Preview of the Visual Arts | April-May 2010

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Conservator’s Corner Challenges of Conserving Contemporary Artwork BY CHERYLE HARRISON CONSERV1@TELUS.NET Creative expression utilizing the abundant availability of technologically advanced materials has contributed to an artistic evolution. This has seen contemporary artists evolve through the traditional to the avant-garde to the visionary. Our modern expectations for new stimulation and exploration entice artists to use abstract materials in unique ways. It has redefined the interpretation of not only what is made, but why and how it is created. We applaud the way materials are employed as much as the final outcome; similar to an inventive chef who uses scientific methods to re-texture ingredients for a new culinary palette. As with a fine meal, the achievement of creative exploration often culminates in a transitory existence for much of our contemporary art.. A present-day conservator’s relationship with an object extends beyond scientific knowledge of material construction and the effects of aging or external events; it includes a continually evaluated ethic and a philosophy that an object is more than its visual aesthetic value. An object’s construction is an intrinsic component of its artistic integrity. Some challenges of contemporary art are an inherent fragility caused by deterioration and incompatibility of materials, fading paints and inks, darkening resins and fractured plastics, and the effects of pollution and exposure to harmful environments. A conservator endeavours to achieve balance in a problematic situation so as to slow the path of deterioration. Sometimes the purpose of an artwork can actually contribute to its demise as in a Rauschenberg artwork consisting of images on stretched silk with faucets directing water into a bucket placed upon a steel platform. The dilemma: the bucket was being damaged by the force of the water and leakage threatened the artwork. The quandary: the water and its sound are essential to the experience of the artwork and their function was endangering the piece. The selected remedy: localized conservation treatment and collaboration with the artist to fabricate a new bucket which preserved the art and originality of the artist. Exterior works and environmental art also have distinctive challenges as illustrated by Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty at Great Salt Lake, Utah. It is endangered by natural threats, mining, and oil exploration. The now deceased artist believed in accepting nature’s changes to his earthwork art, but should these changes include the impact of human activity? Deterioration of the Spiral Jetty creates many questions – whether or not to restore the jetty? And if so, will it retain its concept, but lose its artistic integrity and be devalued because its original materials are altered? Is adulteration better than losing the art altogether or, should it be permitted to degrade into non-existence. Are artists responsible for the deterioration of their work? Some challenges of contemporary art originate in the vastness of its invention and meaning. A conservator deliberates many angles and questions when endeavouring to preserve without reinterpretation or remaking artistic history – classic or contemporary. Conservator’s Corner articles are archived on-line at: www.preview-art.com. NEXT ISSUE: A pictorial relocation project Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty (1970), Rozel Point Great Salt Lake, Utah (April 1970), mud, precipitated salt crystals, rocks, water / Collection: DIA Center for the Arts, New York / © Estate of Robert Smithson/licensed by VAGA New York NY / Courtesy: James Cohan Gallery / Photo: G Gorgoni 50 PREVIEW ■ APR/MAY 2010 ★ OPEN LATE ON FIRST THURSDAYS
tues-sat 10am-6pm sun 12-5pm. Thru Apr 18 Thierry Feuz and Marc Rembold; Apr 21-May 16 , Gallery Artists, “Ten Painters”; May 19-Jun 13 Anne Siems, Paul Morstad, Mohsen Khalili and gallery artists, “Birds and Beasts”. ★ Jeunesse Gallery of Fine Arts 2668 W 4th Ave ✆604-737-2438 www.jeunessegallery.com mon-sun 10am-6pm. Thru Apr Stefan Zeissa, “The Azure Sky of Naples”, oil on canvas; Thru May Nikolá, “Horses in the Wild”, bronze sculptures. Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia 300-950 W 41st Ave ✆604-257-5199 www.jewishmuseum.ca sun-thurs 10am-5pm. Thru Oct 7 Home Away from Home: Building Identity and Community at Jewish Summer Camps; Ongoing The Ties That Bind, a history of the Jewish communities of BC from 1858 to the present. Joyce Williams Antique Prints & Maps 114-1118 Homer St Yaletown ✆604-688-7434 www.jwprintsandmaps.com tues-sat 11am-5pm. Offering a large selection of antique maps, Japanese woodblock prints, botanical, architectural, natural history, decorative and fine art prints from the 16th-20th centuries; featuring Charles van Sandwyk, etchings and watercolours and Lionel Thomas RCA, etchings, large collection of antique maps and charts of BC and Western Canada. Kurbatoff Gallery 2427 Granville St ✆604-736-5444 www.kurbatoffgallery.com tue-sat 10:30am-5:30pm sun 12-5pm. Apr 14-28 Ann Zielinski, “New Works”, acrylic paintings that have evolved into intellectual and exquisite semi-abstractions influenced by the rocks, sandstone beaches, ocean and forests on Hornby Island, BC; May 26-Jun 9 Marleen Vermeulen, landscape paintings in oil of the coastal landscape of British Columbia. Langara College Fine Arts Dept 100 W 49th Ave, Main Foyer ✆604-323-5316 www.langara.bc.ca mon-fri 8am-9pm sat & sun 9am-7pm. Apr 30-May 6 2009 Fine Arts Students’ Exhibition, new generation of artists in The journey continues… Toni Onley Estate -- View art on websites: winchestergalleriesltd.com, jenkinsshowlergallery.com, and pegasusgallery.com In Vancouver 604-324-2931 or 604-454-1928 or tonionley.com for the documentary. www.preview-art.com PREVIEW 51
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Preview of the Visual Arts | April-May 2010

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