Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia
Curator: Stephen Gilchrist
Harvard Art Museums
February 5th, 2016
I thought that this was a wonderful exhibition. It had a well populated but not overcrowded art work saturation, while at the same time leading you around the show in a free-form, enjoyable fashion. You could wander around, and connect the exhibition as you pleased. I found that the wall text was thorough and yet not overwhelming. Each of the art pieces were arranged next to pieces that I found were not overwhelming, neither distracting nor boring, each piece, given the dynamic nature of the works, created a thorough visual buzz.
The video work throughout the exhibition was very informative, and this was a wonderful addition to the show. This showed interviews with the artists, the artists at work, and had some of the history of the works themselves, which was a wonderful educational point of the show. This also made sure that you understood the depth and breadth of the exhibitions history, over the 40 years of artworks, so that you understood that these pieces come from a long tradition of work.
The artwork itself was wonderful as well, a great combination of interpretive and dream state work as well as a more contemporary interpretation of the concepts of indigenous art in Australia. The work was visually stimulating, with subtle color shifts creating huge spectrums of visual stimulation, bold and bright to dull and flat, each color relationship carefully considered. The pointillism-like application of the paint to the toned surfaces also created interesting color relationships, capturing the attention of the viewers in a truly unique way.
Overall, a great show, one which I felt privileged to be able to attend.
February 5th, 2016
- Caitlyn Kenney