Art on Paper runs through January 25, 2009.
The tradition of an Art on Paper exhibition began when Greensboro attorney Herbert Falk approached Stark Dillard on behalf of the Weatherspoon Art Museum with the idea of Dillard Paper Company (now named xpdex) sponsoring an exhibition of works on paper. The goal was to help the museum initiate an important contemporary collection of works on a paper.
Dillard agreed, and this sponsorship has made it possible for the Weatherspoon to acquire works from each and every Art on Paper exhibition, including important works by Joseph Stella, Sol Lewitt, Romare Bearden, Larry Rivers, Louise Bourgeois, Robert Smithson, Andy Goldsworthy and Eva Hesse.
Over the years, the gallery's directors and curators have visited galleries and artists' studios in cities across the country. They have selected works, constituting a moment of the art world, and brought them back to Greensboro. The exhibition's preview party is one of the Triad art community's biggest galas. The museum's acquisitions committee decides on purchases for the Dillard Collection, and local collectors are able to acquire pieces for their personal collection.
Some of these acquisitions have been historic, said Xandra Eden, the Weatherspoon's curator of exhibitions who selected the works this year. When Eva Hesse's work entered the collection in 1967, the same year it was executed, it was the artist's first work on paper purchased by a museum. It has since become known as one of Hesse's most significant works on paper and has been shown internationally in museum exhibitions.
Robert Smithson's work was the first artwork of his to enter a museum collection also. And the Joseph Stella collage from 1920 (acquired in 1969), was quite a challenging work for the time period, and can be seen as a natural equivalent to Marcel Duchamp's ready-mades.
This year, 75 artists of regional, national and international significance are featured, with works by Dike Blair, Tomory Dodge, Harmony Hammond, Elliott Hundley, Jiha Moon, and Mika Rottenberg acquired for the Dillard Collection from this year's exhibition.
“Acquiring contemporary art has its risks,” Eden said. “But it is hoped that these acquisitions will prove their historic value over time, transcending the moment of their making in the same way that so many of the works acquired from past exhibitions have.
“Since 1965, the Weatherspoon's Art on Paper exhibition has charted a history of art through the rubric of one-of-a-kind works on paper. Today, artists working on paper enjoy increased attention by contemporary curators and collectors, and they are included in major art biennials and museum exhibitions worldwide.”
The exhibition continues through Jan. 25, 2009, and a free, public tour will be held at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 9, as part of the “Noon at the 'Spoon” series. The Weatherspoon Museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, and 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
By Steve Gilliam, Assistant Vice Chancellor for University Relations
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Xandra Eden, Curator of Exhibitions, Weatherspoon Art Museum
Photography by Chris English, University Relations
