Tag Archives: Ron Platt

Artist Maya Lin returns to GR with solo exhibit at the GRAM

May 14, 2019Citizen Journalism, EntertainmentGrand Rapids Art Museum, May Lin, Ron Platt, rosa parks circleJoanne

May Lin, “Flow,” 2009 FSC certified spruce pine and fir. (Courtesy Pace Gallery)

The artist behind the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and “Ecliptic” in Grand Rapids’ Rosa Parks Circle returns to Grand Rapids this month for an exhibition featuring her large-scale sculpture, “Flow.”

Organized by the Grand Rapids Art Museum in collaboration with Maya Lin Studio and running from May 18 to Sept. 8, the exhibition includes two new works that focus on bodies of water in the Midwest region and illuminate  Lin’s dramatic exploration of the natural environment.

“The Grand Rapids Art Museum is thrilled to present the work of acclaimed artist Maya Lin  this summer,” said Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen. “Lin’s  commitment to environmentalism and the creation of stirring public spaces—including  ’Ecliptic’  in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids—supports the Museum’s initiative of raising awareness about sustainability and connecting people through art, creativity and design.” 

With  “Flow,” Lin focuses attention on the crucial role of water, both to our  region, and to global survival. Lin has created two new sculptures for the exhibition that focus directly on West Michigan.  ”Pin River – Grand River Watershed”  (2019) is an installation made of steel pins embedded directly into the wall that forms a sparkling fifteen-foot-long outline of the Grand River Watershed.  ”The Traces Left Behind (From the Great Bear Lake to the Great Lakes)” (2019) is a shimmering wall relief cast from recycled silver. In creating the work, Lin charted the span of contemporary bodies of water from the Arctic to the Great Lakes that were formed by the melting of the Laurentide Ice Shelf, which once covered much of the North American continent.

“A lot of my work has been about mapping the natural world and revealing aspects of the environment that you may not be aware of,” said Lin. “The two new works created for this show follow that interest of mine; one traces the complex watershed of the Grand River, the other takes a very recognizable mapping of the Great Lakes but adds the series of large lakes formed during the last ice age—creating a constellation-like flow of water that drifts along an invisible boundary line where the glaciers carved out these bodies of water when they retreated.”

Created in recycled silver, steel pins and common building materials, Lin conceives these sculptures with the use of charting, mapping, and scientific research to determine each work’s ultimate design, layout and structure.  Through  sculptural shape, scope and scale, Lin expands our awareness of the Great Lakes, the geological forces that created them, and their connection to other bodies of water.

“In her dramatic large-scale sculptures, Maya Lin draws attention to the natural world around us and to the forces that shape our environment,” commented GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt. “With this exhibition, she creates opportunities for all of us to see the natural landscape in new and different ways, prompting us to consider our relationship and responsibilities to the environment.”

Maya Lin, Blue Lake Pass, 2006. Duraflake particleboard (Courtesy Pace Gallery)

The exhibition also creates connection and dialogue with  “Ecliptic,” the public park in Rosa Parks Circle created by Lin that marks its 20th anniversary next year. Water—specifically the nearby Grand River—inspired Lin’s conception of “Ecliptic.” Within the park, Lin featured water in three different forms—liquid, solid and vapor—through the park’s ice rink and amphitheater, mist fountain and table of flowing water.  In connection with the exhibition, a selection of interpretive and interactive materials about “Ecliptic” are on view for visitors interested in engaging more with Lin’s creation of the park.

Several informative programs and presentations will be presented at GRAM in conjunction with the exhibition such as an Artist Talk with Lin on Art and Environment Friday at 6 p.m. at the GRAM’s Cook Auditorium. RSVP is required. Cost is $5 for GRAM members and $15 for the public.

Lead support for  Maya Lin: Flow  is generously provided by Herman Miller Cares, Frey Foundation, Eenhoorn LLC, and Wege Foundation.

For GRAM’s hours and admission fees, call 616.831.1000 or visit artmuseumgr.org.

From Rembrandt to Calder, GRAM exhibit features museum’s collection

February 22, 2019EntertainmentGRAM, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Ron PlattJoanne

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

“Can you tell me what it is?” asked GRAM Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen to a group of media representatives as he pointed to a large black metal box sitting on a wire frame in the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s exhibition area.

“A safe?” someone responded.

“It’s a refrigerator,” Friis-Hansen said. “So it’s kind of a safe — a safe for food.”

The piece, a recent gift from the George R. Kravis II collection, is one example of the 125 different items featured in the current GRAM exhibit “A Decade at the Center: Recent Gifts and Acquisitions,” which is up through April 28.

The exhibit, which closes out a yearlong celebration of GRAM’s tenth anniversary at its 101 Monroe Center location, is designed to get to the heart of the museum — it’s collection, featuring works of art and design acquired through gifts and purchases from the last five years.

“The Grand Rapids Art Museum’s collection of more than 6,000 works is the heart of the Museum, and just like the city it serves, has grown and transformed over the course of its more than 100-year history,” Friis-Hansen said.

Rembrandt etching on paper: “Nude Man Seated on the Ground with One Leg Extended.” 1646. (Photo supplied by GRAM)

Featuring works from Rembrandt to Grand Rapids’ own Mathias J. Alten and the man behind the hLa Grande Vitesses, Alexander Calder, “Decades at the Center” showcases artists from six continents representing a variety of mediums fromm prints to sculpture. The oldest pieces are two etchings from Martin Schongauer from the 15th century with some of the newest being a selection of items from the gift of 100 design objects from Kravis, one of the premier American collectors.

From the George Kravis collection: “KM Flatwork Ironer Iron,” model no. 444. 1939, (Photo supplied by GRAM)

Kravis, a broadcasting executive, collected thousands of pieces focused on industrial design. While the items were often everyday pieces — such as a bicycle or a phone — they showcased machine aesthetic and clean lines that married form with function, Friis-Hansen said.

“GRAM’s commitment to exhibiting and collecting design and craft is illustrated by the inclusion of important works of furniture, ceramics, glass and industrial design,” said GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt. “The modern and contemporary design objects in the exhibition — ranging from furniture and lamps to tableware and electronics — marry function and beauty and show the power design has to enhance our daily lives.”

“I’m most excited about works that have never been viewed at GRAM before,” said GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt.

Dawoud Bay gelatin silver photograph: “Two Women at a Parade.” 1978, printed 2011. (Photo supplied by GRAM)

Along with the items from the Kravis collection, other new pieces are two powerful black-and-white portraits by photographer Dawoud Bey, known for his photographs of adolescents and other often marginalized subjects. There is also the 1950s “Peonies on a Table” by American representational painter Jane Freilicher.

The exhibit has been paired with “A Legacy of Love: Selections from The Mable Perkins Collection.”

“Mabel Perkins was probably the first serious art collector in Grand Rapids,” Platt said. “We received a large portion of her collection of master prints.

“It’s really at the heart of GRAM’s story as a collecting institution and sort of at the heart of the idea of gifts to a collection being very, very important not only to an institution but to a community.”

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

‘Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion’ exhibit at GRAM Oct. 23-Jan. 15

October 19, 20163-bottom, EntertainmentAlexander McQueen, Dutch designer, Grand Rapids Art Museum, haute couture, Iris van Herpen, Ron Platt, Transforming FashionJoanne

Refinery Smoke, Dress, July 2008: Untreated woven metal gauze, cow leather, cotton, Groninger Museum. Photo by Bart Oomes, No 6 Studios

Hacking Infinity, Shoes, 2015. In collaboration with Noritaka Tatehana and 3D Systems Laser-cut cow leather, 3-D printed photopolymer, and stereolithography resin Collection of the designer Photograph ©NORITAKA TATEHANA — Hacking Infinity, Shoes, 2015. In collaboration with Noritaka Tatehana and 3D Systems Laser-cut cow leather, 3-D printed photopolymer, and stereolithography resin
Collection of the designer
Photograph ©NORITAKA TATEHANA

Fashion takes center stage at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) as more than 50 sculptural masterpieces by Dutch designer Iris van Herpen make their Midwest debut this fall. Since interning for legendary fashion designer Alexander McQueen, van Herpen’s designs have been featured on the runways of Paris, Amsterdam and London and in the galleries of museums from Paris to New York.

Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion, on view at GRAM in Grand Rapids from Oct. 23 to Jan. 15 will fill the entire third floor of the Museum. The exhibition features 45 haute couture outfits carefully selected from 15 of van Herpen’s collections designed from 2008 through 2015: 18 pieces from the designer’s most recent lines, a selection of her shoe designs and 27 works from van Herpen’s solo exhibition at the Groninger Museum, Netherlands.

Voltage, Dress, January 2013: In collaboration with Philip Beesley Laser cut 3D polyester film lace, micro fiber. Collection of the designer. Photo by Bart Oomes, No 6 Studios

In addition to van Herpen’s designs, a hands-on “touch material” section of the exhibition will encourage visitors to explore some of the more unusual materials she uses including translucent stainless steel fabric and structures made from the tines of children’s umbrellas.

“Iris continues to redefine fashion and its place in the art world,” said GRAM Director & CEO Dana Friis-Hansen. “Like most artists, she continually experiments and tests new ideas to realize her artistic vision, be that capturing the movement of water or the visualization of sound waves. That creative spirit is central to all we do at GRAM and we’re excited to share such a breathtaking exhibition.”

“Iris’s designs have been described as having a ‘sublime beauty,’” said GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt. “She accomplishes that by melding design, technology, fashion and science in a manner that seems almost effortless but remains deeply rooted in traditional craftsmanship.”

Radiation Invasion, Dress, September 2009. Faux leather, gold foil, cotton, tulle/ Groninger Museum. Photo by Bart Oomes, No 6 Studios

Van Herpen (Dutch, born 1984) produced her first collection in 2007, shortly after graduating from the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in the Netherlands. Born in the small town of Wamel, she is now based primarily in Amsterdam. In 2012, she became a member of the exclusive Chambre Syndicale de Haute Couture, where her designs regularly appear in biannual Paris runway shows. Van Herpen divides her time between the contained world of her studio, her global network of collaborators and the international stage of fashion.

Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion is co-organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and the Groninger Museum, the Netherlands. The exhibition was curated by Sarah Schleuning, High Museum of Art, and Mark Wilson and Sue-an van der Zijpp, Groninger Museum.

The exhibition will be complemented by a series of presentations from special guests including Schleuning, who will provide anecdotes about working with van Herpen on the exhibition. GRAM members can take advantage of two member-only opportunities to preview Transforming Fashion before it opens to the public — a member preview party on October 21st and a member day on October 22nd.

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