Tag Archives: Dana Friis-Hansen

‘A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass’ opens at GRAM Jan. 25

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Charlotte Potter (American, b. 1981), Pending (detail, 2014. Cameo engraved glass and metal, 156 x 360 x 96 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Heller Gallery, New York.

By Elizabeth Payne
Grand Rapids Art Museum


The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) announced today its upcoming exhibition, A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass which opens at the Museum on Jan. 25. The exhibition is on view until April 26 and features the work of 19 artists working in glass including Grand Rapids artist Norwood Viviano. 

Each of the artists included in the exhibition use glass in innovative ways while presenting its metaphorical possibilities—connecting to broader cultural, environmental, political, and spiritual themes. 

“We’re thrilled to present A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass this season at GRAM,” said GRAM Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen. “As part of the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s ongoing commitment to providing a diverse array of fresh, stimulating exhibitions for our region, A New State of Matter is the first major exhibition of glass art in the Museum’s history, and reveals the beauty, mystery, and expressive power of this dynamic medium.”

The works in A New State of Matter examine the material and symbolic potential of glass in unique and revealing ways. For example, artists Charlotte Potter and April Surgent use the ancient process of cameo glass engraving to consider relationships in the age of social media and climate change, respectively. Jeffrey Stenbom utilizes cast glass to unveil the struggles facing the nation’s veterans. David Chatt, in a repetitive, labor-intensive process, covers found objects with thousands of miniscule glass beads to explore family and nostalgia. Amber Cowan repurposes American pressed glass to create her intricate installations that reference a bygone era.

“The talented artists in this exhibition are creating incredible artworks using a spectrum of glassmaking techniques, from ancient to present-day processes,” stated Chief Curator Ron Platt. “As the first exhibition at GRAM devoted to artists working with glass, I think our visitors will be amazed by the beautiful and fascinating forms that glass can take. As a material, glass is loaded with a variety of rich associations, making it a perfect vehicle for addressing a range of urgent personal and social issues.”

 The exhibition features work by Grand Rapids artist Norwood Viviano, who fuses fine arts practice with data and research findings in geography, economics, and the social sciences to create environments in which sensuous beauty and topical information merge. Viviano, an associate professor at Grand Valley State University, was the subject of a solo GRAM exhibition in 2015, and his work has been shown and collected internationally. GRAM is excited to debut a brand-new sculpture by Viviano, Recasting Grand Rapids, as part of the exhibition. For this work, he combined elements of our city’s manufacturing past and present, fusing a wooden end table made in Grand Rapids in the 1940s with a current scale model of the city’s architectural landscape—all recast in clear glass. Viviano explains, “the fragility of glass serves as a metaphor for balance between time, efficiency, and the inability of manufacturing to change and meet future needs.” 

Featured artists include: Dean Allison, David Chatt, Amber Cowan, Steffen Dam, Morgan Gilbreath, Tali Grinshpan, Etsuko Ichikawa, Patrick Martin, Rachel Moore, Whitney Nye, Charlotte Potter, Michael Rogers, Erica Rosenfeld, Mary Shaffer, Jeffrey Stenbom, April Surgent, Judy Tuwaletstiwa, Norwood Viviano, and Jeff Zimmer.

Charles P. Limbert (American, 1854–1923). Advertising Lamp, c. 1910. Slag glass on oak base, 19 x 24 x 16 inches. Grand Rapids Art Museum. Cummings, Frank and Ann Battistella Fund, Porter Foundation, 2004.18.

On view concurrently with A New State of Matter is Looking (at •into•through) Glass, an exhibition featuring paintings, sculpture, prints, photography and design objects from GRAM’s permanent collection. The exhibition has been assembled to explore glass as a material one can look at, into, and through. Works in the exhibition range from colorful still-life paintings to glass-shaded lamps and provide visitors with the opportunity to explore the variety and depth of objects in the collection.

In addition to the exhibitions, visitors can explore a range of related interactive and educational activities and materials, including artists’ video profiles, hands-on activities, and detailed information on many of the participating artists’ glassmaking techniques, including blowing, kiln-forming, casting, and flame-working.

A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass has been organized by the Boise Art Museum. The exhibition is sponsored by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation with additional grant support from the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. Lead support for GRAM’s exhibition is provided by the Wege Foundation. Lead Exhibition Society Support is provided by the Daniel & Pamella DeVos Foundation.

About the Grand Rapids Art Museum  
Connecting people through art, creativity, and design. Established in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, the art museum is internationally known for its distinguished design and LEED® Gold certified status. Established in 1910 as the Grand Rapids Art Association, GRAM has  grown to include more than 5,000 works of art, including American and European 19th and 20th-century painting and sculpture and more than 3,000 works on paper. Embracing the city’s legacy as a leading center of design and manufacturing, GRAM has a growing collection in the area of design and modern craft.  

For museum hours and admission fees, visit  artmuseumgr.org.   
 

GRAM’s popular exhibitions extended through ArtPrize

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Intersections by Anila Quayyum Agha

By Grand Rapids Art Museum

 

Visitors to the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) during ArtPrize 2018 will get a special experience as two current exhibitions, Anila Quayyum Agha: Intersections and Mirror Variations: The Art of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, will be on display through Oct. 7, the last day of ArtPrize 2018. During ArtPrize, there will be no admission charge for these exhibitions.

 

In 2014, Intersections won the ArtPrize Public Vote and Juried Grand Prize, the first and only time in the international art competition’s history. Four years later, Intersections remains equally as popular.

 

“It was exhilarating to watch GRAM’s ArtPrize visitors encounter Intersections in 2014, and there’s been an amazing response with the return of her work this summer,” said GRAM Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen. “We’re excited to give our guests an extra surprise, allowing them to extend their visit during ArtPrize 10.”

 

Agha’s work is presented alongside Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, an Iranian artist with an international reputation for sculpture and drawing that fuses traditional Persian patterns based in mathematics with geometric abstract art. Her work develops out of her interest in the serial progression of rectilinear forms, such as triangles, pentagons and hexagons.

 

The work of Monir Farmanfarmaian will be up through ArtPrize.

“Monir Farmanfarmaian is one of the most fascinating artists in the world—truly an artist of the 21st century,” commented GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt. “We are delighted to share her works with the diverse audiences that come through GRAM’s doors during ArtPrize 10.”

 

Both artists create work which draws inspiration from Islamic tradition and modern abstraction, creating objects of great beauty and depth. GRAM’s presentation of the two solo exhibitions is part of its commitment to highlighting works of art by diverse artists year-round.

 

During ArtPrize 10, the Grand Rapids Art Museum will feature 10 artists along with the exhibits of Farmanfarmaian’s and Agha’s work.

 

For GRAM’s hours and admission fees, visit artmuseumgr.org or call 616-831-1000.

GRAM announces access program for low-income individuals and families

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Patrons visit the GRAM for free during ArtPrize.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) announced today that it has joined Museums for All, a national access program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Association of Children’s Museums (ACM). Museums for All is designed to encourage people of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum-going habits. The program is effective as of today, Aug. 13, 2018.

 

The Museum for All program grants those receiving food assistance (SNAP) benefits visiting GRAM free admission, for up to four people, with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card; commonly known as the Michigan Bridge Card. Similar free and reduced admission is available to eligible members of the public at more than 250 museums across the country. Museums for All is part of the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s broad commitment to seek, include and welcome all.

 

Grand Rapids Art Museum Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen visits with a student. Hansen just announced a new that the GRAM will be part of the Museums for All program.

“The Grand Rapids Art Museum is proud to announce its participation in Museums for All,” said GRAM Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen. “Access to the arts is critical for the vibrancy of our community, and this program furthers the Museum’s initiative of offering inclusive and accessible experiences for visitors year-round.”

 

Museums for All helps expand access to museums and also raise public awareness about how museums in the U.S. are reaching their entire communities. More than 250 institutions participate in the initiative, including art museums, children’s museums, science centers, botanical gardens, zoos, history museums and more. Participating museums are located nationwide, representing more than 40 states.

 

 

GRAM is one of three institutions in West Michigan participating in Museums for All, along with the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum and Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. GRAM joins Museums for All after a year piloting the Grand Rapids Symphony’s access program, Symphony Scorecard. The Scorecard program is in effect at the Museum through the end of August 2018.

 

 

The Museum’s fall 2018 season offers a dynamic lineup of art experiences for eligible visitors to enjoy, including Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present and Dylan Miner: Water is Sacred // Trees are Relative. Visitors are additionally invited to participate in a wide array of the Museum’s free programming and events, including Drop-in Studio, Artist and Curator lectures, Drop-in Tours, Yoga at GRAM, Lunch and Learns, Baby & Me Tours, Discovery Club, and the Sunday Classical Concert Series.

 

For more about the Grand Rapids Art Museum programming, visit artmuseumgr.org.

How do you mark 10 years in the community? By serving cake, of course

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By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

When Dana Friis-Hansen interviewed for the position of director and chief executive officer at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, he already knew how special the white and glass facility at 101 Monroe Center NW was.

 

The building, constructed in the early 2000s, was the world’s first LEED Gold certified art museum, setting a standard that only a few have achieved such as the Boston Children’s Museum, San Diego Natural History Museum, and East Lansing’s Eli and Edith Broad Art Museum. Friis-Hansen also knew of the work of London-based Munkenbeck+Marshalls Architects which designed the building and of architect Kulapat Yantrasast of wHY Architecture who completed the project.

 

Grand Rapids Art Museum Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen talks to a visiting student.

“It was the first purposed building for the art museum,” Friis-Hansen said during a recent phone interview. At the time, the Grand Rapids Art Museum was housed in what is now the Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University’s Fed Galleries on Pearl Street. The GRAM building was designed to serve many functions with the 125,000-square-foot building having three floors of gallery and exhibition space, an auditorium, education area, store, and lobby.

 

“In the lobby area, we could have a classical works program and it can also host a wedding,” Friis-Hansen said as an example of the facility’s multiple uses. “The auditorium provides space for various programs, community events, and activities.”

 

Simply put: the GRAM building when opened in 2008 had many taking notice of what Grand Rapids had to offer and its commitment to the arts.

 

It has been 10 years since the facility was open and this Saturday, Nov. 18, the art museum is hosting a party, “10 at 101: Celebrating GRAM’s Tenth Anniversary at 101 Monroe Center.” The free event will include a variety of activities:

 

10 a.m – 4 pm.: party hat making in the GRAM’s lobby

10 a.m. – noon: birthday cake in GRAM’s Auditorium

11 a.m. – 4 p.m.: screen printing in GRAM Studio

 

There also will be two Drop-in-Tours to explore the GRAMs newest exhibition with a museum docent at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The exhibit is “Andy Warhol’s American Icons,” which runs through Feb. 11 and also celebrates the museum 10th anniversary since a Warhol exhibit was the first exhibition in the building when it opened.

 

The 2007 official ribbon cutting at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

“When the idea was first brought up to have a Warhol exhibit, the response was people have already seen that,” Friis-Hansen said. “As we discussed it further, we felt as if there was a whole generation who had not seen the show and perhaps had never seen a real Warhol.”

 

The “American Icons” was organized by GRAM and is designed to be a celebration of America by bringing together a selection of Warhol paintings, prints, and photographs. Among those items is Warhol’s famous “Campbell’s Soup” silk-screen and two screen prints from a 1967 series of Marilyn Monroe.

 

Also at the GRAM is “Christian Marclay: Video Quartet” through Jan. 14. Marclay is an international artist who has spent the last 30 years exploring the fusion of fine art and audio cultures. In this exhibit, he has taken more than 700 individual film clips in which characters play instruments, sing, or make noise in one form or another.

 

One of the goals of the GRAM with its current facility has been to provide the community with a broad spectrum of art such as the visual art of Marclay, the pop art of Warhol, the fashion work of Iris van Herpen, the prints of Grand Rapids artist Reynold Weidenaar, the pottery of Newcomb, and the popular exhibition “Diana – A Celebration” featuring the Princess of Wales’ wedding dress.

 

Looking at the next 10 years, do not expect the GRAM to slow down. On the horizon is the contemporary painter Alexis Rockman exhibit “The Great Lakes Cycle” which takes a look at the past, present and future of North America’s Great Lakes and next fall, “Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present,” which will feature more than 200 images from the past 175 years of sports photography. Friis-Hansen said the GRAM also will have an exhibit called “What Happen Here?,” which will explore how the land the museum currently sits on has changed from a place where American Natives gathered to become the site of the world’s first green museum.

 

Note: While GRAM does not offer parking, there are many public parking lots located directly adjacent to the museum. Various city lots do offer the first hour of parking free, and the closet is the Monroe Center Parking Ramp, located on the corner of Louis Street and Ionia Avenue.