{"id":245594,"date":"2012-11-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-23T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/behold-america\/"},"modified":"2012-11-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-23T08:00:00","slug":"behold-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/behold-america\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Behold, America!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unique art exhibit 7 years in the making opens at 3 local museums<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Antonio Rey | Editor SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\u2018Behold,
John Currin\u2019s \u201cThe Hobo,\u201d 1999, of MCASD is on view in Balboa Park. (Courtesy San Diego Museum of Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The San Diego Museum of Art, Timken Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) have come together to stage one groundbreaking exhibition: \u201cBehold, America!: Art of the United States from Three San Diego Museums.\u201d In a process that dates back to 2005, the institutions are sharing ideas, resources and works of art on one project for the very first time.<\/p>\n

Open now through Feb. 10, 2013, \u201cBehold, America!\u201d showcases U.S. art from each museum\u2019s permanent collection, with works spanning from 1761 \u2013 2009. Amy Galvin, project curator for American art at the San Diego Museum of Art and the exhibit\u2019s curator, said the decision to combine the three museums on this project has many benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like a natural fit to bring together the art of the United States, because each institution has strong examples of work created in the U.S., but none of the institutions can claim a comprehensive holding of art in the United States,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Galvin joined the project in 2009 when she was hired to work exclusively on the exhibit, including research, selecting pieces for inclusion, coordinating the extensive educational programs and helping to put together the exhibit\u2019s 412-page accompanying catalog.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all really passionate about what we\u2019re doing, so it\u2019s always kind of a negotiation process of how [we can] get together these great minds, great ideas and great collections,\u201d Galvin said. \u201cWe\u2019re stronger together than we are by ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the initial idea was to create the \u201cbest American art survey\u201d possible, including better-known artists like Andy Warhol and Georgia O\u2019Keefe, Galvin said, the idea soon broke into three distinct areas: forms, figures and frontiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cA form, to me, is everything from a traditional still life to a great example of minimalism,\u201d Galvin said. \u201cA frontier can be a 19th century landscape, but then [also] a contemporary installation dealing more with the ideas of the unknown, or pushing boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portraits play a big part in figures, but Galvin said she wanted to push what people think constitutes portraits as well, including how they have both been presented in and represent U.S. history.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach one [of] these three very broad concepts are interrelated. There\u2019s certainly forms that could be figures, and vice versa, but I wanted to create three shows that were interrelated,\u201d Galvin said.<\/p>\n

While each museum will focus on one area \u2013 Forms at the Timken, Figures at the San Diego Museum of Art and Frontiers at MCASD in La Jolla \u2013 forms will be represented in each, and Galvin said she hopes the individual museums will provide a complete experience. The Timken and Museum of Art are located in Balboa Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the ways in which I think our show is somewhat groundbreaking is its inclusion of work all the way to the present,\u201d Galvin said, adding that many surveys of U.S. art stop mid-century and that contemporary art remains a part of a larger, \u201cinternational conversation\u201d in art history.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I think that\u2019s true, I also think the international artists working in the United States are contributing to the visual culture of the United States,\u201d she said. Those artists, too, are included in the show.<\/p>\n

Idea for the collaboration began in 2005, when the directors of each museum began discussing a show on U.S. art. Of the three \u2013 Hugh Davies of MCASD, Derrick Cartwright of the Museum of Art and John Peterson of the Timken \u2013 only Davies remains in his position, however Cartwright continues to play an integral role in the show.<\/p>\n

After leaving the Museum of Art in 2009, the same year Galvin was hired, Cartwright moved to Seattle to take over a similar position at the Seattle Art Museum. He has since returned to San Diego and is currently a professor and gallery director at the University of San Diego (USD).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to say that this project would not have happened without him, as he was one of the founders of the project,\u201d Galvin said of Cartwright. \u201cHe really has been so supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Including his contribution of an essay for the catalog, Cartwright has also brought students from USD to the exhibit for a private tour with Galvin, and presented a lecture at the Nov. 10 exhibition symposium in conjunction with \u201cBehold, America!\u201d<\/p>\n

The symposium, Galvin said, was just one of many educational programs that have been planned for the exhibit, which are one part of the bigger process of staging a show like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been working in collaboration with our education teams for three years,\u201d she said. \u201cVery early on, it\u2019s hard not to get excited about different types of programming, different speakers we could have [and] different films we could show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galvin, who will be speaking about the exhibit at the San Diego Central Library on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m., said one of the most exciting programs scheduled happens next year. On Jan. 17, 2013 current museum directors Roxana Vel\u00e1squez of the San Diego Museum of Art, John Wilson of the Timken Museum and Davies will present a panel discussion on \u201cBehold, America!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I know this is the first public opportunity to come to MCASD in La Jolla, and hear all three directors talk and be able to pose questions,\u201d Galvin said. \u201cI think it is an exciting opportunity and it speaks to the uniqueness of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the entire exhibit, visit beholdamerica.com, mcasd.org, timkenmuseum.org or sdmart.org. Additionally, you can call the Museum of Art at 619-232-7931.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unique art exhibit 7 years in the making opens at 3 local museums By Anthony King | SDUN Editor The San Diego Museum of Art, Timken Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) have come together to stage one groundbreaking exhibition: \u201cBehold, America!: Art of the United States from Three San […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018Behold, America!\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}