HR: 你能告诉我你是如何加入这个特殊的艺术家团体的吗? Did something formally about each of the works speak to you or are there specific conversations happening between the works that you found to be interesting?
ME: Most of the 艺术家 chosen were either a part of the 艺术家 in residence program at the Studio Museum in Harlem or exhibited at the museum during my association with the museum as part of the acquisition committee. 这次展览是对工作室博物馆项目及其长期影响的致敬. 只要这些作品能互相交流, because they all come from my personal collection there is a connecting thread running through all of them. 我觉得我可以抓住任何工作,并以某种方式将它与另一个完美匹配. 在这次谈话的时候,我们还没有安装这个节目,所以还有很多有待观察. 希望不要弄得一团糟. 但说实话吧, so many of these 艺术家 are friends and admirers of each other and have been shown together in a variety of shows. 所有人都是非洲裔. 这场演出不能错过,联系是如此紧密.
HR: 所以真正的! 我喜欢在你的清单上有这样的形象和抽象的混合. 展示多种工作方式似乎越来越重要, 尤其是有色人种艺术家, 因为具象作品最近似乎主导了艺术界. 在这个清单上,你是如何平衡具象、抽象和概念的? 你在自己的系列中寻求平衡吗?
ME: 我真的没有过多考虑工作方式. 我是一个很冲动的买家和探索者. 我确实喜欢表现主义手法. 亨利。泰勒, 加里•西蒙斯, 沃尔特价格, 和杰克·惠顿都有不同的风格,但都是非常表现主义的. 我也喜欢手工制品,重视低调. 大卫哈莫斯, 卡拉沃克, 和戴夫·麦肯齐都属于这一类,但他们的做法完全不同. 我喜欢多样性,并建立了一个系列,希望是不可预测的和令人惊讶的. At the Studio Museum’s acquisition meetings all of us appreciate the wide scope of work that is presented to us by curators like you: photography, 画, 绘画, video, 基于性能的. 我的个人收藏反映了同样的价值观和范围.
HR: I think that’s such an interesting way to think about building a collection and so it makes a lot of sense that it’s so cohesive. 你们展览中的许多艺术家都深受哈林区的影响. 你认为哈莱姆区是什么提供了这种创意素材? 作为收藏家,哈莱姆区对你有什么影响?
ME: It seems as if Harlem has had a major effect throughout the world ever since the Harlem Renaissance. 作家, 艺术家, and musicians have spoken about Harlem’s history and its effect on world culture for as long as I can remember. I was taken up to Harlem around 20 years ago by the art dealer Jack Tilton to visit the studio of the artist Nari Ward. 我被这里的活力和丰富多彩的街景迷住了. We started going up there on a regular basis and those visits included stops at the Studio Museum. I have a long history with the jazz world, so collecting African American art was a natural move. 蒂尔顿是这方面的专家,他把我介绍给许多艺术家,包括大卫·哈蒙斯. 哈蒙斯和我都喜欢爵士乐,我们相处得很好. 他是收藏品的基石. In the end it’s the people that you meet that have the largest effect on your thinking and the direction that your life will take. 人们喜欢杰克, 塞尔玛金, A C哈金斯, 和洛厄里·斯托克斯·西姆斯都在我成为艺术赞助人的过程中发挥了重要作用. 哈莱姆就是这样成为我生活的中心部分的. You are a curator and are more educated than I am regarding Harlem’s history and its influence on the arts. 我想听听你的想法,以及在哈莱姆区的工作如何改变了你的生活.
HR: Harlem has been incredibly influential to me as a curator; there’s something about getting off the subway at 125th (or any subway stop in Harlem) that immediately locates you in the neighborhood. 正如你所指出的, the vibrant energy is completely unique to Harlem and I can’t think of another NYC neighborhood with such a distinct identity. It’s one of the only places where I see vendors on the street selling goods like tiny Hammons flags and oils. I’m originally from North Carolina and the spirit of Harlem reminds me a lot of the town I’m from—there people sit on porches and here people sit on stoops but in both communities people go out of their way to acknowledge each other, 在这个城市不常发生的事. I love how artistic and creative moments are always happening in Harlem; walking around Harlem I never know if I’m going to see a marching band or drums or a new mural. I love that people experience art constantly so it becomes an expectation of the norm rather than an event that you have to mark your calendar to see. 在博物馆,它对我的策展实践产生了难以置信的影响. 我和其他策展人一直在问自己,如何在画廊中反映这一点. 哈莱姆有着令人难以置信的艺术遗产, 因为哈莱姆文艺复兴而闻名,但是, 在现实中, 它仍然是一个主要的文化生产中心. 现在,博物馆正处于哈莱姆区的阶段,当地社区比以往任何时候都更加重要. 在Countee Cullen这样的地方办展览, 的才, 马库斯·加维公园, 我接触过这样的人, 对我来说, 形成了哈林区的中心地带. 我知道你提到过你和大卫·哈蒙斯相处得很好, and I noticed that most of the 艺术家 on the 上城区到哈莱姆区 checklist have several works representing their practice. 你与艺术家的关系是否影响了你的收藏,也影响了这次展览?
ME: 我不想夸大我和哈蒙斯的关系. 大卫是一个非常注重隐私的人,很难接近. 话虽如此,我们的工作关系一直很好, 这也是我收藏艺术家时所追求的. 在策划展览时,这些关系不会发挥作用. 事实上,这些展览是以闪电般的速度构思和制作的. 这是一个快速的直觉想法,然后我联系了艾米丽, 谁来管理藏品, 我们讨论我们认为适合的作品. 我们遵循一定的规则:大多数作品都在玻璃下,我们避免裸露, 粗鲁的意象, 还有淫秽的语言. 这些节目是面向学生群体的,我们小心翼翼地避免冒犯. We hope to put on shows that challenge people’s thoughts and perceptions about contemporary art. In the case of this particular show I assume that many people are unfamiliar with art made by African Americans. 毕竟, up until very recently it was hard to find examples in most museum collections or in exhibitions being mounted across the country. 许多参观我们画廊的人很少出去看艺术品. Rebeca and I see this as an opportunity and enjoy knowing that our small gallery can enlighten and educate at a glance.
HR: 我认为你的方法完全正确——相信你的听众. I read all of our comments from our Reading and Reflection room here at the Museum and I find that most people find meaning in even the most opaque work. 就我个人而言,我特别喜欢教皇.卖热狗的工作. 把这件作品放在河景镇, 你希望达成什么样的对话?你对什么样的对话最感兴趣? 你最想分享的工作是什么?
ME: 你选教皇是对的.L从清单中剔除. 孩子们总是喜欢有文字的作品. In the last exhibit we had a David Shrigley piece with the words “It’s a Dream/ It’s Not a Dream.他们为之疯狂,想知道这是什么意思. 热狗小贩的文字应该旋转一些头,以及戴夫·麦肯齐的文字绘画. 我对我们都崇拜的沃尔特·普莱斯很兴奋. 他孩子气的做法应该引起共鸣. Nari Ward雕塑是该画廊的一件引人注目的作品. 由于空间有限和担心损坏,我们很少展示雕塑作品. 这篇文章足够强硬,像Nari的许多最好的作品一样滑稽. 卡拉·沃克也是一大亮点. It’s a chance for the school population to live with a great example by a major artist of historic importance.
HR: 我也很欣赏沃尔特对色彩的运用, 吸引了那么多在小说节期间走进画廊的人. 谢谢你推荐他! 这与其说是一个问题,不如说是一个观察, even in my time at Studio your gifts to the Museum have played an incredibly important role in the development of the collection. 你带到工作室博物馆的作品是沃尔特·普莱斯或威廉·斯科特等艺术家的作品, 在很多情况下, people that we haven’t heard of before but become singularly important 艺术家 that many major institutions end up collecting. Your work helps to ensure the preservation of the artist’s work and the Museum’s reputation for visionary collecting practices. 你收集作品的时候会想到这个吗? How did you approach curating this exhibition differently than selecting the work you live with in your home?
ME: 我们买的大多是年轻有为的艺术家的作品. 很多时候我们从他们的第一场演出中购买. We hope that the work becomes valued and is looked upon as being important down the road and we enjoy placing works in museum collections. 话虽如此, 当我们听取策展人和画廊老板的建议时,我们会冲动地、用心地购买. 我们买的大部分东西会被大众遗忘,也会被大型博物馆抛弃. 这就是现实, which is why it’s important to us to support galleries and 艺术家 that are making a cultural difference and have a distinct point of view. There is not much of a difference between what we hang in our home and what you see in a 河景 show. 我们参加的每一场演出都是我们的一部分. 这是结束谈话的好方法. 谢谢哈利.