virtual exhibition assignment

This assignment asks you to reflect upon the business of art and the works of art and objects of material culture that we have discussed in our course. Based on the notes that you have taken throughout the course and the readings that you have done you are asked to place yourself in the shoes of a museum curator who is tasked with organizing a focused/one-gallery exhibition. Your assignment consists in creating a “virtual exhibition”: select four works of art that are linked together.

The combinations are multiple: you can decide to exhibit four works by the same artist; or one monument (palace or church) and three works that were originally within the site; or two works (for example, a painting and a print presenting the same iconography) and two related objects of material culture (for example, maiolica items). Be creative but historically grounded! The four works displayed in your exhibition should come from the materials generated in the course, that is, your lecture notes, PP presentations and assigned readings.

Your focused exhibition should have a clear and strong rationale. The rationale of your exhibition is what links the exhibited works together. Examples of curatorial rationale are:

a) four works executed by the same artist mapping out the evolution of an artist’s style and the fees that he/she gained;

b) four works that originally had the same function as altarpieces but they were produced in different localities and in the same decade;

c) the displayed works share the same iconography but they are made in different media;

d) the four works were produced for the art market;

f) the works are in the same medium (prints).

Structure of the assignment:

In the first three pages of your assignment:

1) describe the rationale of your exhibition. You can think of this section as the long introductory wall label you often see at the beginning of an exhibition;

2) introduce the works that you want to display in your exhibition (author; title; date; technique/medium; current location etc.);

3) outline how the exhibited works will be displayed within the exhibition space (as pairs on facing walls; each work shown on a wall etc.; at the center of your gallery; in vitrines etc.) and the advantage of your display in relation to the works.

In the other three pages of your assignment you offer formal and iconographic analyses of the individual works that are on display in your exhibition and elaborate, if needed, on the above outlined points (especially n. 1; 3).

This assignment should be 6 pages double spaced.

Submit this assignment on QUERCUS by Monday, April 20.

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This assignment should be developed using:

1) Class notes;

2) Notes from the assigned readings;

3) PP presentations and their build-in information;

4) Outlines of major topics/focus points in each PP presentation=recapitulation slide.

DO NOT USE INFORMATION FROM THE INTERNET FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT but STICK TO THE CONTENTS THAT WERE GENERATED IN VARIOUS FORMS IN THE COURSE.

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How to prepare for the assignment:

1) Review your notes from class and readings and highlight main points/themes/ideas;

2) review the images that were discussed in class;

3) review the focus points/recapitulation slide at the end of each PP presentation;

4) organize your written and visual materials to locate the works that best visualize the scope of your exhibition;

5) work through the different steps of your “virtual exhibition” as outlined above to develop this assignment;

6) be creative but support your claims with historical information and evidence! Use footnotes and/or endnotes if you make quotations from readings.