Economic downturns are unpredictable and disruptive, but museums still need to develop ambitious exhibits if they are to remain relevant. Mining and reworking the permanent collection will work for a year or two, but ultimately each institution is judged by its ability to present fresh art and ideas to its community.
Some museums put the PR department in charge of developing content for the Web. Our staff thinks this may be one reason many museum Web sites don’t inspire them to visit.
The exhibition consists of 40 mourners from the tomb of John the Fearless, and three figures and one fragment of the architectural arcade from the tomb of Philip the Bold. Because the statuettes have been freed from the architectural framework that usually contains them, the figures will be seen in the round by the public for the first time ever.
We know not to judge a book by its cover, but even so it’s hard to resist buying every expertly designed publication included in the Book Cover Archive.
Marquand Books’ Seattle office is a stone’s throw from Vancouver, so it’s hard to resist the excitement surrounding the 2010 Winter Olympics, especially since we’ve just finished producing the exhibition catalogue Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man for the Vancouver Art Gallery. The anticipated exhibit, in association with the Royal Collection, features drawings loaned by Queen Elizabeth II for the Winter Games.
Our friends over at Chronicle Books have the perfect reads to help you imagine you’re in the center of Olympics action if, like us, you’re watching from home. Chronicle is offering a trio of Canada-centric titles, including the ever-compelling So you Want to be Canadian and City Walks Vancouver: 50 Adventures on Foot, available here.
Designer and Yale fellow Jessica Helfand wrote about her “struggle to reconcile form with emotion” in this notable Design Observer piece published last year. She finds examples of how design and story come together in interesting places—in war propaganda and public health posters, for instance:
We here at Marquand Books like not only to write our own blog; we also enjoy seeing what others are blogging about and have to say.
In the Seattle PI’s Reader Blogs, Jeremy Tolbert keeps us posted on the latest happenings around the city. This month author Katharine Harmon is visiting the Ballard Public Library on January 21st at 6:30pm to talk about her new book, The Map As Art, a gathering of images by artists “whose maps to are used to express their visions.”
On Book Patrol: A Haven for Book Culture, Michael Lieberman speaks to the collector of “the world’s largest private collection of rare books on Haiti,” Robert Corbett.
In case you haven’t heard yet, as of January 11th, the New York Times Books blog, the Book Design Review, will be on indefinite hiatus. You will still be able to follow Joseph Sullivan on Twitter, and he suggests that you follow the Casual Optimist, Faceout Books, and the Book Cover Archive for any book-design-commentary needs he will no longer be filling.
“New Year/Fresh Eyes,” opens at Artxchange Gallery. Nine artists from around the world are featured, and the selected works encompass a range of media.
Gallery 4 Culture opens the new year with “White Lines (don’t do it),” a solo show of photographic works by Jesse DeLira. This series of black-and-white photographs “documents sweeping, graceful lines of chalk glyphs laid onto soulful urban surfaces.”
Suspended abstract works on paper and in ceramic by Nicholas Nyland are feature at SOIL.
Sara Tabbert woodcuts are on display at Collum Gallery. This new work incorporates the beauty of natural forms of wood, water, ice, and stone into a series based on a trip along the Great Northern Railway.
Bookselling has held an uncharacteristically prominent place in Seattle newspapers and Web sites of late. Elliott Bay Book Company, the flagship retailer in the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood, is moving to the Pike and Pine corridor on Capitol Hill. Bailey/Coy Books, the longtime Broadway bookseller, has closed its doors. Everyone agrees that bookselling in Seattle is changing. But there’s plenty of disagreement about what the change means.
Here’s a roundup of relevant stories. This collection represents but a small fraction of the ink spilled and pixels lit about the changes afoot for bookselling in Seattle.
It’s been a busy year, but we still managed to squeeze some reading time in, and we are all looking forward to reading a few more in the coming year. Here are a few hand-picked gift recommendations from the Marquand Books and iocolor staff:
‘Tis the season for magical worlds, group shows, gaming, and a look-back.
Dive into the Old World fantasy paintings of Alla Goniodsky at Susan Woltz Gallery. Alla is active in the Seattle Children’s Theater, and uses the magic and wonder of the theater as inspiration for her paintings.
In the mood for a little art and gaming? Join artist Jennifer Zwick at SOIL on Wednesdays this month to look at her photographs of symmetry—both found and created. Or you can challenge her to a game of Tetris. You choose.
Punch Gallery is hosting it’s second annual International Juried Show, while La Familia presents a group show of 275 pieces, all 5 x 5 inches.
Join local photographer Jerry Davis at Globe Gallery for a look at some of his favorite moments from the 1970s to the present.
The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is tracing the history of private art collection in Texas from the oil boom to today with a new exhibition showcasing the work of more than 40 collectors. The broad, impressive exhibition of ancient to modern European work features several major artists including Monet, Picasso, and Mondrian.
This Saturday, November 14 the Whatcom Museum of History and Art in Bellingham, WA celebrates the grand opening of its Lightcatcher building with the exhibition Out of Bounds: Art from the Collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky:
Tomorrow evening is Seattle’s First Thursday art walk in Pioneer Square. Some highlights:
Large-scale paintings and works on paper by Mary Ann Peters at the James Harris Gallery.
Maylee Noah and Spike Mafford’s photographs of the Day of the Dead celebration and everyday life in Oaxaca at Gallery 110.
And New Voices, a group show featuring Pratt scholarship students at the Pratt Gallery in Tashiro Kaplan Studios.
We’re already missing the witty and obsessive Venn diagrams that were on display from Jessica Hagy’s Indexed blog at the Design Commission Gallery. If you missed the show, you can always buy her book from Powell’s.
The Lens of Impressionism: Photography and Painting from the Normandy Coast, a new exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, addresses how social, creative, and commercial advancements helped set the stage for early Impressionism and established Normandy as a cultural hub in the mid to late 1800s.
Marquand produced the accompanying catalog, featuring work by Manet, Monet, and Degas among others.
Marquand recently produced an exhibition catalog for the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore called Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece. Designed by Jeff Wincapaw, the book received flattery from the Paper Cuts books blog on the New York Times website:
…The catalog, distributed by Yale University Press, is easily one of the best I have ever seen on a classical subject.
In the video below, Dr. Gary Radke offers interesting facts and background on Michelangelo in anticipation of SAM’s new exhibit Michaelangelo Public and Private, opening tomorrow. Radke is Deans Professor of the Humanities at Syracuse University and curatorial adviser for the exhibit:
The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore presents Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece. Marquand produced the catalog for the exhibit, arranged around four main figures: hero-god Herakles; traveler Odysseus; fiery warrior Achilles; and stunning Helen.
The show features a strong educational component and promises to be compelling for individuals and families. Before you go, be sure to try the Which Mythological Figure are You? quiz.
Opens October 11, free to the public. Click here for information on Heroes programs and special events.
Savannah’s Telfair Museum of Art, in association with the Singer Laren Museum, present Dutch Utopia: American Artists in Holland, 1880-1914. Marquand produced the accompanying catalog of the exhibition, centered around the work of more than 40 American painters. The exhibit focuses on the artist’s pastoral vision of Holland throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the country was becoming more dense, urban, and industrial.
After opening in Savannah the show moves to the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and the Singer Laren Museum in the Netherlands.
The exhibit opens Saturday, Oct 3 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Call 912.238.1200 for reservations.
