Exhibition Review #1

If you have not read the PDF of the Sylvan Barnet chapter on writing an exhibition review on the previous page, go back and read that now.

The arts are all forms of communication, so they need audiences. The conventional way visual artists have shared their work is to collect it and put it on display in one or more rooms, using walls, pedestals, the floor, or any manner of framing device. Once a member of the public becomes familiar with the conventions of museum or gallery display, they can begin to evaluate the way particular collections of artworks have been put together for their gaze. In this first Exhibition Review assignment you will take your new knowledge and analytic skills to a local gallery or museum exhibition, and compose an informed review.

Instructions

Select one of the free local exhibitions listed below to attend, then follow these steps:

Take a selfie at the exhibition in front of the title wall to prove you’ve attended. 

Take careful notes while walking through. How has the curator organized the space for your gaze and movement? Is there information about the concept of the show or the individual works? Too much information or too little? Note where the curator seems to have put works in conversation with each other. What works stand out or play supporting roles? Consider the lighting, the color of the walls or other staging elements, and the physical relationship you have with the works of art, which has been carefully created for you to experience.

Draft an exhibition review that has the following elements:

1. A title that engages the reader
2. An opening paragraph that informs the reader on the premise of the show
3. A thesis that consists of your argument about the value of the exhibition as a whole (not whether it was good or bad)

Body paragraphs explaining the significance of what is on display (What stands out and why? Are the objects telling a story? Are they rarely seen by the public? etc); QUESTION of the installation, The setting; High points in the exhibition and weaker choices (if there are any); 

• A conclusion that summarizes your evaluation