Theory.Practice.Exhibitions.
When faced with the task of exhibiting the works of Margaret Gest, we were struck by the sense of dissonance between the meaning apparent in the objects, and that which is concealed, lost with time and limited record keeping. Rather than resolve this tension, we hope to materialize it and bring it to the fore of our exhibit. To this end, we wish to create a space that is at once uncannily domestic and imtimate, but also public and inaccessible.
Inspired by an inscription discovered on the back of one of Gest's paintings, the word(s) "OVERMANTEL," we chose to situate our exhibit on the back wall of the Philips Wing, a homey alcove which already feels incongruous with the rest of the library. We will hang that work, back facing out, on the wall above the fireplace where a portrait of William Pyle Philips currently hangs, while displaying various other works in pictureframes on the mantel, along with "labels" that expose our thought process. Our curatorial statement will hang on an adjacent book shelf end.
When we exhibit objects from the past, the intention is to bring those objects alive for the viewer, and when we exhibit objects tied to or created by a particular person who is no longer alive, we are expected to bring something of the life that person lived to the viewer. To what extent is this project possible? Once a life is lost, can it ever truly be represented or recreated, or is the past merely doomed to oblivion?
The word mantel arose in the 16th century, from the Latin "mantellum" or cloak, to describe the hood built above a fireplace to trap smoke. It conceals and enshrouds while literally collecting particles, refuse, essences of the past. Across history, mantels, and their predecessors, hearths, have been the religious and spiritual centers of the home, a site to display devotional objects, or familiar mementos. Through these associations, the word itself evokes the tension between presence and absence, display and obscuration, intimacy and estrangement, which is at stake in this, and perhaps every exhibit.
The text linked to the images were the corresponding labels to each of the images. The labels were placed in picture frames to evoke the domesticity of the space.
Evoking the grandeur of Magill's Phillips wing, Christine, Coutrney, and Maya chose this space to connect the painting with the writing "overmantel" on the back side to a space where the painting would likely be hung. Their use of the space and the objects within it asks Magill patrons to rethink the presentation of art and the purpose of the space.