Teachers Guide For School Tours and Classroom Presentations Amy Sillman Exhibition in a Box The Elephant in the Room, 2006 Oil on canvas 80 x 69 inches Private collection Aspen Art Museum 590 North Mill Street Aspen, Colorado 81611 aspenartmuseum.org 970.925.8050 Current Exhibition Amy Sillman February 14, 2014–May 18, 2014 About this Exhibition Amy Sillman: one lump or two is the artist’s first museum exhibition and spans over twenty years of Sillman’s artistic career. The AAM’s presentation highlights the importance of drawing in the artist’s practice. The exhibition includes over 60 works varying in media, style, and subject matter, from drawn portraits and cartoons, to collages and diagrams, as well as iPhone video and paintings, some of which contain humorous takes on everyday life. Sillman’s paintings delight the viewer with unexpected choices of palette, bold blocks of color, strong lines and gestural brushstrokes. Her multi-layerered subject matter often oscillates between the figurative and abstract. Art critic Ken Johnson observes: “The paintings are especially gratifying up close, where you can study the richly complicated textures and colors.” This exhibition serves to build both understanding and appreciation of Sillman’s place in recent art history, and her importance to a resurgence of contemporary painting today. A Shape that Stands Up and Listens #53, 2012 Ink and chalk on paper 30 x 22 1/2 inches Courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Amy Sillman: one lump or or two is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston and is generously sponsored by First Republic Bank. Additional support is provided by James and Audrey Foster, Barbara Lee, David and Leslie Puth, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., Nancy B. Tieken, the Dedalus Foundation, Inc., and Nancy and Dave Gill. The Aspen Art Museum’s presentation of Amy Sillman: one lump or two is funded in part by the Aspen Art Museum National Council with additional generous support provided by Susan and Larry Marx. General exhibition support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Exhibition lectures are presented as part of the Questrom Lecture Series and educational outreach programming is made possible by the Questrom Education Fund. Amy Sillman About the artist Amy Sillman was born in Detroit, Michigan. Before becoming a painter, Amy worked in a cannery in Alaska, a silkscreen factory in Chicago, and trained at New York University as a Japanese interpreter for the United Nations. She obtained her BFA at Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts in 1979, and received an MFA from Bard College in 1995. Amy currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. About the process Amy Sillman is considered to be one of the most influential painters of the 21st century. Her creative process involves a dedication to drawing, as well as allowing the elements of surprise and discovery to suggest direction as her artworks go through stages from extreme uncertainty to their finished states. Through both construction and deconstruction, acceptance and rejection, moving forward and then reversing and remaking, the artwork inevitably evolves through a thoughtful process of not becoming either/or but always AND. About the protest Amy Sillman believes that she has a responsibility as an artist to both explore and push conflict and contradictions. In fact, many of her paintings are reactions to what she has been told to do or not to do. In the 1970’s, the creative and intellectual climate perceived painting as a medium that was no longer artistically viable. Messages, such as “painting is bourgeois or women cannot paint,” all became fuel for her own work and exploration. If painting was percieved as conventional, she would paint to prove otherwise. If women were told they could not paint, she would make it her career. By employing a “feminine” palette and gender-loaded subject matter, she created decorative protests, such as Me and Ugly Mountain, 2003. Most recently, she has been creating paintings on her iPad, to prove that this is a viable medium. Me & Ugly Mountain, 2003 Oil on canvas 60 x 72 inches Collection of Jerome and Ellen Stern Amy Sillman C, 2007 Oil on canvas 45 x 39 inches Collection of Gary and Deborah Lucidon Questions for Looking Look closely. What do you notice about the painting? Take an inventory of what you see and share your observations. Once you have identified the details—color, line, space, style, subject matter— ask yourself, “What connections am I making with this work of art?”Does anything about it remind me of something else?” A conversation about the work will naturally develop through sharing your thoughts. Notice how many different interpretations of the work of art you uncover together. Finally, based on all of the above, what might the artist be trying to communicate through the work? Explore the possibilities. Amy Sillman Portraits from Orchard (an Ongoing Project), 2008 N & O v3, 2006 Ink, gouache and charcoal on paper Ink, colored pencil and gouache on paper 30 drawings, each: 15 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches 17 x 14 inches Courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Questions for Pondering How has the artist chosen to represent the figures above? What might you do differently? What is the mood of the work? Do you think the couple on the right is in love? Why or why not? Have you ever tried to draw someone from memory? What happened? If you could ask the artist a question about these works, what would it be? Amy Sillman The Plumbing, 2006 Oil on canvas 80 x 69 inches Private collection Activities Connections to Twenty-First-Century Language Arts Skills and Readiness Competencies Think about something you do every day of your life such as brushing your Critical Thinking and Reasoning teeth, putting on your socks or shoes, or getting on the bus for school. Students are encouraged to ask questions Write a sentence about what it is that you do... “I brush my teeth twice and think critically in order to form a a day and sometimes three.” Now, using a pencil or colored pencil, draw conclusion. After observing and collecting a quick cartoon of what that looks like. Write several more statements information, students often propose based on your “everyday life” and draw a cartoon for each. Share your hypotheses about a work of art’s meaning cartoons with your friends. Notice how many of your classmates share a or context. similar experience as you! Information Literacy Using the visual information presented Drawing by works of art, students articulate commonalities and identify meaningful Amy likes to use her intuition when she draws and paints. Usually a patterns. Students understand that critical single mark or gesture will trigger a chain of responses and a series of processes such as observing, interpreting, reajustments. and evaluating lead to informed judgments regarding the merits of a work of art. Split up into small groups of two to four students. You will need paper for each person in the group and some pencils, erasers, color pencils, Collaboration charcoal, or watercolors. Students participate and engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions, Step 1: Make a mark or two on your own paper. asking questions and linking their Step 2: Pass your paper to the person sitting next to you. comments to the remarks of others in Step 3: Ask this person to respond to your original marks by adding his or order to find various meanings in works her marks to the page. of art. Students explain their own ideas Step 4: Continue to pass the papers until each person in the group has while interacting with others by sharing added or taken away a mark on all the papers. knowledge, stories, and interests. Together as a group, students explore ideas that Take a moment to reflect on what has been created on your paper by the might not otherwise be reached by a single group. What do you see? What would you like to add or take away? Does individual. the image look different when you turn it upside down or on it’s side. What else do you see? Continue to make choices by way of marks, colors, lines, Self-Direction etc. Let your intuition do the work. In evaluating works of art, students assess their own thinking and search for patterns, Share your abstract drawings with the class. relationships, causes and effects, and consider events and people throughout time. Students also develop the confidence to create a work of art, express their own “I like it when a painting asserts that ideas, and reflect on the choices and directions made in the process of creation. there is no top or bottom—that the only Invention orientation would be on a table or a flat Making art is the patient and dedicated surface. When installing the paintings quest for originality through exploration, experimentation, risk-taking, and in a space, I often turn them all the way problem-solving. This process involves a commitment to openness, around or switch them.” creative thought, and vision where -Amy Sillman the deconstruction, repurposing, and synchronicity of ideas generate personal revelations that inspire divergent thinking and illuminate the multiple pathways we use to redefine and expand our unique points of view. GLOSSARY TEACHERS’ GUIDE Abstract Art This education guide provides multidisciplinary activities to capture the interest Expressing ideas and emotions by of students and inspire their creativity. It is designed to help teachers connect the using elements such as colors and classroom presentation and museum visit with Colorado’s third-grade curriculum lines without attempting to create a and state standards.