The Artist in the Museum
The Oxford Art Society was very pleased to present for the first time, the Jericho Artweek Lecture, sponsored by The Oxford University Press. It was held on a wet and miserable Tuesday evening the 10th May. In spite of the weather, it was a full house at St Barnabas Church that greeted Dr Alexander Sturgis the Director of the Ashmolean Museum.
The title of the lecture was “The Artist in the Museum” Dr. Sturgis was introduced by our own President Johannes von Stumm. Dr Sturgis presented us with a most interesting, illustrated talk, looking at the way artists interact and react with works of art in museums and how museums engage with contemporary artists and what can emerge from the encounter.
The Ashmolean has a long track record of doing just that. Now coming to the end is an exhibition featuring Elizabeth Price who has created work by looking at the collections and archive material in the Ashmolean and the Pitt Rivers. “Beyond the Balcony” artists Brook and Black have worked with two local community groups MIND and Young Dementia to explore and reinterpret Manet’s ‘Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus’. Other examples he gave were, of Picasso’s interpretations of Las Meniñas and the work of Paula Rego whilst she was artist in residence at the National. The insight he gave us in the way in which museums work with artists was most informative.
All in all it was a most enjoyable evening Dr Sturgis has set the bar high for future Jericho Artweek Lectures. The Oxford Art Society looks forward to presenting next year’s Lecture. Our thanks go to Lucy Stopford, Jane Hope and Anna Nicholson for organising this most successful event.
Peter Farley, Chairman of the Oxford Art Society