Author: Lesley

Every new place Mr. Forager & I go, I try to hit the local art museum.  Not only because I think it’s important to patronize local art resources ( artsy duh ), but I also find them to be an interesting gauge of the local tastes and what’s important to the surrounding culture.  After being in Seattle for six weeks, we finally ventured to the Seattle Art Museum last week.

In addition to their current special exhibition, Future Beauty ( more on that in a separate post ), there were a few other intriguing exhibitions on display.  I was especially excited to see 50 Works for 50 States, selections from the Herb and Dorothy Vogel collection.

[ Codex Morales Braccio Sermugnano by Michael Goldberg and Untitled by Tony Smith ]

I am continually amazed by the collection this couple put together on a modest income!  Truly inspiring to anyone who is intimidated by the prospect of collecting artwork.  The Vogels collected many smaller works and works on paper, making them more financially accessible but allowing them to build an enviable collection. Such a great example to follow!

One of the things that impressed me the most about the SAM experience was the thoughtfulness given to how each exhibition was displayed and how the galleries interacted with each other.  Glimpses of work seen not just within each exhibition but from one gallery to another allow the work to relate and interact in a way that allows the viewer’s eye to flow naturally throughout the space.

[ Thicket by Martin Puryear ]

A delightful surprise was the small show currently on display in the Knight Lawrence Gallery, In a Silent Way, “a quiet reflection on African American identities and histories”.  This small gallery is tucked in a corner of the museum, away from the crowds and bustle of the larger galleries, which was perfectly fitting for such a thoughtful group of works.  The palette of the show was almost exclusively black and white, a subtle nod to the subject matter, but each piece filled with subtext of what it means to evolve as a person of African descent in America.

From the museum’s permanent collection, an exhibition of mid-twentieth century work, From Abstract Expression to Colored Planes, features superstars of the era such as Frank Stella, Jackson Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler.  The progression of that era of modern art is always fascinating– you can literally see the artists deconstructing and reconstructing the meaning of form across time.  It is without a doubt one of my favorite periods of art history!

[ contemplating Frankenthaler ]

In keeping with the special exhibition’s focus on fashion, I was especially drawn to the work of Yinka Shonibare, whose Nuclear Family installation shows us a “traditional” family dressed in the structure of Victorian garb in textiles reminiscent of modern Africa.  In a different, but no less interesting textile sculpture, Walter Oltmann‘s Caterpillar Suit mixes two destructive species, the caterpillar and the conquistador, while exposing their vulnerabilities and tenuous existences.

[ Nuclear Family by Yinka Shonibare ]

[ Caterpillar Suit III by Walter Oltmann ]

I love the way the Seattle Art Museum is blurring the lines between ancient and modern, leading the visitor down familiar paths only to introduce them to something new and exciting.  Can’t wait to see what else is in store!

All photographs by Artsy Forager.