The Modern Blog

A New Perspective

As a new writing intern for the public relations department of the museum, my internship could not have started at a better time with the Kara Walker exhibition in full swing and the Teresa Hubbard/Alexander Birchler exhibition making it’s debut, I am getting the opportunity to have a behind the scenes look at everything that goes into the opening of a new show.
This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to participate in the events leading up to a new exhibition. After attending the press preview for the Hubbard/Birchler exhibition I had a much better idea of the artists’ work from the time I spent researching them online. The exhibition is a compilation of key pieces from 1991 through 2008 including their newest piece, a film named Grand Paris Texas. The colors and textures in the works made them quite literally come alive. This is not the typical photography experience, it is much more than that, these works of art seem as though they are living, breathing beings. A quote from Hubbard/Birchler on the Art21 blog describes the mindset to be in when viewing the pieces, “One of the most important things for us, is that we have always left the authority of reading the work up to the viewer and there’s got to be active interpretation that’s not just asked for, but is somewhat demanded.”

Just listening to the Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler explain the minute details of their works during the press preview made me want to learn more about them and their methods. It felt like they put so much of themselves into their pieces that they must treat them like their children. I would love to be a fly on the wall as the two are brainstorming for their next project just so I would know what subject they are going to tackle next.