Vanderbilt University History of Art Blog

Polar Probings: Sculpture by Gabriel Warren opens October 13

Gabriel Warren, the first artist-in-residence in Antarctica, creates sculptures using natural ice formations as source material. Polar Probings, an exhibit of works by the artist, will be on display from October 13 through December 8 in the Fine Arts Gallery in Cohen Memorial Hall on the Peabody campus. The opening reception is on Thursday, October 13, from 5 to 7 pm, and Warren will give a gallery talk at 6 pm.

Layered with meanings and references to the condition of the planet, the artist’s works are based on his close observations of the behavior of ice in its many forms. The show also includes an outdoor sculpture installation adjacent to Cohen near the 21st Avenue South entrance.

Warren intends his sculpture “to reflect the beauty of the natural sources from which they emerge….They represent my attempts to triangulate an understanding of a single natural phenomenon: ice.” Although ice is not the only source in the natural world for Warren’s “sculptural probings, it is the dominant one,” he notes, “and has been so for decades. Ice exhibits mind-numbing variability and variety on a visual plane, and, on a scientific one, understanding its behavior is key to understanding many other components of our world.”

Dividing his time between his studio and residence in Rhode Island and his summer home in Nova Scotia near the sea, Warren travels frequently to Antarctica, making his 1999 trip as the recipient of a National Science Foundation “Artists and Writers in Antarctica” grant.

This exhibition is in conjunction with the campus-wide initiative on sustainability with support from the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, the Department of English, the Dean’s Office, College of Arts and Science, and the American Studies Program.

Posted by vrcvanderbilt on October 18, 2011 in Events, Fine Arts Gallery

---

Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Featured on Campus and at the Frist

Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, one of the most significant artists to emerge from the Cuban post-revolutionary era, will lead a conversation about race in her native country on Wednesday, October 12, at 5:30 p.m. in Cohen Hall 203. Joining Campos-Pons in a panel discussion entitled Exile, Memory and Identity: A Conversation about Race in Cuba are Vivien Fryd, chair and professor of history of art; Jane Landers, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History and acting director of the Center for Latin American Studies; and William Luis, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in Spanish.

Immediately following the panel discussion, there will be an opening reception for Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons: MAMA/RECIPROCAL ENERGY, the first exhibition of the internationally acclaimed artist’s drawings. Campos-Pons, a visiting artist on campus October 9-18, has created five large-scale, mixed-media drawings as a means of exploring themes central to her art—issues of identity, exile and displacement as an Afro-Cuban artist living in America.

Also featured in the exhibition are drawings that address specific performances the artist has presented over the course of her career, one of which is a collaborative work she created with her son. This later body of work is the artist’s attempt at “putting the [performances] in a memory box [in order to create] the essence of the moment.” In addition to the drawings, there will be a three-channel video work that examines questions surrounding the nature of energy from an intriguing perspective.

Born and raised in the Cuban province of Matanzas, Campos-Pons was educated in Cuba at the National School of Art (1976-1979) and Instituto Superior de Arte (1980-1985). She graduated from Massachusetts College of Art in 1988 and now lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with her husband, Neil Leonard, who is a composer and performing artist, and their son.

The panel discussion and the exhibition, on display in the Fine Arts Gallery from October 12 through December 8, are part of a collaboration of numerous events sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies, Department of Art, Department of History of Art, Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, Program in African American and Diaspora Studies, College of Arts and Science, the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy, Atlantic World Seminar, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.

Campos-Pons will debut a new performance art piece at the Frist Center on Friday, October 14, at 6:00 p.m. Using her body, voice, and surrounding space, she will expand on the ideas about dislocation explored in the accompanying exhibition of her work, Journeys, in the Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery at the Frist Center. The notion of journey refers to the artist’s own place within the African Diaspora as a woman of Nigerian ancestry. On Monday, October 17, Campos-Pons will participate in a performance event on campus with Vanderbilt students from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Posted by vrcvanderbilt on October 12, 2011 in Events, Fine Arts Gallery, HART, Lectures

---

Study Abroad Series: Reflections on the Artistic Rhythms of Barcelona

My initial impression of Barcelona’s rich art legacy is inextricably tied to my first introduction to the city in early January, only a few hours after I had stepped from the plane into the pulsating, flashy, thriving cityscape. It must have been around 10 pm, and for the first time my study abroad group had been set free to wander from the confines of our safe hotel into the traffic and crowds of Barcelona’s busiest avenue: Passeig de Gràcia. Adorned with intricate iron street lamps in the form of graceful vines and block benches enveloped in crystal mosaics, the elegant avenue enhanced the stylistic character of the city, which exploded from every structural entity. Even the city tiles were patterned in interlocking hexagons and stamped with twisting zoomorphic figures—not until a month later did I learn that they were designed by Antoni Gaudi himself! As I rounded the corner from Plaza Catalunya, Barcelona’s main square, I found myself facing Casa Batlló and Casa Amatller. The architectural realization of Modernisme ideals by such geniuses as Gaudi and Amatller, these two buildings represent the most iconic sections of Barcelona’s Illa de la Discòrdia (Block of Discord). Beneath the haze of the city lights, the crystal that covered the facade tiles twinkled and magically winked back at my upturned stare. From Casa Amatller’s stepped outline to Casa Batlló’s undulating organic stonework, I fell in love with Barcelona, Modernisme, and Art Nouveau.

Before I elaborate on other adventures that were part of my Spanish experience, I should explain the basis and essence of what makes Barcelona such a unique and individualistic city, both artistically and culturally. The capital of autonomous Cataluña, the city vibrates with an unyielding pace and unstoppable essence unlike any other European city. Never without a cry for independence, Barcelona represents a center that celebrates its individual identity in the face of a Spanish nation convoluted with regionalism and inner-faction competition. It is no surprise then that the revolutionary Modernisme movement gripped the socio-cultural psyche of the city at the end of the 19th century. Determined to uplift Catalan culture to rival other European intellectual movements, the writers and artists of Barcelona instigated a modernizing and radical approach against traditionalism. Influenced by strong Catalan nationalism, Art Nouveau, Modernisme, and similar movements championed a bohemian and alternative lifestyle in place of the contemporary bourgeois hegemony. Stylistically, artistic manifestations of the paradigm shift were revealed in the brilliant colors and rejection of line, rich detail and twisting organic patterns, dynamic forms and a celebration of asymmetry. Barcelona’s cityscape and intrinsic character has never been the same since.

What I came to realize about the artistic identity of Barcelona is that after awhile, you become accustomed to buildings that sprout flowery sculptures from the rooftops, outlandish random mosaic masterpieces that decorate the underside of balconies, and irregular windows that tend to be in the shape of anything other than a rectangle. After my first few weeks, I found myself walking by the Illa de la Discòrdia on my way to class every day. I will never forget that first night when the magic of the light and expressive form of Gaudi and Amatller’s masterpiece captivated my imagination and inspired my historical appreciation for the city. By my second week, I was already frustrated by the crowd of gaping tourists standing in the middle of the road taking pictures while I was trying to get to school. As weeks turned into months I acknowledged that my brain had become saturated with the universality of famous art, artists, and architecture that exists concurrently with the city. Walking by Gaudi’s La Pedrera on the way to get coffee? Typical day. Enjoying drinks at Bar Marsella, where Picasso, Dali, and Hemingway used to hang out? No big deal. Discovering a medieval courtyard next to my friend’s residence? Cool…now let’s go out and get some sangria.

Nonetheless, Barcelona’s flair for anti-traditionalism and pure eccentric aesthetics continued to amaze me. One only has to visit the world-famous Sagrada Familia (Church of the Holy Family) to truly appreciate Antoni Gaudi, who was an architectural madman and consummate genius. Literally the first reaction of every person who sees the Sagrada for the first time goes something like this: a confounding stare, followed by a questionable kneading of the eyebrows, a shake of the head, and then a resounding “What the…#*&%@!” This reaction is appropriate. With spires that measure 560 feet high, three diverse facades that express themes from the Bible, and an abstract central nave that mixes smooth lines and jagged points, visitors are certain to be astounded by the whimsical design that constitutes Sagrada Familia. Gaudi himself resisted the temptation to classify his masterpiece into any specific category. Love it or hate it, the only thing that people do agree on is that the Sagrada testifies to Gaudi’s characteristic audacity to challenge the standard norm, and manifests itself as his personal contribution to Barcelona’s iconic skyline. My friends and I loved the outlandish and exuberant scheme of Sagrada. On multiple occasions, we would grab some wine, cheese, and bread from our local outdoor vendor and sit in a neighboring garden to watch the sunset over the church. From twilight into night, a remarkable transformation would take place, casting light into shadow, lines into curves, straight into uneven. It was a show of its own, a play of the natural elements over the eccentric surface of a giant sculpture. Begun in 1882, the church is still ascending further into the sky on a daily basis, with a completion date estimated around 2026, the centennial of Gaudí’s death.

One of the most meaningful epiphanies I had while living in Europe was that, due to the inherent antiquity of each city, one could possibly discover constant layers of creativity spanning generations by simply knowing where to look. Here in the States, where we frequently bulldoze and replace our older buildings, it was refreshing to experience a society that appreciates the longevity of the residual past. I lived on the backstreets of a neighborhood called El Ravel, on the slopes of Montjuïc, Barcelona’s semi-mountain. Affectionately known as the neighborhood for Barcelona’s immigrants and sketchy business, El Ravel has cleaned up its act in the past few years. What remains is a fascinating mix of traditional city planning of the 13th century, architectural testaments to Modernisme of the 19th century, and an amalgamation of urban sprawl and cosmopolitan revival. My first few weeks walking up and down my home street, I was enchanted by the undulating iron balconies that emerged systematically from the building’s façade. They moved in, out, around, curved, dipped, and flowed together in an elegant wave of delicate design and mosaics. Only later after conducting some research did I realize that they were designed by a prominent forerunner of Art Nouveau (whose name I have now forgotten). Nevertheless, Spanish mothers loved to hang clothes and grow plants on their balconies in a way that enhanced their artistic splendor and integrated architectural history into daily routine.

Thinking back on the art of Barcelona, I find I could spend hours discussing the revolutionary splendor of the city and its imaginative aspects. However, I think the most important idea to take away is that there is no divide between where art stops and the city ends. They both intertwine inexplicably together in a living entity that fosters a life and style uniquely Catalan, Spanish, and European. Every visitor to the city takes part in that artistic process both personally and communally, and that’s what first made me fall in love that night on Passeig de Gràcia beneath the light of Gaudi’s lamps.

~Katie Cardenas
Visual Resources Assistant

Posted by vrcvanderbilt on October 10, 2011 in HART, Student/Alumni

---

Students in HART 295 assist renowned artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with art installation

Students in Professor Fryd’s HART 295 class helped Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons plant bulbs for her installation, October 2011. From l-r in the back: Stephanie Schmidt, Christi Weinhuff, Margo Danis, Liz Furman, Kevin Manning; in front l-r Margaret Coleman, Kelly Sorren.

Posted by vrcvanderbilt on October 1, 2011 in HART

---

Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar: “Sacred Ecology: Landscape Transformations for Ritual Practice”

Co-directed by Professors John W. Janusek (Anthropology), Tracy G. Miller (History of Art), and Betsey A. Robinson (History of Art)
The Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, 2011-2012.

The Warren Center is hosting a year-long interdisciplinary faculty seminar exploring the manifold experiences of complex ritual sites around the world and across all periods of human history.  Sacred ecology refers to the human experience of divinity in relation to the natural environment, real or represented.  Landscape is construed for our purposes not simply as natural scenery, but as a cultural complex in which the natural world and human practice, conceptual and material, are dynamically linked and constantly interacting.  An investigation of landscape may focus on pastoral or picturesque scenes, earthly elements and celestial movements, or constructed places and objects, such as a temple, altar, or stage.  We are also interested in exploring the temporal rhythms of human-landscape relations, whether regular or periodic, as well as the way in which transformations of space through activities enacted at sacred sites are received and replicated to encode other sacred spaces.

The seminar’s investigations of setting, nature, and monuments offer a chance to revisit sacred places and to see them in a new light. Our intentionally broad definition leaves room for participants to introduce new topics to the table, such as (but not limited to): the practicalities of survey and excavation and the mapping of ritual; the natural landscape and its representation in words and images; geomorphology and its influence on planning and architectural design; the modification and improvement of natural features to accommodate human ritual; poetry and performance, whether on-site or remote venues; or the visualization of landscape as a means of facilitating ecstatic experience.

For more detailed information, see:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/rpw_center/VF_Fellowship_2011_2012.html

Or contact:
Mona Frederick, Executive Director
Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities
VU Station B #351534, Nashville, TN 37235-1534
(615) 343-6060

Posted by vrcvanderbilt on September 6, 2011 in HART, Lectures

---