To curate means ‘to care for’: a curator’s primary job is to look after an art collection, preserve it and expand it. In large institutions such as National Museums, curators are often specialists in a distinct field, for example in sculpture or more specifically Renaissance sculpture.
A secondary, but most important task of curators is to create exhibitions based on their museum’s collection. Curators organize exhibitions by selecting works and arranging them within a conceptual framework so as to create a narrative. Sometimes, to tell their story, curators must ask for loans from other institutions and/or private owners so that they can fill gaps in their narrative. In other words, Curators tell a specific story by choosing the material evidence and arranging it into a coherent account. An exhibition can have a thematic or monographic approach: the first follows a theme (for example: female portraits from Ancient Rome, the history of perspective in painting or the development of landscape genres in England) while the second concentrates, on a single artist or artistic current.
The primary duty of a curator is the interpretation of art. Once an exhibition is outlined and decided upon, curators must write a statement that will then be used to generate all the literature for the exhibition: catalog, pamphlets, gallery texts and so on. This is the opportunity for curators to present their point of view and help the public understand the exhibition.
A curator’s statement should establish the overall premise of the show, illustrate its approach and suggest the wider importance of the exhibition for the field it represents. If a specific work of art (or more than one) sparked the concept for the exhibition or was especially relevant for the building of the narrative, the statement should include that thought process to give the viewer additional insight.
For the FINAL ART LAB, you need to imagine yourself in the role of a curator. Using the web as your source material, you will choose a theme, and then works of art that support the theme. Arrange the works, labeling them, and upload them along with a statement for your fellow classmates to view and comment on.
First you will choose one of the approved themes:
Portraiture
Landscape
Genre (everyday life)
Still life
Second you will choose at least five works of art from different artists and in any medium covered in the previous modules.
You MUST upload the images you chose in the order you wish them to be viewed, numbering them and labeling them in the same format as a wall label in a museum. Include the following information: Artist name, title of work, date, size, medium, and the art movement or period of art it falls under.
Write a curators statement: This statement should discuss the exhibition’s organizing theme or topic and provide a brief critical analysis and discussion of the works included in the exhibition. Your goal is to explain why you choose this theme, and how are you approaching it using these particular works of art.
How do the works relate to one another? Explain to the viewer any symbolism or interpretative materials they might need to understand the work– information about the culture, time period, subject matter, or style. Include why you chose the images, what interests you about the theme, and any commentary you deem appropriate. This statement should precede your ‘exhibition’ of the images and be at least 3 or 4 paragraphs. You can add text to the images and include support material in any format (video, audio, photography) you wish.
