Step 1: The Exhibition
Questions about the exhibit:
1. What is the title of the exhibit?
There were 4 main exhibits on display at this museum. Betty Gold: Edge, Color, Movement, Scott Bye: Method to My Madness, Through Polish-American Eyes, and an exhibit on the Underground Railroad.
2. What is the theme of the exhibition?
The Betty Gold exhibition was a collection of serigraphs whose theme used brilliant color and strong directional objects such as arrows. There were approximately 50 of these 26x20 inch works on display and were displayed in their own room.
The Through Polish-American Eyes exhibit was also in its own room and included drawing that represented the life of Polish tradition around Christmas time. There were many drawings as well as a few displays of what a traditional Polish Christmas meal looked like.
Scott Bye’s exhibition included all structures that were composed of abstract items. He also had a segregated part of the museum for his works. The artists used a variety of other individuals disregarded items to portray his ideas of health, politics, and the economy.
The Underground Railroad focused on the history of the movement that Niagara Falls is well known for. There were many displays that explained how the slaves secretly traveled from the southern states to Canada. There was also a display of the arm and leg shackles that were used during the time.
Step 2: The Gallery
Questions about the physical space:
1. What type of lighting is used?
Most of the exhibits used track lighting to illuminate each of the art works. All of the rooms were very well lit. Scott Bye’s exhibit also used spotlights to light up his sculptures.
2. What colors are used on the walls?
The majority of the museum’s walls were painted white. There was a very large entrance room which included a massive orange wall. In the Polish-American display 3 of the walls were painted white while the other wall was painted a very vivid red color and complemented the black and white works that were on that wall. The Underground Railroad exhibit used an earthy green color scheme on all of the walls.
3. What materials are used in the interior architecture of the space?
The entire museum appeared to be just painted drywall with each of the art works attached. This museum was only one floor and it had a tiled white floor. This style seemed to make each of the art works be the focus of the viewer’s eye.
4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?
Once entering the main room of the museum there is a room immediately to the right which leads the viewer to a start. After looking at all of the artworks the viewer moves into the next of three rooms. At this point the viewer moves through the back of the museum and into another group of three rooms coming back towards the front of the gallery. The viewer moves through in an upside down U shape.
Step 3: The Artwork
Questions about the artwork:
1. How are the artworks organized?
The majority of the artworks are all grouped into their own exhibits. Each room is a different style of artworks which was very interesting.
2. How are the artworks similar?
Each of the exhibits included very similar types of works the Betty Gold exhibition displayed many of the same size works with different combinations of arrows and vivid colors. Bye’s exhibition included different structures of random objects which forced the viewer to break down each part of the work piece by piece.
3. How are the artworks different?
There were a variety of different kinds of artworks on display. Some were oil on canvas, there were some photographs, colleges, and installations. Each of the exhibitions had their own theme.
4. How are the artworks framed?
A majority of the works of art did not have any type of frame. Some of the other works included very bold thick gold frames which looked like frames from a much older style of art. Many of the works appeared framed because the artist left a small border around the works using the absence of color on the medium used.
5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?
Each of the artworks were identified using small white plaques like in the Albright Knox gallery. They depicted the artists and title of each work as well as a short description of the materials used.
6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other?
For the most part the entire gallery used about a one foot spacing between each of the art works and had them at about eye level to the viewers. There were many different works on display and made the gallery look full but not over crowded. There appeared to be equal distance between the floor and ceiling between each of the works.
Art Criticism
Artist: Betty Gold
Title of work: The Apex of Being from the Arrows Portfolio
Media: Serigraph
Date: 1970
Size: 20x26”
Source of picture (URL):
http://www.castellaniartmuseum.org/assets/Uploads/_resampled/SetWidth300-Gold-constant-contact-2.jpg
1. Description – The artist used a purple background for the entire image and included 2 arrows that meet in the middle of the work in two different colors. The arrow heads are outlined in white.
2. Formal analysis – The artist uses a variety of contrasting colors to make the arrows “pop” out. She also uses only straight lines to separate each part of the work. This piece is also symmetrical.
3. Bracketing - The arrows remind me of being directed in some way. I think that it is interesting that both of the arrows meet each other and point in opposite directions.
4. Interpretation – I think that the artists was trying to say that in any activity there is always a force from different directions and that only when they can equally meet in the middle can the activity be completed.
Artist: Scott Bye
Title of work: RV
Media: Cedar, grocery cart, wood
Date: 2008
Size: 36x36x72”
Source of picture (URL): http://www.sculpturebyescott.com/sculpture.html
1. Description – The artist used a combination of a shopping cart and pieces of wood to enclose the basket of the shopping cart and make it look like a house.
2. Formal analysis – The artist uses the cart as the base of his work and used pieces of wood to make the cart appear to be a dwelling. There are stairs leading up to what appears to be a door and a roof made from cedar shingles. The use of color makes the red cart stand out from the natural colors of the wood.
3. Bracketing – The dwelling in this piece reminded me of a small tree house. It was put together very plainly without any finishing of the wood.
4. Interpretation – I think that the artist was trying to express the idea that homeless individuals use a shopping in a way like an RV. It travels along with them and provides storage and represents their home.
Artist: Jed Jackson
Title of work: Courage My Friend the Devil and Death
Media: oil on wood
Date: 1987
Size: unknown
Source of picture (URL): http://www.castellaniartmuseum.org/castellani-art-museum-of-niagara-university-presents-jed-30-years-of-painting-by-jed-jackson/
1. Description – The artist uses mainly blacks in this piece of work to give a feeling of dark subject matter. A man and a woman stand over a man who is down on the ground. The man on the ground has his right hand extended as if he is saying stop. This man’s face is much more pale then the other 2 characters.
2. Formal analysis – Jackson uses a majority of dark colors to establish a value that the topic is dark and not pleasing. The characters are placed very close to each other and leads to a sense of compacted space. The proportion seems an unrealistic to the trees in the background but the people are proportionate.
3. Bracketing/Interpretation – Initially I felt that the subject matter was very dark. I like to interpret the art before looking at the title that the artist gave it. It seemed that the two standing individuals were connected in some way. The expressions on their face show concern but not sadness.
What did you think of visiting the Gallery and purposefully looking at the exhibition from a different perspective - the physical space, the architecture, theme, etc.?
This gallery is located in Niagara Falls where I have lived my entire life but never visited. I enjoyed the visit and was surprised by the extensive collection that they housed. I felt that they layout was very good and guided its guests in a very clear manner around the entire gallery from entrance to exit. The architecture was very clean and simple and really focused on the artwork and not the building itself. Each room was very good size and the main room was extremely large and housed some of the biggest works. I will be making another trip back in the near future.
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