KYOPO Composite, © CYJO

Born in 1974 in Seoul, Korea, but raised in Maryland, artist CYJO sought to explore the lives of Koreans living abroad in her breakthrough series “The KYOPO Project,” currently on view at the National Portrait Gallery. Kyopo refers to any people of ethnic Korean ancestry who live outside Korea and is a reflection of a diverse diaspora. The work consists of a collection of pictures of more than 200 people of Korean descent posed head-on, looking directly at the camera. They are both straightforward and intimate portraits ranging across professions from bankers to students, and ages from the very old to the very young. Accompanying every photo is a short autobiography. The pieces are displayed one after another, juxtaposing a variety of subjects and a wide range of experiences, all helping to define “what it means to be Korean and a citizen of the world.”

I corresponded with CYJO via email to get some insight into her project, her process and her part in the exhibition, “Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter,” at the National Portrait Gallery.

What motivated you to start the KYOPO project?

I didn’t see any photography books in 2004 that covered contemporary issues and the Korean culture. I also was curious to see how individuals who shared the same ancestry contextualized themselves in their societies. And so I decided to create a platform that explored how ethnicity and culture of residence/citizenship related to identity through photographic and textual portraits.

You photographed many different types of people—young and old, white collar and working class, well known and unknown—for the KYOPO project. How did you find each of your subjects and how important was it for you to represent a wide variety of people?

In November of 2004, a random stranger at the time, Sebastian Seung, stood in line behind me at the Cooper Hewitt Museum. He inquired about the exhibition, and I inquired about his ethnicity. After confirming he was Korean, he became the first subject for the project. He recommended a couple of people who recommended others. There were chance meetings with other people who became participants, and the group organically grew into over 200 people over the course of six years.

What was important was to make sure that the group was a sincere sampling and random, not researched. From this grouping, a variety of individuals surfaced. It was a nice surprise to obtain such varied results.

You studied fashion at both New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and Istituto Politecnico Internazionale della Moda in Florence. How does your fashion background inform your photography?

The process of producing a collection under a theme/idea was definitely exercised through a photographic and textual medium. A concept was developed, and pieces/portraits were created to flesh out the idea. Expressing a concept through a cohesive collection can be applied to many forms of art which include fashion and photography.

Who are your favorite subjects from the series? What about them stands out to you?

It’s hard to say which are my favorites, but below are some of the many memorable participants. Steve Byrne and Bobby Lee—Their fearlessness, surprise, semi-nudity and humor (Bobby had requested that I do an additional personality shot with only his socks on as he squatted and pointed to the sky. And Steve unexpectedly whipped off his shirt last minute before I took the shot). Daniel Dae Kim, Chang Rae Lee, Juju Chang—high profiles in the media who were distinctively humble and modest. Linda Vestergaard—her introduction to Korean cultural exposure in her late twenties, her history as an adopted individual of identical triplets in Denmark, and her journey with embracing her ethnicity where she and her Danish family eventually met her biological parents. Cera Choi and Patricia Han—their courage to defy the odds, overcome extreme challenges and make a difference to better affect their communities. Cera from Anchorage, Alaska, is a single mother of four children, with her youngest suffering from a severe disease, Prader-Willi syndrome. She has helped to create some policies in her community to help families who have family members with special needs. Patricia Han from NYC had lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks. And she took this tragedy as a reminder that she had a purpose in this world to positively contribute, as she still had a lot more than many others did. In turn, she created an orphanage in Bangladesh to help provide a supportive foundation where children could grow and become productive individuals in their societies. Linda Volkhausen and Aiyoung Choi—the earlier pioneers of civic activism and community involvement in America. Suk Pak—He grew up in the Canary Islands and is the co-founder of dramafever.com, the first major portal to bring English sub-titled Korean soap operas into the American vernacular. KYOPO Consultants and Supporters—They provided instrumental support to help realize this project.

In describing the project, you say the goal was to challenge “the idea of a monolithic, ‘authentic’ Korean identity.” How do your subjects’ stories compare? Did you find any similarities besides their shared Korean heritage?

One resounding similarity with most participants was their respect and curiosity for differences due to their bi-cultural/multi-cultural background. They identified with a universal human race. There were definitely generational similarities where children of those families who immigrated in the 60′s and 70′s had certain societal and cultural pressures instilled in them, different from some who had grown up later where ethnicity is celebrated much more.

There were also different types of relationships people had with their ethnicity. One participant, Cabin Gold Kim had parents who wanted to provide the best American experience and environment for him to thrive in their newly adopted American culture. He loved his mom’s grilled cheese sandwiches growing up and didn’t care much for kimchi. And I can still hear his Rochester, New York, guffaw that erupted during our interview.

This contrasted to other participants who visited Korea regularly, spoke the language fluently and preferred to receive their news through Korean media portals.

Other individuals exfoliated their Korean culture off of them to better integrate and assimilate to American society growing up only to come back to it at a matured age, understanding that part of being American was to embrace your heritage.

In the end, each story was individual and uniquely their own.

What would your KYOPO statement say? Has your own Kyopo identity changed over the course of working on this project?

Bits and pieces of my thoughts can be found in select participants’ answers in the KYOPO book published by Umbrage Editions. My identity has not changed but strengthened and expanded over the course of working on this project.

Are there any figures you wish you had the opportunity to add to the series?

The project was done to produce an organic and spontaneous result within a certain framework. My wish was for that element to be maintained. The KYOPO Project illustrates a sampling of individuals, mainly Korean Americans, and does not represent all Korean Americans or KYOPO, but provides a flavoring over a course of time.

What are your thoughts on the Portrait Gallery’s “Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter”? What are your impressions of the work of your fellow exhibitors?

I’m honored to have The KYOPO Project in such a venerable institution and grateful for the opportunity. I’m also honored to be among the six artists represented in the group.

It’s an important and unprecedented event, the first time in the Smithsonian Institution’s history in which an art exhibition of this kind has been executed. The exhibition explores expressions of being Asian in America in a national museum institution that is not defined by a specific ethnicity, but by the American culture.

“Asian American Portraits of Encounter” reinforces the diversity and multiculturalism which partly defines American culture today. And the global audience of over one million visitors that experience this exhibition over the course of the year will be reminded of what makes this country so special and unique, and how cultures continue to evolve as the immigration phenomenon continues.

CYJO will be speaking more about the KYOPO Project during a Gallery360 lecture and book signing at 2 p.m. on September 17 at the National Portrait Gallery.

Panda parfait? One of the cubs at its July 26 check-up. Image by Mehgan Murphy

1. Red Pandas

Born: June 5, 2011

Sex: Two Females

Mother: Low Mei

and

Born: June 17, 2011

Sex: Two Females

Parents: Shama and Tate

Red pandas resemble raccoons and are native to parts of China, the Himalayas and Myanmar. On June 5, Low Mei gave birth to two female cubs in her brand new facility at the SCBI. On June 17, three-year-old Shama also gave birth to two female cubs.  Shama and her mate, Tate, live on the Asia Trail at the National Zoo. Animal keeper Jessica Kordell says “each cub means a chance for the species to survive.”

The fawn is nursed by her mother, Marilyn. Image by Dolores Reed

2. Tufted Deer

Born: July 23, 2011

Sex: Female

Mother: Marilyn

Tufted deer are smaller than white-tailed deer and have brown coloring with white underparts, a gray head and very small antlers. On July 23, the 14-year-old tufted deer Marilyn gave birth to her fourth fawn at the Front Royal facility. (Say that ten times fast.) SCBI is currently working on a number of basic reproductive research projects related to the tufted deer, which is considered near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

The cub is the third born this year at the SCBI facility. Image by Mehgan Murphy

3. Clouded Leopard

Born: May 13, 2011

Sex: Female

Parents: Jao Chu and Hannibal

Clouded leopards in the wild live throughout southeast Asia, in countries such as southern China, Taiwan and the Malaysian peninsula. At SCBI, Jao Chu gave birth to one female cub on May 13. As of July 25, the cub was weighing in at 3.6 pounds and had started eating meat. SCBI is at the forefront in developing new techniques for successful breeding, including hand-rearing cubs from birth and matching them with mates when young. Clouded leopards are currently listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN.

The new chick weighs nearly two pounds. Image by Mehgan Murphy

4. White-Naped Crane

Born: May 6, 2011

Sex: Male

Parents: Brenda and Eddie

White-naped cranes breed in China, Mongolia and Russia, and winter in southeast China, Japan and the Korean peninsula. Cranes Brenda and Eddie hatched their first chick on May 6. The chick, a male, is a result of natural breeding and is healthy according to its keepers. “Usually crane chicks are timid and always stay beside one of their parents when keepers are around, but this chick is bold and will often run ahead of its parents to meet the keeper delivering food to them,” says the Zoo’s Chris Crowe. White-naped cranes are currently listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN.

One of the newborn males frolics in Front Royal. Image by Mehgan Murphy

5. Scimitar-Horned Oryxes

Born: June 12, June 18 and June 22, 2011

Sex: Three Males

Scimital-horned Oryxes are white with a red-brown chest and black facial markings. They have long, thin, curving horns that resemble a scimitar sword. The scimitar-horned oryxes at SCBI produced three male calves in June. The calves, born June 12, June 18 and June 22 are doing well, according to SCBI research physiologist Budhan Pukazhenthi. SCBI is a pioneer in artificial insemination techniques for the scimitar-horned oryx, and the center’s future goals for this species include establishing a genome resource bank to help their global genetic management.

Mmm, cardboard. Two cheetah cubs play with enrichment objects. Image by Mehgan Murphy

6. Cheetahs

Born: May 28, 2011

Mother: Amani

Six-year-old Amani gave birth to five  cubs on May 28 at their SCBI facility. “We are very excited that Amani had such a large litter of cubs this time,” says cheetah biologist Adrienne Crosier. “These cubs are very significant for the future of the population, and each birth gives us an opportunity to learn more about cheetah biology and how females raise their young.” This litter is particularly important to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP) because this is the only litter of cheetahs born this year in a North American zoo.

Many of the newborns will not be on exhibit, but visitors can see clouded leopards, red pandas and a scimitar-horned oryx at the National Zoo in D.C.

Carm's Crew, 2009, Shizu Saldamando.

“Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter“ seeks to explore what it means to be Asian in America through the works of CYJO, Hye Yeon Nam, Shizu Saldamando, Roger Shimomura, Satomi Shirai, Tam Tran and Zhang Chun Hong. The exhibit, a collaboration of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program (APAP), opened today, August 12, at the Portrait Gallery. Konrad Ng, director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, shared his insights on the show via e-mail.

What can the works in the show tell us about being Asian in America?

I think the works start conversations about what it means to be Asian in America rather than offer a definitive interpretation. Indeed, the show offers a cacophony of ways of being-in-the-world. If there is a common theme that unites the experience, I would say how they treat identity as a complex negotiation as opposed to a being given, that “I am definitively X.”  The negotiation comes from how one can be rooted in a community, but not limited by it.

Is there a personal reason that you chose to explore the Asian American experience?

I appreciate good art and the show contains terrific work.  The Portrait Gallery and my program the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program see the “Asian American experience” as a vehicle for showing how portraiture is a language and a story. These artists use the form to express their experience and by doing so, start conversations about what it means to be American, the dynamics of world cultures, and their intersection.

What is a “Portrait of Encounter”?

For me, a portrait of encounter conveys the forces at work in telling the story of identity, that is, how we work on finding balance during our negotiation of things like: what to wear, perceptions and self-perceptions, our sense of home, culture, or the expectations of heritage and gender.

The show contains a wide range of media and unique interpretations of portraiture. Which pieces are your favorites and what about them stand out to you?

It’s hard to pick one. As a scholar of cinema and digital media, I’m immediately drawn to Hye Yeon Nam’s work. I love the edginess of Saldamando’s works. CYJO’s photographs are engrossing. I love the messiness of Satomi Shirai’s photographs. The way that Tam Tran ties a sense of elasticity with her identity is great.  The textures of Zhang Chun Hong’s work surprised me with its aggressiveness. Roger Shimomura finds a a productive balance between anger and playfulness.

The artists featured in the exhibit come from different Asian backgrounds as well as different geographic areas of the U.S.  How important was representing the unique Asian cultures when putting together the show? How important was representing the unique U.S. regions?

The artists were selected from a general call for submissions. Together, the NPG and the APAP created a shortlist based on the caliber of work and how the work would fit in the larger experience of the exhibition. During the process, I wanted us to curate a set of encounters such that the journey for the viewer would be a transformation in their understanding of Asian America; not to arrive at a conclusion, but to start a conversation about that that means. I think we were able to do that.

“Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter” is open now through October 14, 2012 at the National Portrait Gallery.

View a gallery of the photos here.

Closing Soon: 1) "Calder's Portraits: A New Language;" 2) "Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection;" 3) "Chinamania: Whistler and the Victorian Craze for Blue-and-White;" 4) "Fragments in Time and Space"*

With temperatures in the hundreds here in Washington, D.C., August is a fine time to seek out the glorious air conditioning of a museum. If you’re in town, take a moment to catch some of these great exhibits while you still can. The Around the Mall team alerts you to the upcoming final days of the following exhibitions. Hurry In.

Closing Sunday, August 7:

“Chinamania: Whistler and the Victorian Craze for Blue-and-White“ at Freer

By the 1870s, Chinese blue and white porcelain had moved “from palace to parlor,” as one historian put it. The commodity, highly sought after by the Victorian middle classes, was a symbol of high culture and refined taste. Satirically labeled “Chinamania” by media of the time, the china craze was powered in large part the London-based American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), who became infatuated with blue and white Chinese porcelain in the early 1860s. Whistler’s work from this period is the subject of the Freer Gallery’s new exhibit “Chinamania,” which opened last summer and closes this Sunday. Don’t miss the collection of Whistler ink drawings and paintings inspired by Chinese porcelain.

“Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection” at American Indian

At times provocative and at times moving, these works run the gamut from a blanket sewn out of thrift store fabrics to a photographic spoof of a Frida Kahlo self-portrait to a video installation projected on a screen of white turkey feathers. the museum’s acquisitions during the past several years. When the National Museum of the American Indian opened its doors on the National Mall in 2004, the museum had already begun to amass a rich collection of contemporary art by Native Americans. The museum’s exhibit, “Vantage Point,” a survey of 25 contemporary artists, opened last September and also closes this Sunday.

Closing Sunday, August 14:

“Calder’s Portraits: A New Language” at Portrait Gallery

You never knew Alexander Calder (1898-1976) in this way. The acclaimed painter and sculptor is best known for his avant-garde mobiles and stabiles and his colorful, geometric sculptures. Few of which are in this show. Instead, introduce yourself to an often overlooked side of Alexander Calder —that of the prolific portraitist. In March, the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition of Calder’s drawings, sculptures and caricatures of celebrities like Josephine Baker, Jimmy Durante, Babe Ruth and Charles Lindbergh surprised and delighted visitors. You have less than two weeks to see it all; the show closes on Sunday, August 14.

Closing Sunday August 28:

“Fragments in Time and Space” at Hirshhorn

In a blink of the eye, this show is over before it can even get started. The Hirshhorn’s summer exhibition, on view for just two months, is a terrific presentation of works from the museum’s permanent collection. Thematically the curators have chosen pieces that focus on the interpretation of time and space since the beginning of modernism. Included are works from such artists as Thomas Eakins, Hamish Fulton, Douglas Gordon, Ed Ruscha and Hiroshi Sugimoto. Sunday, August 28, is the last day to see it.

*Image credits: 1) “Arthur Miller 1915-2005″ by Calder, @2010 Calder Foundation, NY/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY;  2) “Blanket” by James Lavadour (Walla Walla),  Museum purchase with funds donated by Robert Jon Grover, 2007; 3) Incense burner, late 17th century, Qing dynasty; 4) “Five Past Eleven” by Ed Ruscha, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Installation view of Palermo's 1976 work "To the People of New York City." © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), Photo by Bill Jacobson

It’s easy to be dismissive of minimalist artworks. Paintings of straight lines and geometric shapes can certainly frustrate viewers who prefer the aesthetics of more representational pieces. I heard the usual cynical comments while perusing the new exhibition, Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964-1977, now open at the Hirshhorn.

“Dude, what is this?” “Why is this even in a museum” “I have paint. I have a ruler. Can I get a exhibition?”

Blinky Palermo is a challenging show. The visitor is confronted with white walls that set off brightly colored geometric forms. There are few labels and benches to distract from the works. The show is divided into three seemingly biographical parts: the first section consists of objects from the artist’s time when he came of age as an artist in Germany, the second concerns photos and sketches of site-specific pieces and the third section is works from the artist’s time that he spent living in New York.

The artist, himself, is almost as illusive and complicated as his art. First, his name. Originally, he was Peter Schwarze. Adopted as an infant with his twin brother Michael, he became Peter Heisterkamp. But in the early 1960s, when he met Joseph Beuys and joined that great 20th-century artist’s class at the Dusseldorf Art Academy, Heisterkamp either was given the name or took the name of the Philadelphia mobster boss Blinky Palermo. (Frank “Blinky” Palermo was a 5-foot-tall, all-around bad guy–a Philadelphia mobster who was indicted, convicted and sentenced to federal prison, and who served 7 and a half years of a 15-year sentence for fight fixing and running an illegal numbers game throughout the 1940s and 1960s. )

Blinky, the artist, grew up in Germany. “But he was fascinated with America,” curator Evelyn Hankins told fellow ATM reporter Arcynta Ali Childs.  And after a visit to New York in 1970 with Gerhard Richter, her returned in 1973 and set up a studio in Manhattan. And in that short four-year period before he died mysteriously–perhaps of a heart condition, while vacationing in the Maldives–Blinky Palermo titled many of his works with names of places in New York City–Wooster Street, Coney Island, 14th Street. The title of a 1976 work of 39 aluminum panels painted in red, yellow and black, “To the People of New York City” (above), obviously expresses his affection for his adopted home.

It’s hard to peg Blinky to any one type of art, abstract, or art period, post World War II. His influences are as international, Piet Mondrian and Marcel Broodthaers, as they are American, Mark Rothko and Barnet Newman.

As Hankins says us. “Everything [Palermo] does, you can see the handmade-ness of it.” In 2003, British critic Adrian Searle defined Palermo’s art as “restrained poetry.”

The work “Schmettling II (Butterfly II),” is a fascinating three dimensional painting and relief sculpture that, alas, loses its magic in any photo. (So go see the show!) The ‘body’ of the ‘butterfly’ is made of a nonstandard plank of wood, painted black on its front face and red on its sides. The resulting effect is that of an ever-changing piece that twists and reveals vibrant reds as the viewer moves around it.

“Mirror Object” may appear flat black and white, but is actually made of two three-dimensional triangles, one of soft black and one of reflective metal. The reflectiveness of the piece is surprising. First appearing white, due to the gallery walls, but then reflecting a plethora of color from the works displayed on the other walls.

Many of Palermo’s pieces invite exploration from various angles and distances. How else could one discover that “Untitled,” from 1967, is actually oil paint on linen stretched over a found chalkboard? The works may largely consist of painted geometry, but the unconventional materials and slight off-ness of the pieces give a quirky character to the show and illuminates the character of the painter.

In that regard, the show shares similarities with the Hirshhorn’s retrospective last summer of another artist taken before his time, “Yves Klein.“  Coincidentally, both artists died at 34 just 15 years apart.

“[Palermo]’s considered to be an artist’s artist,” says Hankins, “because he’s really interested in kind of the expressive possibilities and limitations of painting.”

“His was an art with a calm, clear voice,” wrote Searle, “though it often said quite complicated things.”

This is the first American retrospective of Palermo’s work and many of these pieces are borrowed from European collections that have never been seen in the United States.  Explore the colorful expressions of Blinky now through May 15, 2011.

Ash-Milby particularly likes Navajo Woman Drying Her Hair, detail seen here, a rare 1968 drawing by Gorman from the National Museum of the American Indian's collection.

Tucked away in a small, intimate second floor gallery at the American Indian Museum is an exhibition of the early works of Navajo artist R.C. Gorman. The show features 28 drawings and lithographs by an artist that the New York Times has called, “The Picasso of American Indian Art.”

Best known for his prints of monumental, Madonna-like Navajo women, R.C. Gorman (1931–2005) grew up in the southwest, and took inspiration from the works of Mexican social realists, like Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros. The show includes a variety of subject matter subsequently abandoned when Gorman became more commercially successful in the late 1970s and 1980s. A series of nude academic drawings accompanies early examples of lithographic prints, featuring both figures and rare graphic Navajo designs.

Last Friday the show’s curator, Kathleen Ash-Milby met me in the gallery to share some insight on the life and career of the internationally celebrated artist.

Gorman, she says, was “really struck by the boldness of [the social realists'] approach to the figure, specifically [their] monumental figures and this uninhibited approach to the nude. He was really inspired by that and wanted to bring that to the Native subject.”

There is a bold experimentation to many of the pieces on display, which differ greatly from much of Gorman’s subsequent pieces. “A lot of the works that you see here,” says Ash-Milby, “are not [what] people would typically think of as Gorman’s work.”

“His earlier work is so vibrant and energetic. . . it’s lyrical in a way that you kind of lose [in later works].”

“His subject matter,” she adds, “became much more narrow. He really switched over almost exclusively to printmaking and later you miss the nuance that you see in his early work, in terms of shading and detail. . .  You really see his hand in the work a lot more clearly.”

“He’s really experimenting more,” explains Ash-Milby. “He hasn’t really focused his body of work on any particular subject. I think a lot of that was related to his commercial success with the pictures of native women. He liked the idea of this heroic Navajo mother. You see a lot of the Madonna type figures. Actually one of the earliest prints he did, which is here in the exhibition, is of a mother and child.”

Gorman’s admiration of women can be traced back to his Navajo culture. Ash-Milby explains that the Navajo are a matriarchal society. “The leadership is from the women and it’s matrilineal,” she says, “which means that you trace your relationship through your clan based on who your mother was. So everything was really about the woman. Not just as life giver and supporter of the family. But also how the culture was passed on and how people related to one another. So I think there was that resonance for him—depicting native women and making them the subject of his work.”

When asked about her favorite artwork in the collection, Ash-Milby points to the charcoal drawing Navajo Woman Drying her Hair (detail pictured above). The drawing, she says, is very sensuous. “He’s got that same approach to the nude that you see in a lot of [drawings and paintings by] Degas.” Ash-Milby likens this piece to Degas’ series of bathing women, who pose unaware of the viewer and are comfortable in their natural state.

“In a lot of ways it is this depiction of women, this affection he has [that fascinates viewers]. He doesn’t glamorize native women, they’re very real. They feel very solid and I think that a lot of people can relate to that.”

Many people are familiar with the artist’s imagery, says Ash-Milby; but of the museum’s collection of the artist’s earlier work, “It’s really a treat.”

Clockwise from top left: "Shutter Interface" by Paul Sharits (Hirshhorn), "Lycaste macrophylla" by Angela Mirro, "On the Edge Naturally" by Frank E. Cummings III (SAAM), "Let Nothing You Dismay" by Norman Rockwell (from the collection of Steven Spielberg)

While the the holiday season at our throats again; ATM readers are on notice that a whole bunch of fascinating Smithsonian exhibitions are coming to a close. So pull out your planners and figure out when you can swing by to see these shows.

Closing 12/5/2010:

“Cosmos in Miniature: The Remarkable Star Map of Simeon De Witt” | American History Museum

Closing 12/12/2010:

“Losing Paradise: Endangered Plants Here and Around the World” | Natural History Museum

Closing 1/02/2011:

“Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg” | American Art Museum

“Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture” | American Indian Museum

“Ted Muehling Selects: Lobmeyr Glass from the Permanent Collection” | Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York

“Colorforms” | Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Closing 1/09/2011:

“The Healing Power of Art: Works of art by Haitian children after the earthquake” | Ripley Center, International Gallery

“National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?” | Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York City

Cornucopia: Ceramics from Southern Japan | Freer Gallery

Closing 1/16/2011:

“Fiona Tan: Rise and Fall” | Sackler Gallery

“Hide: Skin as Material and Metaphor: Part II” | American Indian Museum Gustav-Heye Center, New York City

“Guillermo Kuitca: Everything—Paintings and Works on Paper, 1980-2008″ | Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Closing 1/17/2011:

“John Gossage: The Pond” | American Art Museum

Closing 1/23/2011:

“Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer” | Portrait Gallery

“Southern Identity: Contemporary Argentine Art (Identidad del Sur: Arte Argentino Contemporaneo)” | Ripley Center, International Gallery

“Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia” | Sackler Gallery

Closing 1/30/2011:

“A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection” |  Renwick Gallery

“The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946” | Renwick Gallery

Samuel Langhorne Clemens by John White Alexander, 1912 or 1913 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Missouri, o175 years ago today. Author of such literary classics as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Twain‘s famous wit makes him just as relevant today as he was a century ago.

“I remember reading The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County as a 7th grader,”  says curator Frank Goodyear of the National Portrait Gallery. Though many may have been introduced to Twain through their school’s curriculum, his works persist because of their  strong voice and whimsical sense of story.  Twain is “pioneering because he brought dialects into literature,” Goodyear continued. He had a “keen interest in human foibles” and was able to “see through to the real shortcomings, anxieties and hypocrisy” that make his characters so believable.

This intimacy created with his readers might explain the runaway success of his newly released and unexpurgated autobiography (versions of which have been published before in 1924, 1940 and 1959), but this one was released in its entirety 100 years after his death, as Twain requested.

Twain himself spoke in great detail about death:

“I think we never become really and genuinely our entire and honest selves until we are dead–and not then until we have been dead years and years. People ought to start dead, and they would be honest so much earlier.” – As quoted in Mark Twain in Eruption by Bernard DeVoto

And of his own death:

“It has been reported that I was seriously ill—it was another man; dying—it was another man; dead—the other man again. . . As far as I can see, nothing remains to be reported, except that I have become a foreigner. When you hear it, don’t you believe it. And don’t take the trouble to deny it. Merely just raise the American flag on our house in Hartford and let it talk.” – Letter to Frank E. Bliss, 11/4/1897

Perhaps with this autobiography, new facets of the seemingly transparent, yet very complex writer can come to light. “He’s human and his characters are human,” says Goodyear. “He’s genuine and authentic. . . everyone loves Mark Twain.”

"Dad" by Stanley Rayfield; "La Rêve du Feu, The Dream of Fire," Photo by Shunk-Kender*; "Carter" by Joan Hall; “Jeanne-Claude in cab of Truck,” Photo by Wolfgang Volz

Don’t miss out on these world-class exhibits, closing soon at the Smithsonian museums:

Closing 9/06 – “Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009,” National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery presents 49 of the finalists’ works that were selected from the second triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Dave Woody, winner of the competition, received the grand prize of $25,000 and an opportunity to create a portrait for the Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. The competition invited artists working in the figurative arts to submit portraits of people close to them. Submissions were accepted in all visual arts media, including film, video, and digital animation. Through January 18, 2010, the public can vote online or on-site for the artwork to receive the People’s Choice Award.

Closing 9/12 – “Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers,” Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

The first American retrospective in nearly 30 years of this highly influential French artist’s career examines his life and work from the mid-1950s to his untimely death in 1962. Artist, composer, judo master, Rosicrucian, proto-conceptualist, and performance artist, Klein was a multifaceted talent who believed in the transformative power of art. In his series, including the Monochromes, Anthropometries, Cosmogonies, Air Architecture, Fire Paintings, Sponge Reliefs, and Actions, Klein sought to place the immaterial at the heart of his work.

Closing 9/26 – “Christo and Jean-Claude: Remembering the ‘Running Fence’,” American Art Museum

On view are nearly 50 preparatory drawings and collages, along with photographs, film, and components, that document the creation and installation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s epic project the Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972-76, a white fabric and steel-pole fence, 24 1/2 miles long and 18 feet high, that ran across the properties of 59 ranchers in Sonoma and Marin Counties north of San Francisco. The project attracted far wider public involvement than any previous work of art, including 18 public hearings, three sessions in the Superior Court of California, and the first environmental impact report ever done for a work of art. Paid for entirely by the artists, the Running Fence existed for only two weeks and survives today as a memory and through the artwork and documentation of the artists.

Closing 9/26 – “From FDR to Obama: Presidents on TIME,” National Portrait Gallery

Regardless of how newsworthy a person may be, there is no magic formula for getting one’s picture on the cover of Time magazine, with one exception: the president of the United States. Founded in 1923, Time has put on its cover all incumbent presidents from Warren Harding to Barack Obama, with the exception of Herbert Hoover. Beginning with Franklin Roosevelt, this exhibition explores the modern presidency through the covers of America’s oldest and most recognized weekly news magazine. The show includes approximately 30 works of presidential cover art, representing a variety of mediums, from traditional oil paintings to a pop-art sculpture bust of Richard Nixon made from strips of newspaper headlines.

*Private Collection. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Photo by Shunk-Kender, © Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, courtesy Yves Klein Archives

Kim Schmahmann's Bureau of Bureaucracy, open

Kim Schmahmann’s Bureau of Bureaucracy is a dizzying array of surreal puzzles and hidden compartments all contained within an unassuming piece of furniture.

This modern-day cabinet of curiosities begs for further examination. Tomorrow at 12 p.m. at the American Art Museums’s Renwick Gallery, hear curator Nicholas Bell and exhibits specialist James Baxter delve further into the beautiful Bureau on display.

Schmahmann, a South African-born conceptual artist, completed Bureau of Bureaucracy in six years (from 1993–1999) at the MIT Hobby Shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The work explores the artist’s observations that the notable and important treasures today’s society wishes to keep safe are documents that result from “interactions with the many bureaucracies that… register our existence, certify our competence, authorize our activities, describe our health and wealth, permit our movement, and sanction our union.”

For the uninitiated, the top of the Bureau‘s curvilinear front opens up to reveal the first bureaucratic layer, a model of the reading room of the Library of Congress. To the left of that is a marquetry of four books, alluding to how bureaucracy itself is a force to be reckoned with: “Power,” “Humanity,” “Rationality” and a fourth book with no name (representing the unknown forces within bureaucracy). Behind the book marquetry are a set of “symbolic drawers” which resemble a library card catalog. Among these boxes are false drawers, a bottomless drawer, a drawer with a glass ceiling, a half drawer, a reflective drawer, a drawer that is also an iron cage (representative of Weber’s Iron Cage), a drawer of measures, a drawer within a drawer, several hidden drawers and a drawer that is perpetually locked.

The outer-most layer of the Bureau‘s lower case opens to twenty document drawers that store various milestone documents from Schmahmann’s life. The bottom slot holds his birth certificate and, someday, the top slot will contain his death certificate.

If you cannot make the curator talk tomorrow, you can examine the Bureau on the 2nd floor of the Renwick. But no touching, please, since we at the Smithsonian have a bureaucracy of our own.

To start playing, download the free SCVNGR app and select the goSmithsonian Trek from the "Trek" tab.

Our mobile adventure goSmithsonian Trek ends this Saturday, July 24. In its short one-month run, the goSmithsonian Trek has inspired players to explore, create and interact with Smithsonian Museums like never before. Trekkers are encouraged to answer questions, write haikus and slogans and take photos of their adventures. So far, the Trek has attracted just under 1,000 players, all vying for a chance to win one of two Apple iPads.

In honor of the Trek’s “Take 5/7/5” poem challenges, my Trek inspired haikus:

Play the goSmith Trek!
You’ll explore nine museums
In a unique way

Conquer challenges
And try and earn the most points
To win an iPad

It won’t be easy
‘Cause competition is fierce!
Good luck, Explorers!

Check out the goSmithsonian Trek site for more information and get out there and play while you still can!

“Obsession de la lévitation (Le Saut dans le vide)" [Obsession with Levitation (Leap into the Void), 1960

In honor of Yves Klein (1928 – 1962), groundbreaking artist, judo master and philosopher, today’s post will be printed in the WordPress approximation of IKB (International Klein Blue)–a color developed and patented by the artist.

The Hirshhorn museum’s exhibition, “Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers,” which opened last month, features conceptual works of one of the 20th century’s most influential artists. Co-curators Kerry Brougher, of the Hirshhorn, and Philippe Verne, of the Dia Art Foundation, have transformed the second floor of the museum into a vibrant time line of Klein’s brief, but prolific, career.

In just seven years, Klein created a peculiar portfolio of more than 200 works that explored ideas of perception, experience and spirituality. Klein considered his paintings and sculptures to be nothing but the actions of his art, the physical manifestations or demonstrations of what he believed was true art–his ideas.

In the mid-1940s Klein created his first piece of art by famously signing the sky over his hometown of Nice, France. Scholar Hannah Weitemeier describes the symbolic gesture as a sign of the artist’s intention to embark on “a quest to reach the far side of the infinite.”

Similarly, in 1958, the Iris Clert Gallery featured Le Vide (The Specialization of Sensibility in the Raw Material State into Stabilized Pictorial Sensibility, The Void). Klein had emptied the gallery of almost all its contents and painted its walls white. Significant buzz surrounding the creation led to 3,000 people lining up to see the empty room.

As with much of Klein’s works, the thought processes behind the work make the art significant, more than actual canvas or sculpture. Daniel Moquay, overseer of the Yves Klein estate and archive, explains the idea of Klein’s work this way. One “cannot comprehend Yves Klein, you just have to feel it.”

When Klein first exhibited his colorful monochromatic works, he was distraught to learn that audiences viewed his canvases as brightly hued wall designs. To correct this perception, Klein chose to paint in only a primary blue known as IKB (International Klein Blue). Inside the Hirshhorn’s exhibition, a wall of Klein’s smaller monochrome paintings leads the visitor to a collection of IKB works (started in 1956), offset by stark white walls. A giant pool of ultramarine blue pigment in the center of the room is a reminder that IKB is only different from the common color because Klein’s formula of polymers and pigments made it the artist’s own creation. For the visitor, the collection of blue canvases at first may seem homogeneous, but each shows a unique and deliberate application of the paint.

For the artist’s Anthropométries series from 1958, the bodies of women were used as human brushes as part of Klein’s attempt to eliminate the boundary between the body and art.

The exhibition begins and ends with a copy of Obsession with Levitation (Leap into the Void), above. The exuberant, offbeat and challenging image seems to represent the short, happy and sometimes bizarre trajectory of Klein’s career. As Verne explains “it looks so easy… it looks so simple” but it’s not.

Golden Gate Bridge by Ray Strong, 1934. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Seventy-three years ago today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt opened California’s Golden Gate Bridge. More than 6,463 feet long and over 754 feet tall, the Golden Gate on the day it opened became the longest suspension bridge in the world, a record it held until 1964. Today, eight other bridges surpass it.

Construction began on January 5, 1933 and was completed April 1937. The infamous color of the bridge, International Orange, was originally only the hue of the sealant, but public opinion convinced its designer to pick a similar orange for the final paint shade. Artist Ray Strong paid glowing homage to the construction project in his 1934 depiction, which for a time hung in Roosevelt’s White House and is now a part of the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  Looking north into the foothills of Marin County, the busy shipping lane that the bridge would eventually span is filled with tugboats and a freighter.  And in the foreground, the workers are dwarfed by the massive pylons and other preconstruction structures.

Below see archival footage of the parade of cars and other celebrants took to the new bridge on opening ceremony.

From the Natural History Museum's GeoGallery, "The powerful lateral blast of May 18, 1980 at Mount St. Helens totally removed large standing trees near the volcano."

Thirty years ago today, Mount St. Helens erupted, spreading approximately 540 million tons of ash over more than 22,000 square miles surrounding Washington state. The May 18, 1980 event was the most deadly and economically destructive volcanic eruption in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed and 200 homes, 27 bridges, 15 miles of railway and 185 miles of highway were destroyed.

According to U.S. Geological Survey reports, at 8:32 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit Skamania County, Washington. The tremors caused the external layer of Mount St. Helens to collapse in a gigantic rockslide, lowering the summit by 1,300 feet. The removal of the rocks and debris released pressure, triggering a massive lateral blast followed by an eruption of pumice and ash.

“Although I had moved to the Smithsonian from Washington State,” recalls Lee Siebert, the director of the Institution’s Global Volcanism Program, “and had climbed to the former summit of Mount St. Helens prior to the 1980 eruption, I was at my desk on May 18, a date ingrained in the minds of most volcanologists.”

The eruptions continued for nine hours, flinging ash 12 to 15 miles in the air and moving outward at a rate of 60 miles an hour. By early May 19, the devastating explosions had stopped. Mount St. Helens had stood at 9,677 feet before the eruption of May 18.  After the landslide and blast, the volcano had lost approximately 1,313 feet of its height and had a one-mile wide horse-shoe shaped crater where its peak had been.

Today the eruption continues to have measurable impact, says Siebert. “Mount St. Helens was one of a select group of eruptions that greatly influenced the science of volcanology. It was the first eruption in the continental U.S. in the second half of the 20th century. It brought fresh awareness that there are indeed active volcanoes in the western U.S. and it revitalized volcanological research that has led to the development and application of monitoring techniques that have proven useful around the world in predicting eruptions and dealing with their hazards.”

A collection of images from the Geology, Gems and Minerals division at the Natural History museum shows the drama of the volcano’s devastating blast and destructive aftermath.

An article from the Smithsonian archives “Rising From the Ashes” by David B. Williams tells the story of  how quickly the wildlife in the area recovered from the eruption.

Tuesday, April 6
CONCERT
An Evening with Jon Hendricks. James Zimmerman, Emcee
7:30 pm, Howard University, Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel

Wednesday, April 7
FILM
Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense Screening, 6:30 pm
Discussion with director Lars Larson and producer John Comerford, 8:00 pm
Jam session with jazz stars/SJMO Musicians, 8:30 pm, Carmichael Auditorium, 1st Floor, National Museum of American History

Thursday, April 8
CONCERT
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
12:45 – 1:45 PM, Howard University, Childers Auditorium
FILM
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench Screening
6:30 pm
Discussion with director Damien Chazelle
8:00 pm
NMAH, Carmichael Auditorium, 1st Floor, National Museum of American History

Friday, April 9
MASTER CLASS
Guitar Workshop with Bucky Pizzarelli
12:00 – 2:00 pm, NMAH, Carmichael Auditorium, 1st Floor, National Museum of American History

Saturday, April 10
FAMILY DAY
Delfeayo Marsalis Band and Curator Susan Ostroff hosted by the National Park Service at Fort Dupont Park, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Music/Jazz History with Delfeayo Marsalis, 1:00 pm
Jazz: music of the Civil War Era: Susan Ostroff, 2:00 pm
Performance, Delfeayo Marsalis Band, 2:30 pm
Fort Dupont Park Activity Center, Fort Dupont Drive, SE
CONCERT
Hub-tones, The Life of Freddie Hubbard
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
7:30 pm, Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History

Sunday, April 11
CONVERSATION
Rhythm Café Basie with WPFW’s Jamal Muhammad
11:00 am, Anacostia Community Museum

More events beyond this weekend after the jump:
Monday, April 12
CONCERT
On the Road, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
Through April 13, Durham Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate. Omaha, NE

Thursday, April 15
CONCERT
Take 5! Tribute to the Tax Man with Sandy Asirvatham
5:00 pm, Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery
TALK
Face-to-Face at the portrait of Ethel Merman by Rosemary Sloat with Curator Ellen Miles, National Portrait Gallery
6:00 pm, National Portrait Gallery, Meet at the F Street Information Desk
TOUR
Jazzin’ It Up, Docent-led tour of jazz related art
6:00 pm, Meet in F Street Lobby, Smithsonian American Art Museum
EXHIBITION
“IndiVisible, African-Native American Lives in the Americas”
10:00 am – 5:30 pm, Through May 31, National Museum of the American Indian

Sunday, April 18
TALK/MUSIC
John Eaton on Jazz with WAMU’s Rob Bamberger and bassist Tommy Cecil
7:30 pm, Through May 31, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave,  American University.

Tuesday, April 20
CONVERSATION
Future of Jazz Diplomacy with Ambassador Kenton Keith; Neil Abercrombie, Stephen Anderson, Anthony Nalker, and Ken Kimery
5:00 pm, McEvoy Auditorium, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery
CONCERT
The Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet
7:00 pm, Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery

Wednesday, April 21
CONCERT
Big Band Jam, High School Bands
11:00 am – 6:00 pm, Sylvan Theater on the Mall
TALK
Meet Ella Fitzgerald Historian Amy Henderson discusses Ella’s life, career and portrait by artist Lisette Model
12:00 pm, Meet at the Ella portrait off the G Street Lobby. National Portrait Gallery
MUSIC (Recorded Jazz)
12:30 pm, Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery
MASTER CLASS
Alfred Educational Series Panel, Jazz Composition with Alan Blaylock, Pete BarenBregge and Michael Kamuf
2:00 pm, Room 4018, National Museum of the American Indian
JAZZ & CRAFTS
Preview Night, Smithsonian Craft Show, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Trio
6:30 pm, National Building Museum, 4th and F Street, NW

Thursday, April 22
CONCERT
Big Band Jam, High School Bands
11:00 am – 6:00 pm, Through April 23, Sylvan Theater on the Mall
TALK
Meet Ella Fitzgerald Historian Amy Henderson discusses Ella’s life, career and portrait by artist Lisette Model
12:00 pm, Meet at the Ella portrait off the G Street Lobby, National Portrait Gallery
MUSIC (Recorded Jazz)
12:30 pm, Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery
MASTER CLASS
Alfred Educational Series Panel, Jazz Composition with Alan Blaylock, Pete BarenBregge and Michael Kamuf
3:00 pm, Room 4018, National Museum of the American Indian
JAZZ & CRAFTS
Jazz students with The MUSIC Teaching Project perform with Michael Bowie & Thad Wilson
6:00 pm, National Building Museum, 4th and F Street, NW

Friday, April 23
EXHIBITION
“Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing, How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment”
10:00 am – 5:30 pm, Through August 30, an exhibition sponsored by the National Museum of African American History and Culture Gallery at the National Museum of American History
CONCERT
Big Band Jam, High School Bands
11:00 am – 6:00 pm, Through April 23, Sylvan Theater on the Mall
TALK
Meet Ella Fitzgerald Historian Amy Henderson discusses Ella’s life, career and portrait by artist Lisette Model
12:00 pm, Meet at the Ella portrait off the G Street Lobby, National Portrait Gallery
CONVERSATION
Sweethearts of Rhythm poet Marilyn Nelson and artist Jerry Pinkney use art and verse to tell youth how America’s first, integrated, female big band broke the color line with jazz. Moderated by Curator John Hasse.
12:00 pm, Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History
MUSIC (Recorded Jazz)
12:30 pm
Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery
MASTER CLASS
The Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Workshop Connaitre Miller, associate professor of MUSIC and coordinator of jazz vocal studies, Howard University, teaches scat
2:00 pm, Room 4018, National Museum of the American Indian
JAZZ & CRAFTS
Jazz students with The MUSIC Teaching Project perform with Michael Bowie & Thad Wilson
6:00 pm, National Building Museum, 4th and F Street, NW

Saturday, April 24
JAZZ & CRAFTS
Jazz students with The Music Teaching Project perform with Michael Bowie & Thad Wilson
10:00 am, National Building Museum, 4th and F Street, NW
CONCERT
Ella Fitzgerald Tribute by the Blues Alley Big Band Jam. Featuring the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and Jazz Knights (West Point) and Howard University’s Afro-Blue
5:00 pm, Sylvan Theater on the Mall

Sunday, April 25
JAZZ & CRAFTS
Jazz students with The Music Teaching Project Perform with Michael Bowie & Thad Wilson
10:00 am, National Building Museum, 4th and F Street, NW
TOUR
Jazz tour with Historian Amy Henderson through artworks of jazz artists, composers, producers and stylemakers.
1:00 pm, Meet in G Street Lobby, National Portrait Gallery
CONCERT
Happy Birthday, Ella! The 10-piece Brad Linde Ensemble and vocalist Lena Seikaly.
3:00 pm, Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery

Thrusday, April 29
CONCERT
One Two Three, Jerome Sabbagh Trio
7:30 pm, American University, Katzen Arts Center
TALK
Face-to-Face at the portrait of Lena Horne by Florence Meyer Homolka with Curator Ann Shumard
6:00 pm, Meet G Street Lobby, National Portrait Gallery