Welling Discovers the Fantastic Colors of the Brandywine
It is July 8, 2015 and contemporary photographer James Welling is making one of his final site visits to the Brandywine Museum of Art. He is here working on a project developed for the Museum as a part of his exhibition Things Beyond Resemblance: James Welling Photographs.
The project is informed by the influence of Andrew Wyeth’s work on Welling’s early artistic development and will culminate in the creation of site-specific sculptures around the Museum’s campus and historic properties. This includes Kuerner Farm, where Wyeth completed hundreds of works, and where we’re now ankle deep in hay, just a few feet from a pair of excited goats.
Bringing the Exhibition to Life
My role as Preparator affords me the opportunity to work in a behind the scenes capacity, seeing the artwork up close. As a member of the Curatorial Department, I work in conjunction with the Registrar, Exhibitions Manager, and curators to coordinate the logistics of exhibitions and collection rotations. Artwork installation, framing, and packing are all part of my typical assignments.
On this not-so-typical day, my responsibility is to assist Jim at each location by measuring for scale, mapping, and recording placement details as he photographs the installation sites and close-ups of the surrounding landscape.
It is a humid day with bursts of rain. At one point, we were forced to wait under the overhang of the Kuerner barn as a shower passed, Jim photographing architectural details and swooping barn swallows. I asked Jim if he would have preferred a sunnier, more pleasant day. He responded that the weather was perfect and the colors fantastic.
When the Art Escapes the Museum
The resulting abstracted prints on aluminum, which Jim has collectively named Gradients, arrived at the Museum just before the opening of the exhibition for placement in the landscape. I returned to the selected locations to complete the mounting of the works onto galvanized steel posts put in place by the Facilities Department of the Conservancy. Jim was with me at each step adjusting the height, answering questions, and ensuring the shades of watermelon, lavender, snow and earth were placed perfectly against the scenery that inspired their creation.
I have looked forward to seeing this project, that is so closely tied to the unique environs of the museum and conservancy, come to fruition. I’ve found it to be an exciting experience to be so closely involved in the museum’s first commission of artwork by a contemporary artist. It is my hope that Jim’s work will inspire visitors to contemplate the Brandywine landscape and its many details and colors in new ways.
Gradient Images: James Welling (b. 1951), Gradient, 2015, Dye sublimation on aluminum. Installation view. Courtesy Brandywine River Museum of Art
Gradients is made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. In addition, this project is supported in part by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.