Cleveland Museum of Art's Latest Acquisition: Seed Pods

Seed Pods by Sopheap Pich courtesy Cleveland Museum of Art

We got a sneak-peek at one of the Cleveland Museum of Art's most recent acquisitions during a tour of the institution's conservation lab for "Art & Mind," our June 2016 profile of director William Griswold.

Seed Pods, by contemporary Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich, is made with bamboo and rattan shaped using heat and then tied together with steel wire. Close inspection of the sculptures shows singe marks on the strips of bamboo.

Griswold saw Seed Pods while visiting Pich's studio outside Phnom Pen, the country's capital city. He was there with Indian and Southeast Asian art curator Sonya Quintanilla and museum trustees in February.

"We went to his studio and fell in love with this piece," Griswold says. "As we were driving away from his studio [in a bus], I got on the phone with his dealer in New York and said, 'We’ll take it.'"

Griswold — who's fond of Asian art — spoke about the work and the artist, whose work he was introduced to a few years ago at Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, with reverence.

"He’s really an interesting guy," Griswold says. "I think it’s a wonderfully lyrical, incredibly accomplished piece. The actual technique and materials are related to materials that are used in Cambodia for fishing traps. And so these are materials which a Cambodian is intimately familiar. The materials are familiar, but their use in art is altogether new, and it’s really him."

Fine Prints For All

If you always thought having an art collection was out of reach financially, think again. The Cleveland Museum of Art wants to jump-start your print collection with the 31st Fine Prints Fair, the second oldest continually running print fair in the United States, from Sept. 24-27. The prints, which span from 16th century to today, come from 15 dealers throughout the country and are guaranteed originals. These hand-selected dealers, along with with the Inter-Museum Conservation Association, a nonprofit conservation laboratory, are at the fair to educate visitors and hopefully inspire someone to collect. "Dealers will have prints starting at $100 so that students or young people can start collecting," says Jane Glaubinger, the Cleveland Museum of Art's curator of prints. "There is such a wide variety of prices and something for everybody."

Morris Blackburn Forms, 1945, color screenprint. Courtesy of Dolan/Maxwell

Forms by Morris Blackburn 
Abstraction was nothing new by 1945 when Blackburn made this print, but the artist's use of dimension is definitely exciting. "The artist has removed the idea of three-dimension by using these spots of very bright, solid colors," says Glaubinger. "He used the areas of flat, bright colors to flatten out the space."

.Henri Riviere La Montagne, 1897, lithograph. Courtesy of Pia Gallo

 La Montage by Henri Riviere 
The Parisian artist, who spent his summers in Brittany, France, was inspired by the colorful landscapes he saw during his time in northwestern France. Replicating those vibrant images, which were made in the 1890s during the height of lithography in France, required a lot of skill. "For each color, you're printing from a separate stone or different plate," Glaubinger says. "It's complicated to print a lot of different colors and to register the paper perfectly each time you print."

Martin Lewis Little Penthouse, 1931, drypoint. Courtesy of The Old Print Shop, Inc.

Little Penthouse by Martin Lewis 
The artist, who lived in New York, was not afraid of the dark. In fact, he often used night scenes and added a few light effects. "He would have a dim scene and then would include a bright light like a lamppost or something," says Glaubinger. "In this print, he uses the window as his light source." Lewis was also never tempted by color, as he was skillful in black and white. "They don't always want to work in color," adds Glaubinger. "There's something about the contrast of the black ink of the white paper."

Cleveland Museum of Art Excites with Solstice

Parts of Solstice seem unreal at times. Vibrant patterns flicker across the south side of the 1916 Building like shadows passing through the night. Dancers move across elevated lighted platforms with great strength and dexterity. Partygoers in stacked balloon hats as tall as the top of the stage pulsate through the crowd to the beat of world music.

It's unlike any party you've ever been to — and it's something new each year. 

It’s no wonder why the sixth annual Cleveland Museum of Art gathering, held June 21, has become known as Cleveland’s signature summer party. Solstice is something truly unique — a cutting-edge global music festival held amongst centuries-old masterpieces that are part of one of the world’s most distinguished art collections. 

Photo by Thom Sheridan

This year, more than 6,000 people gathered to welcome summer at the exclusive cultural event. The night began with the glow of evening sun blanketing guests mingling on the terrace sipping drinks and nibbling on gourmet eats as Turkish DJ Arkin Allen spun electronic tunes. As darkness fell, images from Joshua Light Show began to creep across the century-old building, transforming the museum into a club. Crowds moved to music from young tabla artist Suphala, rhythmic Central Asian ensemble Salar System and Turkish composer, bendir player, disc jockey and producer Mercan Dede & Secret Tribe. 

Solstice raged on inside as DJs, including MisterBradleyP and Awesome Tapes From Africa, manned the atrium stage while colorful images floated across the interior north side of the 1916 Building.

Partygoers were among the first to preview Yoga: The Art of Transformation, which explores yoga’s visual history (special $15 exhibit fee applies during regular hours). More than 100 masterworks of Indian painting and sculpture as well as rare publications, photography and video offer insight into yoga’s practices, popularity and transformation over time. On view through Sept. 7, museum guests can also practice contemporary yoga styles during Sunday yoga classes from June 29 to Aug. 31 for $19 for both the exhibit and class, $12 for just the yoga session and $8 for members.

Photo by Thom Sheridan

"Monuments Men" in Our Backyard

Photo courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art

Nearly two decades before the larger-than-life Peter Paul Rubens and Workshop painting called the Cleveland Museum of Art home, Diana and Her Nymphs Departing for the Hunt was a prisoner of war during World War II. 

 

Nazis stole the Baroque piece along with the rest of Edouard Rothschild and Baroness de Rothschild's collection in 1940. From there, Diana traveled to places only the canvas knows. The hunt to ensure her survival was on, but her mythological nymphs weren't the ones coming to her aid.

 

The monuments men, a section of the Allied forces known for rescuing not only Diana in 1948 but also many other pieces of art and architecture, are finally receiving some recognition after almost 70 years in the shadows if history. George Clooney’s recently released film Monuments Men portrays some of the elaborate plots this group had to execute to fulfill. Even though it’s set in Europe, Northeast Ohio has many more ties to this group than Diana.

 

Former director of the Cleveland Museum of Art Sherman Lee served as a Monuments Man in Japan from 1946 to 1948, and the experience was an invaluable contribution to his legacy. Dr. Noelle Giuffrida, an art history professor at Case Western Reserve University who is currently writing a book about Lee, says, “The contacts he made with art dealers and historians [in Japan] gave him access to collections that were otherwise hard-to-reach.”

 

The future director would take extensive trips throughout Japan to catalogue and research Japanese and Chinese art. He spent most of his time in the field, according to Giuffrida, introducing him to many of the art dealers he would later do business with through the museum to create one of the top Asian collections in the United States.

 

The Asian division of the Fine Art, Monuments and Archives section of the Allied forces isn’t featured in the Hollywood film. But it did include not only Lee, but also famous East Asian art historian/curator Howard Hollis and Laurence Sickman, the former curator and director of Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum. Their experiences were not only unique to each involved, but also helped jumpstart their careers.

Cultural Shift

Photo by David Brichford

The Vienna World Exposition of 1873 spurred international enthusiasm for Japanese art. Much like that expo, Remaking Tradition: Modern Art of Japan, on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art from Feb. 16 to May 11, offers a rare look at modern Japanese art. The collection, which includes six pieces certified by the government as important cultural properties, communicates how Japanese art has evolved with Western influences while still maintaining centuries-old tradition. Here are three things we learned from the exhibit that marks the first time a collection of modern Japanese art of this size from the Tokyo National Museum has been introduced overseas.

Tradition Remains: As you stroll through the more than 50 folding screens, hanging scrolls, ceramics, oil paintings and more keep an eye out for traditional symbols of Japanese culture in modern-style works, such as Aiming at the Target. “The technique is Western, but the artist picked up the motif of the Japanese cherry blossoms, and the costume was an exact representation of traditional Japanese armor style,” says Masato Matsushima, curator of Japanese painting and senior manager of special exhibitions at the Tokyo National Museum, through an interpreter.

Pushing Boundaries: Early styles of Japanese art, such as ceramics, were often regarded as decorative arts. To help establish a foothold in the fine arts and politics, artist Takahashi Yuichi adapted Western techniques of oil painting for this portrait politician Okubu Koto. “In order to be powerful in other countries, Japan tried to enforce the power of the art, too,” Matsushima says. “[Yuichi] painted this portrait, which is a traditional style of Western in oil painting in order to prove that Japan can create something like Western countries can do.”

Frame Game: Although the scrolls hang free in this exhibit, they were presented as a paneled portrait during the 1873 expo. “Maybe it’s more approachable for Western people to see the framed painting," Matsushima says, "but then they get used to it and eventually can accept the traditional format ... maybe.”

Remaking Tradition is the first major exhibit shown since the museum finished its eight-year-plus, $350 million renovation. To read more about the renovation, see our January 2014 "Master Work" Package here.

World Tour

Aziz Sahmaoui, photo by Manuel Lagos

If you missed out on this summer's sold-out Solstice, Cleveland Museum of Art's premier celebration of global music, you're in luck. Every Wednesday night in July you can soak up world beats with the new CMA concert and film series, Ohio City Stages. And there's no need to worry about tickets here, the event is free.

"It's an upscale, museum-style block party celebrating summer and the city," says Tom Welsh, director of Ohio City Stages.

The series introduces people to global musicians they wouldn't normally have access to, such as Aziz Sahmaoui & University of Gnawa from Morocco. On July 24, the band will share their interpretation of Gnawa trance music, a fusion of Arabic north and sub-Saharan south sounds, with attendees. Sahmaoui, who has only performed once before in the United States, is looking forward to playing for Clevelanders.

"We love cultural diversity," Sahmaoui says through a translator. "When people identify themselves to that powerful energy, then we all become one."

Tonight, Fanfare Ciocarlia, a Balkan brass band that plays gypsy music, will play a set at 7:30 p.m. on a stage set up on the block surrounding Transformer Station on West 29th Street. Don't worry about the gloomy weather canceling the concert — the show goes on rain or shine.

Fanfare Ciocarlia, photo by Arne Reinhardt

After the concert, continue your night of cultural enrichment with a film screening by Bellwether, a project of the museum's Contemporary Arts Society, on the lawn of the Transformer Station.

Up tonight is artist Kevin Beasley, who will show a selection of his favorite films that range form old Hollywood to foreign movies, artist films and movie trailers.

"It's films that I think are really great," he says. "I thought this was a good opportunity to show films people don’t really know about. They are kind of obscure, but they are things I like to think about."

Cleveland Museum of Art Celebrates Solstice with Style

As darkness fell across the Cleveland Museum of Art grounds Saturday evening, the museum's 1916 building became a canvas for moving images that served as a reflection of who we are as a city: our downtown skyline, magnificent parks and steel being forged on a factory floor. It was just one masterstroke in a night filled with them, as University Circle's anchor cultural institution played host to 5,000 people with its annual Solstice summer celebration.

Billed as the city's signature summer party, the event lives up to the claim. The merger of music from around the world, striking video imagery and a museum filled with masterworks and other pieces dating from antiquity, creates a place of discovery — a mash-up of past, present and future. It also doesn't hurt that Solstice never forgets that, at its heart, it's a party.

Those who purchased tickets for the 8 p.m. entrance time were welcomed by harpist Edmar Castaneda, whose ethereal sound created a perfect garden party vibe on the main outdoor stage and set the tone for the lineup of innovative musicians to follow: Red Baraat, Burnt Sugar Arkestra and the night's outdoor-stage closers, The Crystal Ark.

Visitors were welcome to roam the museum during the party and get a glimpse of the new north wing.  Featuring more than 400 pieces, it's home to the museum's pre-Columbian, Native North American, Japanese, Korean and textile collections. The north wing opens to the public this Sunday, June 30.

As 10:30 p.m. rolled around and night fell across the grounds, the party hit another gear. After sets on the atrium stage from Beatmatrix and DJ Rekha, the incomparable DJ Afrika Bambaataa offered a scorching finale befitting the kickoff to summer.

If you were ever looking for just one more reason to become an art museum member, the ability to get a discount when tickets for next year's party go on sale, should be enough to push you over the edge.

In the Mix

Strobe lights, loud music and plentiful mixed drinks transform the usually clean-cut atrium of the  Cleveland Museum of Art into a nightclub for one evening every month.

"It’s one of the only places you can go for a happy hour, to hear music, and be in this spectacular space," says Charity D'Amato, founder of the design studio Chartreuse. "It’s not just a bar you’re going to ... it is this large museum with very recognizable works of art that you can go and sort of hang out with."

The art museum hosts Mix events the first Friday of every month, each with a different theme ranging from masquerade balls to the apocalypse. All in one night, guests can cut loose on the disco-ball-adorned dance floor, unwind at the cocktail bar and peruse the galleries of centuries-old works as they please.

"It's about getting people into the galleries in a relaxed setting,"says Aaron Petersal, director of membership and visitor experience at the museum.

Since the museum started hosting the event last October, it has steadily been growing, now drawing more than 1,200 people each month.

The theme for the next event on June 7 is Mix: Connections, highlighting the relationship between the CMA and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. To show how modern artists are influenced by those of the past, you’ll get to see contemporary artist Kate Gilmore’s work compared to her inspiration, Jackson Pollock. Gilmore’s work is currently on display at MOCA, but there will also be a live rendering of her performance art piece Hold on Her at CMA.

Get the best of both museums with a free trolley that runs all night. Take in electronic artists Radio People at MOCA and check out other artworks on display as part of the museum's own WtF (Welcome to Friday) series. Keep the music going back over at CMA, where DJs Charles McGraw and Darrick Grant will spin funk and soul records until 9 p.m.

The connections theme trickles into the cocktail menu with custom blends such as Rusty Nails, a Scotch-based drink to pair with a piece on display at the museum by Damian Ortega titled Controller of the Universe, featuring carpentry and gardening tools suspended in mid-air.

D'Amato attended one of her first Mix events in November and has been back for a few times since then. "It was just a cool way of gathering young professionals who are interested in art on a Friday night and kicking off the weekend," she says.

Members to either museum can attend the happy hour for free.  Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. Call 216-421-7350 or visit ClevelandArt.org/MIX for tickets.

Cleveland Museum of Art and Bidwell Foundation Transform Historic Space

In the words of Transformer Station co-founder Laura Ruth Bidwell, "It's about time photo had its own space."

Nestled on the corner of Church Street and West 29th, this minimalist space is bringing a new vibe to the art scene in Ohio City.

Open to the public from noon to 9 pm today, with extended hours through the weekend, the Transformer Station invites visitors to explore the world of photography, as well as a piece of Cleveland history, free of charge. Where Cleveland Railway Company once powered streetcars running on Detroit Avenue, only the crane that once lifted the company's transformer into and out of the space remains.

Fittingly named, the Crane Gallery now holds the works of Vaughn Wascovich for its first exhibition, Bridging Cleveland. Using a handmade pinhole camera, Wascovich photographed the various bridges over the Cuyahoga then manipulated them with a mix of chemicals and creativity.

"They’re a love song to the Cuyahoga River," says co-founder, and Laura's husband, Fred Bidwell.

 

In the main gallery of the museum hang pieces from their collection, which Fred calls a personal overview of what's happening in photo-based art.

"Many of the works in here were delivered straight into storage," he says of the Light of Day exhibition. "So now they're seeing the light of day."

Viewers will find themselves amidst the works of established artists such as Hiroshi Yugimoto and Adam Fuss as well as young and upcoming artists. The Transformer Station, owned and operated by the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation,  established in 2011 to support artists and arts institutions, will create half of the gallery schedule. The Cleveland Museum of Art, a partner in programming the space, will develop the rest.

The visual experience is pure, with natural light streaming in from horizontal rectangular windows near the building's high ceilings and no wall labels or other adornments to distract. Even the benches, made from the re-purposed pecan floor of an old Chrysler plant, keep it simple.

"The building has to get out of the way of the art,” says Laura. “Simplicity is good.”

Chalk Fest colors University Circle

At the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Chalk Festival this weekend, volunteers who looked like worker bees in yellow and black T-shirts buzzed along the Fine Arts Garden's paths, helping participants find their stone canvases. Armed with soft pastels and sometimes seat cushions, artists from all zip codes and ages set to work.

Though the talents of some three-year-olds with chalk had mine beat, the featured artists stole the show. Community arts coordinator Nan Eisenberg says the artists were asked to look to the museum’s Youth and Beauty exhibit, which ended this weekend, for inspiration.

Featured artist Joshua Maxwell, 22, focused on the Art Deco trends of 1920’s art. “Metropolises were symbolic of the grandeur of the 1920’s,” he said. “I wanted to depict Cleveland as that kind of up-and-coming metropolis with its own grandeur.”

Just beyond Maxwell, Debra Sue Solecki surveyed her adaptation of Henrietta Shore’s "California Data." As she drew, two precocious pre-teens blurted out praises. “It’s such a different experience to draw in front of a crowd,” said Solecki, “For them to become a part of the process -- it’s a really good energy.”

Robin VanLear, artistic director for community arts, has been bringing this energy to University Circle every fall since she started the event in 1990. On Saturday, she, like many of the artists, had only just begun. “If they finish by the end of day one, they’re not doing their jobs,” she said with a laugh.

Artful Eating

It was late afternoon and cloudy when I got my first look at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s new atrium. The space, designed by architect Rafael Viñoly,is vast, dramatic, and truly awesome. It is an expression of talent, vision and the vitality of both the institution and this City. When the sun suddenly broke through, the grand glass hall glowed, awash with light and promise.

And it’s open to all, a public gathering place and private event site. Rest there between gallery visits. Book it for a wedding or a fundraiser on a grand scale. It also serves as the ad hoc “lobby” for Provenance Café and Provenance Restaurant, scheduled to open Oct 28. Both will feature menus created by Doug Katz, Chef/owner of fire on Shaker Square, who is also responsible for Provenance Catering.

A beaming Katz, clearly thrilled by the opportunity to partner with Bon Appetit Management, a food service company that shares his commitment to using fresh, local and sustainably produced products, and the Museum, was on hand to lead a small group behind the scenes and into the kitchens and dining areas still under construction. It was an impressive, if largely imagined, operation. The self-service Café will be outfitted with a tandoori oven, high-heat Robata grill, and Mediterranean stone oven. The plan includes food stations for soups, salads, paninis and cold sandwiches, and pizza. Behind this is a 200 seat banquet room with a wall of windows facing Wade Park and a landscaped grounds. Adjacent is what will soon be a 76 fine dining restaurant and lounge, open evenings only when the Museum is, with an excellent view of the atrium. Down the hall is another private dining area. The kitchens, prep and staging areas are a chef’s dream come true.

Katz, who has been serving consistently excellent fare at fire for eleven years, will draw inspiration from the cultures, collections and special exhibitions in the galleries. This will insure that the Cleveland Museum of Art will be an exciting as well as a beautiful place to eat.

When our three sons were young, I took them to the Museum often for classes and picture gazing. I always included a stop in the old café for either lunch or dessert. I thought it could lead to a lasting and positive kind of association. When Katz took the microphone to welcome us, he told a similar story about his own experience going there as child. No doubt, with his help, Museum goers of all ages are soon going to be forming some very positive associations of their own.
photos by Barney Taxel, Taxel Image Group

Past Meets Present in Paintings of Fu Baoshi

Faced with political turbulence and the growing fear of westernization, post-war China looked toward painters such as Fu Baoshi for peace of mind. As one of the modern masters of the east, Fu Baoshi merged classical Chinese motifs with contemporary references to reveal a multi-faceted culture, one that was in touch with history yet cognizant of emerging philosophies and new ways of living.

“The act of moving a stagnant tradition entails imparting life, dynamism and an affecting quality to painting,” the artist once said. “[It’s] injecting warmth to enliven something that had long been frozen and hardened.”

He began his career copying subtle landscapes and semi-religious figure paintings from Chinese antiquity and giving these scenes a modern touch by including elements from contemporary poetry, as exemplified in Beauty Under Banana Palm (below), on view through Jan. 8 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, as part of a retrospective titled Chinese Art In the Age of Revolution, Fu Baoshi (1904-1965).

Drawing on his experience as a young artist-in-residence at Musashino University in Japan and his tenure as art history professor at Nanjing, Fu Baoshi merged the pale, spacious compositions of traditional Chinese literati painting with new Japanese forms of ink application.

In time, he developed a style all his own, spreading the brush bristles and applying strokes with respect to pressure and direction. He applied his texture-stroke not only to traditional landscapes, but to scenes of industrialization emerging in neighboring lands — surprisingly modern scenes, such as Irkutsk Airport, which depicts Chinese planes landing at a Soviet airbase in the winter of 1957, and Gottwaldov, a Czech cityscape enveloped in smog, evoking the shadow of urban life (top).

“Fu explored new subject matter related to revolution, socialist reconstruction and industrial development, which testified to his ongoing attempt to transform Chinese painting to serve new political needs,” says exhibit curator Anita Chung.

Cleveland Museum of Art announces Ohio City gallery

Come this time next year, Ohio City will have a more contemporary feel.

The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation will open the exhibition space Transformer Station on West 29th Street. Built in the 1920s as a power station for the Detroit Avenue streetcar line, the Transformer Station will be renovated and expanded into an 8,000-square-foot space for art programs, exhibitions and installations.

“It’s an opportunity to extend our reach to more Northeast Ohioans, specifically to this important and vibrant West Side of the city,” said David Franklin, the art museum's director, in a press conference this morning.

The Transformer Station will be the museum's first separate space outside University Circle. “Fundamentally, it strengthens our ancient mission of benefiting all the people forever,” Franklin said.

Fred Bidwell, co-founder and co-director of the Bidwell Foundation, said they chose the building to showcase art because of its industrial feel. And there's an huge crane on the ceiling that can lift 15 tons. Who doesn't need that?

“The diversity, the grit, the intimacy, the urbanity of Ohio City, with its dynamic art scene, we felt was a perfect place for this showplace for the contemporary art,” said Bidwell in the press conference.

The hopes are to have the Transformer Station open in late 2012. Franklin wants to encourage curators and collaborators to use the space as a laboratory and set up installations more spontaneously. This space will also allow young and local artists to show their work on the same floor as international artists.

City councilman Joe Cimperman, who represents Ohio City, thanked the Bidwells for opening the Transformer Station. “This neighborhood takes this gift very seriously,” he said. “We take you as gifts very seriously. We cherish what you’re doing here, and we are all too well aware that you could have done this anywhere.”

Cimperman predicted the gallery would become important to the neighborhood's future. “One day, in this building there will be children like me — who grew up on East 74th Street — [who,] but for the arts, would not be able to live the life they lived. So, if you want to know what you are doing today for this community, look 20 years from now to the generation that you are fostering.”

Nice Ice

It looks like the most elaborate jewelry store on earth — except for that fact that none of the pieces are on sale. While tomorrow marks the opening of the Cleveland Museum of Art's latest exhibit Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique we got a sneak peek today during the media preview. From brooches and opera glasses (even dominos) diamonds and gems adorned everything. We were left breathless of all the opulence and grandeur and definitely jealous of the people who have been lucky enough to wear these amazing pieces in the past. Take the Lalique necklace above. Who wouldn't want to wear that? 

(Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. René Lalique (French, 1860 –1945). Necklace with Insect Women and Black Swans, (Chased gold, enamel on gold, plique-à-jour enamel, Australian opal, Siberian amethyst, c. 1900). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Lillian Nassau, 1985 (1985.114) Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris)