Exhibitions organized at the Lightcatcher
Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
2009 – 2019
Lightcatcher Inaugural Exhibitions, 2009
John Grade, Bloom: The Elephant Bed
John Grade’s abstract sculptures reference the formation and erosion of landscape as well as global warming. This installation reflected his fascination with microscopic organisms whose shells account for the limestone sediments along the ocean floor and shoreline cliffs. Walking through this installation, visitors could explore a unique environment that changes over time. Over the course of the exhibition, several sculptures were lowered into a pool of inky-black water where they slowly dissolved. The remaining pieces were intended to be cast into Bellingham Bay during a public procession.
Out of Bounds: Art from the Collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky
The Whatcom Museum’s inaugural exhibition at the Lightcatcher highlighted Driek and Michael Zirinsky’s innovative artworks and dynamic approach to collecting. Featuring the work of 77 artists, the show underscored the expansion of art beyond its traditional boundaries. Many of the artists presented here often fuse different cultures and time periods. The themes that emerged included: Reinventing the Figure, Reimagining the Landscape, Transforming Objects and Materials, and Making Art New: Forms and Process. After the exhibition concluded, Driek and Michael Zirinsky graciously donated a sculpture by John Grade to the Whatcom Museum.
Show of Hands: Northwest Women Artists, 1880-2010, 2010
Coinciding with the hundred-year anniversary of women’s right to vote in Washington state, Show of Hands celebrated women’s contributions to the history of Pacific Northwest art. An intergenerational dialogue emerged among the artworks as the exhibition unfolded thematically and chronologically, starting with works from 2010 and moving back to 1880.
Artists were inspired by both representational art as well as biomorphic and geometric abstraction, Native American art, and the arts of non-Western cultures. The heritage of women’s handicrafts was also given a new twist by artists who resurrected and reinterpreted skills passed down through generations. Many artists conjured narratives that referenced historical, social and environmental issues. The final section of the exhibition focused on landscapes that included both mountain panorama and intimate forest views.
This exhibition was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Western States Arts Federation, and the Washington Art Consortium.
Lesley Dill’s Poetic Visions:
From Shimmer to Sister Gertrude Morgan, 2011-2012
Working at the intersection of art and language, Lesley Dill reveals the potential of words to stir feelings and convey hidden meanings. The artist experiments with a wide range of tactile materials to transplant poetry into unique compositions, creating elegantly evocative sculptures, mixed-media photographs, art installations, and operatic performances with video projection. Poetic Visions focused on two bodies of work: metallic sculptures and the installation Hell Hell Hell, Heaven Heaven Heaven: Encountering Sister Gertrude Morgan and Revelation, which was inspired by the New Orleans missionary and folk artist.
This exhibition traveled to the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon.
Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art 1775-2012
2013-2014
Vanishing Ice introduced the rich legacy of the planet’s frozen frontiers threatened by climate change. It traced the impact of glaciers, icebergs, and fields of ice on artists’ imaginations and the connections between generations of artists over two centuries. This cultural perspective revealed the importance of alpine and polar landscapes in shaping Western consciousness about the natural world. Vanishing Ice offered a glimpse into a transnational movement that informs the environmental challenges faced today.
Though the centuries, collaborations between the arts and sciences expanded awareness of Earth’s icy regions. Early artists contributed a geographical understanding of alpine mountains, the Arctic and Antarctica and captivated the public’s imagination with images of auroras and fantastical shapes of ice. A resurgence of interest in these environments as indicators of climate change now galvanize contemporary expeditions to the glaciers and the poles. Artists, writers and science have awakened the world to the beauty, extreme fragility, and life’s dependence on these environments for survival.
Vanishing Ice Traveled to the El Paso Museum of Art, TX (June-August 2014); Glenbow Museum, Calgary (September 2014-January 2015); McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Ontario (January-April 2015); A condensed version of the exhibition traveled to the David Brower Center, Berkeley, CA, (February-May 2016); Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (January-May 2018). Many Western Washington University curatorial interns over the years, especially Stephanie Pate Burgart, assisted in the organization of this exhibition.
The exhibition was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the Norcliffe Foundation, and the Washington State Arts Commission.
Radical Repetition:
Albers to Warhol
from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation,
2014
Featuring 140 artworks, this exhibition examined recurring imagery in art since the 1960s. It offered a fresh lens to to consider modern and contemporary works that represented both figurative and abstract art. Radical Repetition had a strong focus on American printmaking, but also included painting and sculpture. It highlighted work by 34 artists, including Joseph Albers, John Baldessari, Romare Bearden, Willie Cole, Tara Donovan, Anish Kapoor, Sol LeWitt.
Helmi’s World:
Symbol, Myth, Fantasy
2015
Helmi’s World presented 60 artworks – paintings, drawings, prints, ceramics – primarily from the Whatcom Museum’s collection. Helmi Juvonen (1903–1985), known simply as Helmi, was drawn to Northwest Coast native culture. She developed a rapport with the Lummi, Swinomish, Makah, and Yakama chiefs, who invited her to participate in their ceremonies. Aboriginal art and ritual nurtured Helmi’s creative spirit, empowering her to transcend gender bias, poverty, and decades confined to an asylum for mental illness.
Avidly interested in anthropology, Helmi believed, as did the Seattle photographer Edward Curtis (1868-1952), in the importance of documenting Native American spiritual life. She forged a unique style, merging Northwest aboriginal culture with modern art. The artist also conjured “imaginary things,” and many of her works reflect both the dark and light sides of the human psyche. Although Helmi has been overshadowed by other Pacific Northwest “mystics,” such as Mark Tobey and Morris Graves, she was, in many ways, ahead of her time. Her graffiti-like abstraction, mixed-media compositions, and paper cutouts relate to trends in contemporary art.
Helmi’s World was organized with the support of Dr. Ulrich and Stella Fritzsche. Dr. Fritzsche, author of Helmi Dagmar Juvonen: Her Life and Work: A Chronicle (2001), has greatly contributed to our understanding of the artist’s life and legacy.
Unhinged: Book Art on the Cutting Edge
2015-2016
This exhibition surveyed recent directions in book art through the diverse works of 61 prominent artists from Australia, Canada, Great Britain and across the United States. Including both intimately scaled pieces and large installations, it explored the limitless potential of the book as an independent medium.
Unhinged highlighted myriad artist styles and approaches, Many artists carved old volumes or twisted their pages into unique, sculptures. Others made their own books and experimented with different formats: accordion, pop-up, tunnel, and more. Some artists reconfigured ancient book forms, such as the scroll or codex, to create unique works. Books are often combined were other materials — both manufactured and natural, such as plastic and crystals — to astonishing effect.
Unhinged was curated to open viewers eyes to the complexity and cultural significance of the book. With digital media surpassing books as a means of communication, the idea that artists could infuse new life into these traditional objects underscored the continued importance of the tome in daily life. It was hoped that after visiting this exhibitions, viewers would never read or look at a book in the same way again.
Sandra Kroupa, book arts and rare book curator at the University of Washington in introduced me to many important artists included in this exhibition.
Endangered Species: Artists on the Front Line of Biodiversity
2018
Endangered Species: Artists on the Front Line of Biodiversity presented the work of 60 artists in all media – from rare books to cutting-edge video – that span the 19th through 21st centuries. It highlighted artists who celebrate biodiversity’s beauty and complexity, interpret natural and human-induced extinctions, and focus on endangered species from diverse ecosystems.
The exhibition and catalogue explored the historic role of art in raising awareness about the human activities that threaten habitats. Weaving together art, natural science, and conservation, Endangered Species also featured creative solutions by ecological artists who revitalize habitats and reconnect people to the rich tapestry of life.
The following themes were presented: Celebrating Biodiversity’s Beauty and Complexity: From Landscapes to Microscopic Imagery; Mammoths and Dinosaurs: Interpreting Natural Extinction; Portraits of Loss: Extinction by Human Activities; Endangered Species: Plants and Animals on the Edge of Survival; At the Crossroads: Destruction or Preservation of Biodiversity; The Promise of Seed Banks: Preserving Botanical Diversity.
Featured artists included John James Audubon, Brandon Ballengée, Nick Brandt, Edward Burtynsky, George Catlin, Catherine Chalmers, Mark Dion, Madeline von Foerster, Nicholas Galanin, Ernst Haeckel, Martin Johnson Heade, Patricia Johanson, Chris Jordan, Isabella Kirkland, Charles Knight, David Liittschwager, John Martin, Courtney Mattison, Susan Middleton, Alexis Rockman, Christy Rupp, Joel Sartore, Preston Singletary, Fred Tomaselli, Roman Vishniac, Andy Warhol, and Yang Yongliang, among many others.
Major funding for the exhibition and catalogue was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Norcliffe Foundation, with additional support from the City of Bellingham, Whatcom Museum Foundation and Advocates, Alexandre Gallery, and Heritage Bank.
Monica Hope and Olivia Harris, Western Washington University interns, helped me with many aspects of this exhibition.
