april | may | june | 2012 - Santa Barbara Museum of Art

More documents

Recommendations

Info

18 4 from the director Dear Members, We hope that you are enjoying the exhibition Pasadena to Santa Barbara: A Selected History of Art in Southern California, 1951 – 1969. With this presentation of some of the most important Southern California artists of the 20th century, not only do we celebrate our participation in the enlightening Pacific Standard Time initiative, but also the history of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. This thoughtfully-conceived show affords the opportunity to reflect upon our 70 years of accomplishments and to appreciate the insights and vision of our past leaders, especially Thomas Leavitt, who was SBMA’s Director from 1963 to 1968. Leavitt passed away just last year, but his legacy of identifying, displaying, and acquiring outstanding contemporary art lives on, as exemplified in this stunning exhibition. The Museum further highlights its acquisition history as we continue to feature the treasures in our own permanent collection. In February, we opened Scenery, Story, Spirit: American Painting and Sculpture from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, showcasing masterpieces of landscape, genre, still-life, and portraiture, punctuated by a selection of sculptures. This striking presentation will remain on view for almost two years for all to enjoy. These two exhibitions will be joined by the next in the Vantage Points photographic series, Behind the Wheel, which opens in May and explores the psychological place of the car in Southern California life; and Portrayal/Betrayal, more than 100 photographs from our permanent collection that reveal an infinite range of human complexities and states of heart and mind. Finally, we would like to thank those who contributed to our Museum Fund for Excellence. Your support is much appreciated. We hope you will visit us soon! Sincerely, Larry J. Feinberg Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Director 2011 – 2012 Board of Trustees Kenneth Anderson, Chair John C. Bishop, Vice Chair Laura Lewis Shelburne, Secretary Richard C. Banks Patricia Blake Susan D. Bowey Les Charles Jane Eagleton Audrey H. Fisher Greg Fowler Gregg Hackethal Michael Armand Hammer Perri Harcourt Michael Healy Judith Hopkinson Cyndee Howard Joan Jackson Gina Jannotta Bob Marshall Dudley E. Morris Joanne Pearson Ceil Pulitzer H. Smith Richardson III Nancy Schlosser George Schoellkopf Marianne Sprague Stokley Towles Dody Waugh Larry J. Feinberg, Director & Chief Executive Officer James Hutchinson, Chief Financial Officer
exhibitions Portrayal/betrayal: Portraits from 1950 to the Present June 2 – September 16, 2012 McCormick and Davidson Galleries What does a portrait reveal? Does the subject portray the real self or betray things about the self: as master photographer Diane Arbus noted, “There's a point between what you want people to know about you and what you can't help people knowing about you.” Portraiture has been a time-honored staple of the artistic tradition for centuries, but the advent of the photographic portrait in 1839 changed the nature of this ever-fascinating genre. Beginning as a straightforward document — one thinks of the tight-lipped, severe visages depicted in daguerreotypes and tintypes — the portrait as fine art has evolved dramatically since the turn of the last century. Perhaps the only remaining true portrait is the passport or driver's license photograph, for even a photo booth photograph offers the subject some control. As French theorist Roland Barthes confessed in his last major work Camera Lucida, “Once I feel myself observed by the lens, everything changes: I constitute myself in the process of posing, I instantaneously make another body for myself, I transform myself in advance into an image.” Portrayal/Betrayal offers over 100 photographic portraits drawn from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's permanent collection, with a few notable loans from private collections. Organized into nine distinct groups, each section reflects a different conceptual approach and explores the complex relationships that exist between the photographer and sitter. You, the viewer, are the third member of the triad as you interpret a portrait decades later, far removed from the cultural, geographical, and psychological context in which the image was conceived. Some portraits involve a shifting negotiation of control from behind the camera to in front of the camera and back again. The subject may alternate between vulnerability and control or the subject may take command: There seems to be no doubt about who's in charge in Vladimir Kucherov's portrait of a woman. Other portraits capture unguarded moments when the subject is unaware of the camera (before paparazzi and model releases) and often reveal what otherwise would remain unseen. Robert Frank, whose 1950s images of The Americans outraged many people, sought to immortalize “what is invisible to others”…to show ourselves to ourselves. When the photographer leaves the studio and uses the sitter's environs, either natural or man-made, a shift often occurs. Some subjects seem powerless in the face of the camera, while others seem subsumed by the environment, and this becomes as much a part of the portrait as the subject. Portraits taken by outsiders, who seek to portray other races, cultures or people, are often captivating and seductive to the viewer but the question of authenticity arises. Sitters may not have a voice in the way they are portrayed, though some photographers approach their subjects with empathy and respect and others suggest complicity between portraitist and subject. Photographic portraits of family and friends rely on intimacy and trust between the artist and subject, and usually-hidden expressions and moments are often revealed. The photographer and sitter are in collusion though the image may betray more about the relationship than the viewer is comfortable seeing. Faces predate human beings and facial expressions have evolved in order to communicate emotional attitudes. What's on the face of an animal may be all too human. The sentient bearing captured in many animal portraits belies the primal nature of the beast, and viewers are free to interpret or anthropomorphize the subject according to one's own frame of mind. Countless exhibitions and endless pages in art history books have been devoted to the genre of portraiture, because portraits conjure up a viewer's own memories, desires, fears, or hopes. Universal truths will never reveal themselves, for the dynamic among the photographer, the subject, and the viewer shifts over time. Whether collisions or collusions occurred at the moment the image was captured may never be known, but in 2012, it is expected that 250 billion photographs will be made and the predominant subject will be ourselves. It is clear that the genre remains both fascinating and complex. This exhibition is made possible with the generosity of Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree. Saturday, June 2, 6 – 7:30 pm Members reception All Museum Members are invited to a private reception celebrating the Portrayal/Betrayal exhibition at SBMA. Invitations will be mailed. Top: Vladimir Kucherov, Character, 1986. Gelatin silver print. SBMA, Gift of Glen Serbin and Susan Serbin. Center: Mary Frey, Barn Owl, 2008. Ambrotype. Courtesy of Lorna Hedges. Bottom: Terrance Reimer, Karaoke Night, 2000. Pigment print. Courtesy of the artist. 1
Page 1: april | may | june | 2012 s a n t a
Page 5 and 6: exhibitions birds and flowers: Japa
Page 7 and 8: ecent acquistions Asian Art Shiva,
Page 9 and 10: highLighTs Tour 1 PM EvErYDAY! exhi
Page 11 and 12: for kids & families family 1st thur
Page 13 and 14: planned giving Hand-in-Hand At the
Page 15 and 16: members reciprocal Membership benef
Page 17 and 18: shop & dine at SBMA the Museum stor

april | may | june | 2012 - Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?