"I see the artist as a cool spectator-reporter in the arena of hot events."
That's an old quote from Stuart Davis, whose thoroughly modern art, inspired by high and low culture, covered the American scene from the 1920s through the 1960s.
Stuart Davis: In Full Swing, featuring 86 of his paintings and drawings, recently opened at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. And for a spectator-reporter seeking hot events, Davis and his bold, colorful work are definitely in the right place.
Crystal Bridges is the final venue for the exuberant jazz-themed exhibit--"I always get a kick out of real jazz," said the artist, a big fan of pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines--which has shown in New York, Washington, and San Francisco.
From a self-portrait from 1912 through a metamorphosis of themes from street life to consumer products and packaging to a sparse, strong palette of black, white, red, green, and orange/yellow that preceded his death in 1964, Davis was always at the forefront of that aforementioned arena.
"He was never out of date," wrote Brian O'Doherty in Davis' obituary in the New York Times.
The exhibit continues through Jan. 1. And that's not the end of Bentonville's hot events.
Lieven Bertels is joining Crystal Bridges in late September as director of Momentary, a project that will transform a former Kraft Foods plant south of Crystal Bridges into a space for visual and performing arts and an artist-in-residency program.
Mr. Bertels, previously CEO and cultural director of Leeuwarden-Fryslan 2018 European Capital of Culture, a year-long festival in the Netherlands focusing on the arts in a rural context, will be responsible for planning and development for Momentary along with artistic direction and day-to-day operations.
Spaces will include galleries, artists' studios, a small black box theater, an amphitheater, kitchen, cafe, bar, and indoor and outdoor community gathering areas.
"The Momentary [with a goal of opening in early 2020] is poised to be an international destination that demonstrates how contemporary American art and artists intersect with daily life around the globe," he said, with the intent of pushing boundaries of creativity and blurring urban and rural lines.
Is that all? Of course not. Alice Walton, founder and board chair of Crystal Bridges, recently announced the formation of Art Bridges, a foundation focused on sharing outstanding works of American art. By working with museums and institutions across the country, the foundation seeks to create and fund exhibits by bringing together art from museums, private collections, foundations, and a unique collection established as a part of Art Bridges.
"Our country's significant works of art should be available for all to see and enjoy," she told the papers. "Outstanding artworks are in museum vaults and private collections; let's make that art available to everyone, and provide a way to experience these cultural treasures." And you almost knew she'd be the one to lead such an effort.
Since opening Crystal Bridges in late 2011, more than three million people have visited. To hear Alice Walton tell it: "Northwest Arkansas was eager for access to art, and Crystal Bridges shows that a broad range of audiences welcome an arts experience, whether that means walking through an art gallery, listening to an artist lecture, or enjoying an art-making activity."
The American Federation of Arts, a nonprofit organization that develops traveling art exhibitions and education programs, is working with Art Bridges to bring important art to all sorts of places across the country, among them "Selections from the Studio Museum in Harlem."
"This generous funding from Art Bridges will ensure that this exhibition, consisting of over 100 works that date from the 1930s to the present, can reach communities that would typically not have access to the amazing work created by some of our nation's most important African American artists," said AFA director Pauline Willis.
Art Bridges is contracting with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to provide administrative, collection care, education/outreach, and curatorial expertise. "Sharing and celebrating American art is the essence of our museum's mission, and we are pleased to support Art Bridges in its efforts to increase accessibility to outstanding works of art," said Rod Bigelow, Crystal Bridges' executive director and chief diversity and inclusion officer.
What with all this, plus a new Wal-Mart headquarters in the works near downtown, those seeking a hot-events arena will find it--in Bentonville.
Editorial on 09/20/2017