The Riverfront Times published a piece on their work:

This trio (from London, New York and Amsterdam, respectively) propose their solutions to the problems of abstraction and novelty in the painting tradition. Orr, whose small canvases possess the shadowed, sepia patina of Dutch Old Master paintings, is figural in his depictions, though utterly elusive in his content.

Click here to read further.

The Contemporary has a variety of opportunities for area artists, one being the Great Rivers Biennial. Every other year, up to three artists are selected by a jury of national art and museum professionals. Each selected artist is able to show work at the Contemporary as part of the Great Rivers Biennial exhibition and, this year, will be awarded $20,000. This will be the fourth year the Contemporary will dedicate its Main Galleries to area and emerging artists as part of the Great Rivers Biennial Awards Program. Not only does this program give artists funding and the incredible opportunity to show work at the museum, it gives the public a chance to see what area artists are doing, and feel more connected to the local arts scene. David Bonetti of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote this “…the Great Rivers Biennial, funded by the Gateway Foundation and hosted by the Contemporary Art Museum is at the top of the heap…” Find out more on the process and information on the call to artists for the GRB 2010 on the Contemporary’s website.

New Art in the Neighborhood is a program at the Contemporary for high school students. The students learn about contemporary art and ideas from museum professionals, artists, as well as their peers. The students meet every Saturday for a school semester or a year to create and learn about work in all types of media. Stan Chisholm is a recent graduate of the New Art program. He has gone on study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and now has an exhibition at Laumeier Sculpture Park. Check out Stan and the other artist’s part of Built: Kranzberg Exhibition 2009 on The Empty Plate blog and the Laumeier website.

From Jenny, a new intern at the museum!

Summer is quickly approaching, and as St. Louis is trying on the hot, humid coat it discarded last September, the Summer arts season is gearing up. While the Contemporary’s exhibitions last three months, some of St. Louis’ other art options are as brief as the transitions between seasons.

Should you find yourself in St. Louis this weekend with time on your hands, I suggest you rethink a lazy day by the pool in favor of a trip through some of St. Louis’ cultural offerings. This Saturday is a free day at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and we have two exciting installations that may lead you to rethink, not just your afternoon, but also the way you view art.

Chantal Akerman’s exhibition, Moving Through Time and Space, is comprised of several videos. Her piece, D’est: Au bord de la fiction (From the East: Bordering on Fiction), projects scenes from a documentary on life in the post-Soviet Eastern Europe on dozens of television monitors, forcing travelers in train stations to rub shoulders with tired women in yellowing kitchens and surrounding the viewer with lives and a time that is not their own. It is not exactly a documentary; it is not exactly a single piece of art, and it is exactly not conventional art.

Upstairs, Carey Young’s exhibition, Speech Acts, takes a completely new approach to performance art. Using the model of a call center, visitors speak to live telephone operators, conducting conversations on anything from the global economics to the operator herself. It is an exhibition that may challenge your view of yourself, communication, and certainly of how art can manifest itself. If nothing else, it will make you think twice before hanging up on telemarketers (or not).

After your afternoon in the Contemporary, I encourage you to venture out into the cool summer evening to Forest Park for this year’s Shakespeare festival, although it may not be the return to tradition you expect. This year’s showing of The Merry Wives of Winsdor is set in the 1920’s and will make you wonder if “forsooth” is a type of gangster slang you’ve never heard of. You’ll have to go soon – the festival ends June 14^th.

If a day in the museum and at the park doesn’t change your perception of art and performance, go ahead and spend Sunday by the pool.

Every time new artists debut in The Front Room, we post a brief “virtual tour” of the installed work. This is not only a way for you to experience new work; it is also a resource for you to easily learn about new contemporary artists. If you were to read about and look at the work of each of the artists we have shown in The Front Room since it began, you would know about the work of more than 50 artists. This season The Front Room changes four times with three artists in each exhibition. From now until June 28 you can see the work of Christopher Orr, J. Parker Valentine, and Rezi van Lankveld in The Front Room (hint hint…now would be a good time to take a look at our website, the virtual tour, and maybe even do a little further research on them…and extend your contemporary artist vocabulary; and if you are able to see the work in person, come on in and read the wall text, gallery guides, and talk to staff members or other visitors). Here is the virtual tour: