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State of the Art: Lenka Clayton

As a portion of Tempoary Art Review’s long-form “social response” to the State of the Art exhibition, participating artist Lenka Clayton has compiled a comprehensive email exchange with the museum, spanning a full year from the initial studio visit, to logistics about the exhibition, and, finally, to her invitation to participate in this survey. The meandering, exhaustive exchange is a compelling document of the scope of a single artist’s inclusion within a massive survey that amplifies this discourse a hundred-fold. Mirroring her own work, which often measures, transcribes and transforms the mundane, Clayton’s communication with Crystal Bridges is presented almost unedited, with only names and private details removed when it was determined necessary.

11 October 2013 at 16:13

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art request for studio visit Oct 17-18

Dear Lenka,

I’m writing on behalf of Don Bacigalupi, President of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and assistant curator Chad Alligood to inquire about your availability for a visit to your studio or a gallery that represents you in the Pittsburgh area. Don and Chad will be in the Pittsburgh area between Thursday, October 17 and Friday, October 18. If you are amenable to a 20-30 minute visit at some point during that period they would like to touch base and view some of your work.

If you are interested and available for a visit, please reply with your preferences for appointment times as well as a studio/gallery address and a phone number for contact so that we can schedule our itinerary with your preferences in mind. I look forward to your reply!

Kind regards,

Stephanie Clendenin

Executive Assistant, Special Projects

 

11 October 2013 at 19:43

Dear Stephanie,

Thank you so much for your email. I would be delighted to meet Don Bacigalupi and Chad Alligood while they are in Pittsburgh. I have an exhibition at the moment at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, in which I am showing a good deal of my recent work. The gallery does not represent me but I wonder if they would be interested to meet me at the exhibition and we could view the works together. Might this be of interest? Either of the dates you mentioned would be fine, could around 10 -10.30am work? If other times work better please let me know.

Thanks again, I look forward to hearing from you.

All the best,

Lenka

 

14 October 2013 at 10:21

Request for studio visit

Dear Lenka,

Last Friday, I sent a message requesting a visit on behalf of Don Bacigalupi and Chad Alligood from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. I mistakenly asked if you were available on Thurs or Fri. Don and Chad will actually be in Pittsburgh on Tues and Weds of this week. If you are available for a visit and are interested in meeting, please reply at your earliest convenience or give me a call.

Many thanks,

Stephanie Clendenin

Executive Assistant, Special Projects

 

14 October 2013 at 11:21

Hi Stephanie,

No problem. I tried to call and left a message. I can meet tomorrow at 4pm or thereabouts. Does that work? And what do you think about meeting at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts as I mentioned in my last email?

Many thanks,

Lenka

 

14 October 2013 at 11:55

Hi Lenka,

Thank you for getting back to me. 4 p.m. would work at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Where exactly should they meet you? Also, would you mind leaving open 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. in case traffic puts them a little ahead or behind schedule?

Thank you very much for being so flexible.

Many thanks,

Stephanie Clendenin

Executive Assistant, Special Projects

 

14 October 2013 at 12:12

Hi Stephanie,

That would be fine. I will be 20 minutes away so if someone can call me 20 minutes before I can easily accommodate time changes. If I don’t hear anything I will be there at 4pm. I will be in the main entrance of Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. The building is painted yellow, is at the crossroads of 5th Avenue and Shady Avenue, set back a little in the park. It is marked “Marshall Building” and there is a parking lot with meters immediately outside the front entrance (accessed from Shady Avenue). I will have my cell phone with me in case anyone gets lost. I am looking forward to the visit!

Many thanks and all the best,

Lenka

 

15 October 2013

Hi Stephanie,

I wonder if you would be kind enough to pass on my thanks to Don and Chad for their visit to my exhibition yesterday? It was great to have the chance to meet them. I also wanted to ask if they would be interested in being on my mailing list. I send an occasional newsletter out relating to exhibitions and so on and hoped that I would be able to keep in touch with them.

Thanks and all the very best,

Lenka

 

18 November 2013 at 12:57

Exhibition participation

Dear Lenka,

Don and I would like to extend our sincere thanks to you for taking the time to meet with us during our recent visit. We were impressed by your work and the ideas and process that underpin it. We are interested in potentially including one or more of your works in our upcoming exhibition. We were particularly drawn to the video of how far you can be from your son, as well as the sculptural piece of objects from his mouth. To that end, we would like to share some practical information about our process moving forward.

The exhibition, which will feature a wide variety of American contemporary artists across all media, opens on September 13, 2014 and closes on January 5, 2015. We hope that this timeframe could work for you as your schedule develops for next year. You can read more about the exhibition here: http://artsbeat.blogs. nytimes.com/2013/11/11/crystal-bridges-museum-conducts-ambitious-survey-of-contemporary-american-art/

Please let us know if you are able to participate in the exhibition. Please also let us know if the proper channels for communication moving forward should include your gallery representation.

We look forward to hearing from you. Warm regards,

Chad Alligood

Assistant Curator, Special Projects

 

20 November 2013 at 16:17

Dear Chad,

Thank-you so much for your email and invitation to be part of State of the Art. I am honoured to be selected and would love my work to be a part of it. I really enjoyed meeting you and Don and am delighted to have the chance to continue our conversation. I am not currently represented by a gallery so we can discuss details in person.

The works you mentioned are available for exhibition within your time frame. Please let me know if you’d like to see anything else, or if you need any more information at this stage. I look forward to working together.

All the best to you and Don,

Lenka



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