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Minnesota artists exhibition PrograM

exhibits works

by Minnesota artists

at the Minneapolis

institute of arts

Mae P2009–2010

annual report

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Contents

3 2009–2010 Exhibition Programming

10 Financial Report

11 Background

12 How MAEP Works

13 Exhibition Proposals

13 MAEP Staff

14 2009–2010 Panelists

15 The Online Experience

16 MAEP Galleries Floorplan

17 2010–2011 Exhibition Programming

Minnesota artists exhibition PrograM

The Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP) is a curatorial department

of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) dedicated to exhibiting and

supporting artists living and working in the state of Minnesota. Begun in

1975 as a creative partnership with the MIA, the MAEP was founded by

a group of regional artists interested in creating an innovative exhibition

and programming space. What began as a year-long agreement has been

extended into an ongoing relationship between the Minnesota artist

community and the MIA.

The MAEP is a unique program in which an elected artist panel representing

the Minnesota artist community selects fellow artists to exhibit their work

at the MIA. The MAEP presents contemporary art within the context of an

encyclopedic art museum, actively inserting the state’s artists into a broader

discourse about history, art, and culture. The MAEP plays a key role in the

museum’s efforts to enrich the community through art and, in doing so,

provides a forum for contemporary art and ideas.

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2009–2010 exhibition PrograMMing

Michael Kareken: scrapNovember 20, 2009–January 24, 2010

In “Scrap,” Michael Kareken’s oil paintings memori-alized democratic piles of recyclable glass and metal, each performing as both portrait and landscape. Originally intrigued by the Rock-Tenn recycling plant seen from his studio window, Kareken began painting landscapes of piles of paper, glass, and steel, documenting their endless shifts as they mys-teriously worked their way in and out of the facility. Kareken portrayed the drama and stark beauty of a new American scene. His refuse heaps were lovingly rendered, monochromatic studies of twisted metal, as in Scrap Engines (2009), or large, scrap-carrying magnets whose painted heft dissolved in a mass of swinging energy at the canvas edges. Scrap Bottles, a 9 x 14-foot canvas, was an up-close view of a mountain of glass—green, clear, and brown, broken and whole. Kareken worked the paint into a compo-sition that hovered between figural and abstract.

Installation view, Michael Kareken’s “Scrap”

Michael Kareken Scrap Engines #1, 2009 Conté crayon on Mylar 16 x 20 inches

Installation view, Michael Kareken’s “Scrap”

Download the brochure PDF

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tetsuya Yamada: CommuterNovember 20, 2009–January 24, 2010

In “Commuter,” Tetsuya Yamada’s multi-media installation examined the lines between public and private spaces. Inspired by daily train rides in his native Tokyo, Yamada captured layers of bustling public transportation—trains, tracks, landscapes, and stations. His installation consisted of a large, rotat-ing wheel painted with two rows of unaligned black and white stripes. The turning wheel created the illusion that the stripes were moving at different speeds, evoking the feeling of being on a speeding train, watching tracks pass by. Two video cameras captured the movement. Viewers proceeded from the public space of the rotating wheel to the private, darkened space of the projection room, where each spinning video was projected on a wall. The medita-tive quality of the black and white patterns lulled viewers/commuters into their own comfortable inte-rior spaces. Yamada investigated the often-symbiotic relationship of humans to machines, celebrating the mechanical rhythms that produce daily routines.

“scrap” and “Commuter” Community Connections

• Feature article by Tamatha Sopinski Perlman, December 2009/January/February 2010 Arts magazine

• Artist-led public tour

• Gallery talk with Brenda Kayzar and David Lefkowitz

• Exhibition essays by Tamatha Sopinski Perlman and John Archer, Ph.D.

Installation views of Tetsuya Yamada’s “Commuter,” 2009Aluminum motorized wheel, video camera, light, tripod, projector, variable dimensions

Download the brochure PDF

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Foot in the Door 4February 19–June 13, 2010

Held once every 10 years, “Foot in the Door” is an open exhibition for all Minnesota artists. This ever-popular exhibition celebrates the diversity and enthusiasm of Minnesota’s visual—and, this year, audio/video—artists. It’s an important event for the arts community and a great opportunity for artists to display their work at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The sole curatorial criterion? Each submission had to fit within one cubic foot.

The first “Foot in the Door Show” was developed by the MAEP’s Artist Panel in 1979. When it opened in 1980 the exhibition featured work by 740 artists. It was a fantastic success—a whirlwind of images and ideas coalescing in one gallery. And so, an exhibi-tion and arts community event was born. In 1990

“The Other Foot in the Door Show” grew to include works by nearly 900 artists. And by 2000, the exhibi-tion had become legendary, featuring more than 1,700 artists, many of whom had participated in the previous two exhibitions.

This year, “Foot in the Door 4” at the Minneapo-lis Institute of Arts grew to be the state’s largest art exhibition, with nearly 5,000 works registered. Video and multi-media works can still be seen at vimeo.com, where viewers can still immerse them-selves in the creative energy of the Minnesota arts community.

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February 19 to June 13, 2010

Opening receptiOn thursday, February 18

MinnesOta artists exhibitiOn prOgraM

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Links

“Foot in the Door”: artist introductions

“Foot in the Door”: installation time lapse

mn original: “Foot in the Door”

mn original: “Foot in the Door: Artists of All Stripes”

“Foot in the Door” on flickr

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More Links

Minnesota Public Radio

Star Tribune: Art spotlight: Foot in the Door 4 at the MIA

Star Tribune: If the art fits, put it in a gallery

Star Tribune: Artists put their best foot forward

Mpls/St Paul Magazine

City Pages

LOL/OMG

Artforum

Art Museum Journal

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Mayumi amada: Kuon (eternal Flow of time)July 16–September 26, 2010

Mayumi Amada’s exhibition “Kuon (Eternal Flow of Time)” embraced details, where beauty speaks in its simplest forms. Small flowers, the memory of a loved one, and the intricate patterns of a handmade object all connect the present to the past, and lead to the future, to the next generation. Amada included both the material and the ephemeral; both lightness and darkness, to transform what some may take for granted into objects of uncomplicated beauty.

Amada’s work was full of the dichotomies that inhabit everyday lives, transforming man-made, cast-off materials into glowing, weightless, natural forms. The petals of each flower in Bouquets from Grandmas (2010) were made from plastic egg cartons. Amada pruned the recyclable materials around her to create facsimiles of nature, suggesting a balance among natural and man-made elements.

Installation view of Mayumi Amada’s “Kuon”

Installation view of Mayumi Amada’s

“Kuon”

Mayumi Amada,Flower Field (detail), 2008, acrylic tubingblue LED lights, wire, steel rods, washers, variable dimensions

›

Download the brochure PDF

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eun-Kyung suh: the VoidedJuly 16–September 26, 2010

The idea of encapsulating memory and experience is an ongoing theme in the work of Minnesota artist Eun-Kyung Suh. Born and raised in South Korea, Suh finds inspiration in various culturally specific container-like objects, such as Korean funereal headwear and traditional Korean wrapping cloths called bojagi. For her installation, Suh created styl-ized, three-dimensional versions of such storage ves-sels, visual metaphors implying the way most people store the memories of their life experiences.

Memory is frequently nonlinear, fragmented, and missing pieces, yet peppered with random but sur-prising moments of clarity. Personal, familial, and societal relationships and events—friendships, the deaths of loved ones, the births of the next genera-tions, the places in which one has lived, and the social and political events that have had an impact on one’s life—all have their places in the chain of sometimes tenuous memory fragments that trig-ger emotional responses and serve to contextualize one’s sense of self.

“Kuon (eternal Flow of time)” and “the Voided” Community Connections

• Feature article by Tamatha Sopinski Perlman, June/July/August 2010 Arts magazine

• Artist-led public tour

• Gallery talk with Frenchy Lunning and Richard M. Lee

• Exhibition essays by Tamatha Sopinski Perlman and David Hodges

Installation view of Eun-Kyung Suh’s “The Voided”

Eun-Kyung Suh, White–會, 2010, silk organza, thread, the artist’s father’s shirts and neckties, variable dimensions

Eun-Kyung Suh, Red–緯, 2010, silk organza, thread, images on cotton, variable dimensions

›

Download the brochure PDF

Museumattendance

553,576

2009–2010

FinanCiaL rePort

expenses

Administrative costs $ 89,894

Fringe benefits 20,676

Exhibition and project costs 58,146

Occupancy 58,793 (1,998 sq. ft. @ $20.13 per sq. ft.)

Subtotal 227,509

Support services 45,274 (19.6% of direct costs)

total $272,783

income

MIA departmental allocation $78,106

MIA fringe benefits 20,676

MIA occupancy 58,793

MIA support services 45,274

NEA-ARRA grant 50,000

Jerome Foundation 19,333

total $272,783

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Foot in the Dooropening attendance

7,160

Facebook “Likes”

2,105

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baCKgrounD

MaeP: art from the here and now

The Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP) is a curatorial department of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) dedicated to exhibiting and supporting artists living and working in the state of Minnesota. Begun in 1975 as a creative partnership with the MIA, the MAEP was founded by a group of regional artists interested in creating an innovative exhibition and programming space. What began as a year-long agreement has been extended into an ongoing rela-tionship between the Minnesota artist community and the MIA.

The MAEP is a unique program in which an elected artist panel representing the Minnesota artist com-munity selects fellow artists to exhibit their work at the MIA. The MAEP presents contemporary art within the context of an encyclopedic art museum, actively inserting the state’s artists into a broader discourse about history, art, and culture. The MAEP plays a key role in the museum’s efforts to enrich the community through art and, in doing so, provides a forum for contemporary art and ideas.

The MAEP’s strength lies in the participation of the artist community and the continued support of the MIA. This successful program is recognized nationally as a model for artists to showcase their work with the assistance of a professional museum staff.

Over the past 35 years, the MIA has presented more than 180 MAEP exhibitions of contemporary art, exploring a wide range of topics, political view-points, and artistic styles. The program has featured solo and group shows, site-specific installations, ret-rospectives, and the once-every-decade “Foot in the Door” exhibitions. Since it began, the program has supported exceptional art exhibitions, while encour-aging and developing a diverse artist community. It has often provided the first and earliest oppor-tunity to artists who have gone on to critical and commercial success. All artists who live and work in Minnesota are welcome to participate in the MAEP by attending the program’s annual meeting, nomi-nating and electing artist panelists, and submitting exhibition proposals for panel review.

MAEP artists who exhibit at the MIA benefit from the museum’s diverse audience and access to the museum’s professional support services. Exhibiting artists are provided with honoraria for their involve-ment in MAEP, and they participate at every level of exhibition planning, publication design, and installation.

The Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program is sup-ported in part by a generous grant from the Jerome Foundation.

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how MaeP worKs

the MaeP artist Panel

MAEP panelists have a very important position in the Minnesota arts community by playing a direct role in the selection of MAEP exhibitions at the Minne-apolis Institute of Arts. Composed of seven members elected to two-year terms, the panel is entrusted with the responsibility of surveying the creative diversity of Minnesota artists and selecting those whose work shows exceptional promise and quality.

During the annual MAEP meeting, either three or four new panelists are elected to ensure there is a continuity of leadership, to allow room for a diver-sity of critical voices, and to represent a variety of professional expertise. All artists who live and work in Minnesota are invited to attend this meeting and participate in the nomination and election of panel members.

The artist panel represents Minnesota’s artist com-munity. Approximately 70 percent of the artist popu-lation reside in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area and are represented by five artists from the metro area. The remaining 30 percent live outside the Twin Cities and are represented by two artists who live in greater Minnesota.

Over the course of their two-year term, panelists select exhibitions from proposals that are submitted for consideration on a rolling basis. During sched-uled meetings, panelists make decisions on these proposals following the MAEP evaluation criteria. It is essential for panelists to constructively discuss, debate, and evaluate with fellow panelists, without bias, the merits of each proposal.

In addition to proposal review, panelists are expected to represent the MAEP publicly, attend MAEP openings and other events, be an advocate for the program, and work with the program coordi-nator and associate on tasks as requested.

Duties of an MaeP Panelist

• Review, discuss, and judge artists’ proposals at monthly meetings.

• Attend MAEP exhibition events including open-ings, artist lectures, and gallery talks.

• Work with MAEP staff to promote exhibitions, initiate community outreach, and advocate for the program.

• Perform other panelist duties as required or requested.

MaeP exhibition selection

Proposals are accepted by the MAEP throughout the year. Artists living and working in the state of Minne-sota are eligible to apply.* The artist panel meets reg-ularly to review proposals and schedule exhibitions. The panel selects exhibitions in one of three ways:

• accepting a proposal submitted by an artist or a group of artists

• combining two or more artists from submitted proposals

• inviting a guest curator to organize an exhibition.

Panel Criteria for selecting exhibitions

There are many factors that contribute to the panel’s decision-making process, including the quality of each artist’s work, the coherency of the exhibition description, and the potential of each artist to com-plete the proposed exhibition based on his or her statement and resume.

The panel will make every effort to review proposals in a timely manner, but due to the volume of

proposals it is not uncommon for the panel to defer decisions until subsequent meetings. The MAEP coordinator will contact artists as soon as a decision regarding acceptance, rejection, or further consider-ation has been made.

To assist in preparing your proposal, see the attached floorplan with MAEP gallery dimensions, door widths, and ceiling heights.

The MAEP generally makes decisions on proposals that allow for at least one year of preparation for creative and studio time. During that phase, MAEP staff are on hand to facilitate all aspects of the exhi-bition process, including promotion, installation, gal-lery preparation, and brochure design.

Policies set by MaeP staff and artist Panels

Any person who says that she or he is a visual artist is regarded as such. She or he will be identified on the MAEP’s mailing list and may submit exhibition proposals for panel consideration and vote at the annual meeting. Any visual artist who lives in Min-nesota may participate in the program as previously described.*

Monthly artist panel meetings are closed to the public. The voting record of individual panelists will remain confidential; only the majority opinion shall be public knowledge. The acceptance or rejection of each proposal shall be communicated to the artist by the program coordinator. Specific comments regard-ing such outcomes may be made only by the panel-ists, who will be speaking on their own behalf. The program coordinator may provide e-mail addresses of the panel members.

*MIA staff are not eligible to apply.

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exhibition ProPosaLs

Exhibition review is ongoing. Artists may submit proposals at any time. Proposals should include all of the following:

• A two-page resume

• A general artist statement, of 500 words or less, outlining each artist’s thematic and formal interests.

• A focused statement, of 500 words or less, describing the goals, rationale, and focus of the proposed exhibition.

• Up to 12 digital images of each artist’s work.

Include images on a disc labeled with your name, e-mail address and phone number; do not e-mail images

Files should be 72 dpi jpegs, no larger than 1000 × 800 pixels.

• An image list that includes the following for each work:

ArtistTitle, series (if applicable) Date Medium Dimensions (h × w × d).

Please note: Links to Web sites are not acceptable work samples. Do not send original artwork; the MAEP will not accept or be responsible for proposals that include sketch-books, portfolios, prints, paintings, or sculptures. If you would like your disc returned, please include a SASE. Otherwise, the MAEP will not return photo materials.

Mail to:MAEP/Minneapolis Institute of Arts 2400 Third Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55404

Specific questions concerning the preparation of exhibition proposals may be directed to the MAEP at (612) 870-3035 or e-mailed to maep_info@artsmia.org.

MaeP staFF

Christopher Atkins, Coordinator (612) 870-3035 catkins@artsmia.org

Tamatha Sopinski Perlman, Associate (612) 870-3108 tsopinski@artsmia.org

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2009–2010 PaneLists

andy sturdevant (2009–2011) has writ-ten regularly about local art and artists for mnartists.org, The Rake/Secrets of the City and ARP! He has served on several panels and curatorial commit-tees, including the 2010 Art Shanty Projects. He served on the administra-tive board of the Art Shanty Projects in 2009 and has participated as an artist and performer since 2005. In 2008, Sturdevant curated the season-long History Room at The Soap Factory in conjunction with its 20th anniversary. In 2009 he co-created the Common Room at The Soap Factory, a month-long space for performance and inter-activity. Sturdevant exhibits his work locally at Art Of This, The Soap Factory, Altered Esthetics, and Creative Electric.

Megan Vossler (2009–2011) came to Minnesota in 2000 to pursue her M.F.A. at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and has become an enthusias-tic member of the Twin Cities artistic community. Her large-scale graphite drawings are exhibited nationally and regionally, at venues such as the MAEP galleries, the De Young Museum in San Francisco, The Soap Factory, and Franklin Art Works. Vossler received a McKnight artist fellowship in 2007, a Jerome Foundation fellowship in 2005, and, last year, a Jerome travel and study grant to record land forma-tions. She currently teaches drawing at Macalester College and MCAD, and lectures on art history at Walker Art Center. Vossler participated in MAEP’s

“War Mediated” exhibition.

meganvossler.com

Lyz wendland (2008–2010) is an artist from the Twin Cities area who recently graduated from the Minneapolis Col-lege of Art and Design with her M.F.A. in visual studies. While she was a stu-dent, her work combined sculptural, installation, and drawing elements. While focusing on form and repeti-tion, she began to make more site-specific work and to concentrate on creating unique environments. During her last year of graduate school she co-founded a graduate critique group with the University of Minnesota’s M.F.A. program. Wendland is active in the Minneapolis arts community and is a continuing volunteer for The Soap Factory. Her work has been shown in local galleries, including Rosalux Gal-lery, the Concourse Gallery at MCAD, and Intermedia Arts. She has also shown at the Berkeley Art Center in California, APW Gallery in New York, and The Main Gallery in Las Vegas.

lyzwendland.com

David Petersen (2009–2011) was born and raised in south Minneapolis where he is a working artist. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Minne-sota (1999) and his M.F.A. from the City University of New York, Hunter Col-lege (2003). His mixed-media and mul-tidisciplinary work has been exhibited in non-commercial galleries, guerrilla sites and DIY spaces in Minneapolis, New York City, Greensboro, Kansas City, and Dresden, Germany. Petersen was the artistic director of Art of This, an artist-run, non-profit gallery and project space on Nicollet Avenue that has presented more than 60 events

and exhibitions featuring the work of some 300 artists since its inception in 2005.

davidpetersenartworks.com

brian Frink (2009–2011) lives with his wife in an old poor farm they renovated outside of Mankato. He has been making paintings and drawings his whole life. His art, he says, has something to do with the wind, rain, snow, light, and gravity. Since 1989 he has been teaching painting and drawing at Minnesota State Uni-versity, Mankato. He has received two McKnight fellowships, in 1992 and 2001, as well as a National Endowment for the Arts visual arts fellowship in 1994. In 1992, ’95, and ’99 he received Minnesota State Arts Board grants, and in 1998 a Jerome travel and study grant that helped fund a six-week trip to Italy and Germany. Frink has partici-pated in many solo and group exhibi-tions, regionally and nationally, including a two-person MAEP exhibi-tion, “Dancing between the Known and the Magical.” Frink was an MAEP panelist in 1995–97.

poorfarmart.com

ta-coumba aiken (2008–2010) is an artist and teacher who uses his art-work to “heal the hearts and souls of people and communities by evoking a positive spirit.” Since arriving in Min-nesota from Evanston, Illinois, in 1970, Aiken has made work that has become entwined with the architecture of the Twin Cities. As a muralist, his canvases are often the neighborhoods in which he works. His style is a maze of lines

and layers of color, which he refers to as “rhythm patterns,” which become messages of empowerment and spiri-tuality. Aiken’s work calls to the ele-ments in life: the music, the wind and the whistles, the sound of the dancers’ breath. Aiken’s public works can be seen throughout the Twin Cities and around the country. His MAEP shows include “Spirit House” (1988) and “Call and Response” (2008).

decemberdesigns.com

billy x. Curmano (2008–2010), a previ-ous McKnight Foundation art fellow, trained as a painter and sculptor. His traditional objects have been exhib-ited both locally and internationally since his first solo show in 1970. His paintings represented the U.S. in the “III Vienna Graphikbiennale.” His works are included at the Museum of Modern Art library and other col-lections. Curmano is probably best known for eccentric “live art.” During one extended performance and envi-ronmental statement, he swam from the source of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. He was buried alive for three days in 1983, created a Tiger Cage on Wheels that focused attention on political prisoners, and performed for cows with a busload of baffled tourists looking on. He marked the Millennium in Death Valley with a 40-day, juice-and-water fast and traveled thousands of miles on public transportation to bring a 10-minute greeting from the Mississippi River to the Arctic Ocean.

billycurmano.com

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the onLine exPerienCe

MaePedia

The history of the MAEP is now available to the public through MAEPedia, an online project documenting more than 180 exhibitions. The MAEP’s archive is a growing resource of digitized photos, essays, critical reviews, audio, and video. The MAEPedia allows visitors access to a history whose richest resource remains its participants and visitors. New information on past and current exhi-bitions will be added as it is digitized. MAEP will continue to explore ways to bring the exhibitions and the conversations and ideas they generate to a broader audience via the Web.

social Media sites

Since 2006, MAEP exhibitions have included pho-tographs, podcasts, and videos documenting the artwork and artists in each exhibition. MAEP is taking advantage of social media sites to keep artists and art fans up to date on the latest exhi-bitions, events and news. Following MAEP through Twitter and Facebook, fans get regular updates on what’s happening in the galleries and throughout the Minnesota arts community. Exhi-bition views and event photos in and out of the galleries can be found on Flickr. For those who still prefer a friendly e-mail, our newsletters announce exhibitions and upcoming events.

see and hear the artists

Integrating the artist’s voice into the dialogue about the exhibitions has always been a priority for the MAEP. Learn more about the exhibitions through audio and video interviews with the artists. These are posted on YouTube.

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3rd Avenue entrance

North

CEILING HEIGHT=16‘ - 6“

5’ - 2”

5’ - 2”

31’ - 5”

31’ - 5”

8’

8’

27

’ - 8”

8’

8’ -

7”

8’ -

7”

[MAEP galleries defined by gray color]

13’ -

3 1

/2”

10’ -

11”

6’

6’ - 8” 3’ 35’ - 1”

30

’ - 3 “

WikiRoom

DOOR HEIGHT=10‘ - 5“

Target Wing

MAEP galleries

SECOND FLOOR

MaeP gaLLeries FLoorPLan

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2010–2011 exhibition

PrograMMing

Jennifer Davis, erika olson gross, terrence Payne, Joe sinness: FlourishOctober 22, 2010—January 2, 2011

Peter happel Christian: ground truthandMargaret wall-romana: Painting before and after wordsJanuary 21 – April 3, 2011

Paula McCartney: a Field guide to snow and iceand Liz Miller: ornamental invasionApril 22 – July 3, 2011