O' Great Reverie: Montalvo 1912-2012

Description

To inaugurate the centennial year of the building of its historic villa, the Montalvo Arts Center presents an unconventional timeline exhibition entitled O’ Great Reverie: Montalvo 1912-2012. The exhibition, which is organized by Associate Curator Donna Conwell and Montalvo Design Fellows Women—the creative partnership of Los Angeles-based designers Scott Barry and Neil Doshi—will open on Friday, January 27 and run through Sunday, May 13.

For O’ Great Reverie, Conwell, Barry, and Doshi have taken what they collectively describe as an “idiosyncratic approach”: they have opted against a standard linear chronology, and forgone efforts to generate an exhaustive account of Montalvo’s history. Instead, they have focused on incorporating the diverse voices of those who have experienced and worked at Montalvo over the years, and hope to demonstrate that creating the history of a place is always based on personal selections and interpretations, filtered through the prism of the present moment.

To this end, they have organized the exhibition materials—including historical documents, letters, ephemera, photographs, audio and visual footage, and rare books all drawn from the holdings of
the Montalvo Archive and Library and the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley—around four core themes, emphasizing Montalvo’s multiple overlapping histories, focusing on personal narratives, and demonstrating the associative relationships among the past, present, and future: LANDSCAPE, exploring the way in which Montalvo’s buildings and grounds have transformed over time; PUBLICS, examining how different groups of people who have visited Montalvo over the years have interacted with it in their own unique ways; COMMUNITIES, discussing the various circles of volunteers, artists-in-residence, and staff members who have actively shaped Montalvo’s evolution; and PRESERVATION, asking important philosophical questions about the limits and legitimacy of historical restoration.

Barry and Doshi have conceived of and constructed every aspect of the exhibtion, including a modular display furniture system, audio-video viewing kiosks and reading stations, and didactic texts in the form of take-away broadsides. The designers have also crafted a series of subtle sculptural interventions in the gallery space and several creative works that respond to Montalvo and its histories. Included among these will be a a large scale photograph of one of the classical sculptures on the Montalvo grounds and a 100-page guestbook, in which visitors are invited to participate in the telling of Montalvo’s histories by recording their recollections and experiences.

Women are the inaugural recipients of the Design Fellowship awarded by the prestigious Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program at the Montalvo Arts Center. With this fellowship, Montalvo further strengthens its commitment to supporting creativity across a broad range of disciplines by fostering and advancing innovative design practice.

More Info

Link

http://www.montalvoarts.org

Call

408-961-5858 (Box Office)