New/Now Exhibition by Shantell Martin

October 16th, 2020.

This week was quite different in terms of installation. Most of the exhibitions are curated by the museum’s associate curator, and the “New/Now: Shantell Martin” exhibition was not different. Except that the artist was there to make most of the decisions, which made the job much easier for everybody. Having the artist on site was very helpful, she knew exactly how she wanted everything to look, where things should go, and how to be displayed. Another great thing about this installation is that the entire gallery was for her solo exhibition, which means there aren’t any other artists’ work “fighting” for a specific spot on the wall. The best part of this whole installation is that we did not have to install the main piece because Shantell drew the mural directly on the museum’s wall. There was just a small group of guests in person, and a live broadcast on both NBMAA Facebook and Instagram accounts. Her work was done by improvisational composition of drawn line, making the exhibition even more exciting to see. It was interesting having the artists with us, seeing the connection of her work with her personal life, and loved ones, as well as her achievements as an artist in the fashion and design industry. According to Shantell, this was the most extensive installation of her work in both time period and scope of media represented. The visitors will get to see her work from the early stages thorough her personal sketchbooks, commercial collaboration with fashion label such as Puma, Tiffany & Co, and Max Mara. There are furniture, apparel, and more. Definitely a must see exhibition.

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October 23rd, 2020

This week we finalized installing the works of Shantell Martin. I got to select the pieces that show Shantell’s “uniform” that she uses to create her paintings. The apparel were hung and displayed in nice stands, as well as some other pieces in plexiglass cases. But Shantell’s signature not only is in the gallery, she took over the whole museum. Visitors can spot her work in different areas. From the moment you walk into the museum you can start seeing her work in random places, taking a ride in the elevator, enjoying a beverage at the cafe, and if you’re lucky, you might spot some drawings on some walls throughout the museum. This installation is so nice, clean, and playful. Her drawings are very dynamic and make your eye travel along the canvas. The colors on some of the pieces make her signature black and white drawings pop to a whole new level. And the apparel makes you want to wear each piece, especially the Puma sneakers collaboration, my personal favorite. This is definitely an exhibition that everybody will enjoy from children to adults.

Later in the week, during some art maintenance, I had to do a condition report on a piece located in the educational department. Just like during any condition report I usually start by analyzing the entire frame, the inner corners of the painting, etc. But this time as soon as I look at the piece I noticed something that caught my eye right away... and it wasn’t the beautiful foliage in the painting but instead, it was the shimmering brightness of good old glitter [insert a small panic attack face here]. How and why does that painting have glitter all over it? I still don’t know and probably wouldn’t want to know. I had a moment of sadness and disappointment, it was a little painful to do that condition report. One thing is certain, we can add this to the list of why some people dislike glitter. Lucky this piece is far away from the galleries and everything else that the public can happily enjoy.