Adam's Masterclass | Curating and Proposals | Week 11

Tuesday 4th of December 

Adam was my personal tutor in first year and obviously that involved a lot of conversation. However, I knew he wasn't an artist per-say and I knew he was a curator but I never known much outside of that. So I was quite interested in this session we had with him yesterday! Both him and Jon spoke about how they curated certain shows and even though i was intrigued to find out more what Adam does I never expected to be overly excited about curation itself. This session proved me wrong! ( I feel like this is an ongoing theme in these every week).
When I thought of curating a show, what comes to mind is the intellect of it all, the boring side of exhibiting. However both Jon and Adam spoke how they stepped outside of traditional curating on traditional grounds. So below are the notes I have taken while Adam and Jon spoke.

I like adding the notes from these kind of meetings so I am not repeating myself and I can directly refer to them.
I was impressed by all of their achievements they have accomplished. There was not one idea I didn't dislike!  I loved how they used unconventional spaces, explored beyond the 'white cube".  Taking artwork outside of four white walls or the studio adds or changes the context to a piece. If we keep our artwork limited to a studio or traditional exhibit/gallery we are only allowing ourselves to go so far. I think this is not talked about enough. One of the reasons I chose John Moores because it seems to break that boundary and go beyond tradition and is very open and interpretative. Art has changed over the years and it will continue to do so. Taking pieces of work and placing them into a new realm not only gives your work a whole new meaning , I believe it makes it more accessible to a wider audience. Having say a painting up in a gallery can be intimidating to non - artists and I know this for a fact, they think because a certain piece is placed in a gallery amongst others it can not be enjoyed as they aren't educated in that field. However if we take this painting out of this habitat and bring it to more relaxed areas, more public areas that are in the every day situation for more people to interact, and enjoy then why not do that?

I believe from that little rant that it proves that this masterclass has definitely opened up my views on the curating of shows. What I will take away from yesterday is the  acknowledgement of space and value. Accessibility is a major thing I have come to realise since this talk and I will definitely take this into my own practise, look beyond art, take into consideration of wider audiences. Art for everyone not just for other artists.