Katy Thompson, Associate Director of Education
An art museum with an archive!? Archives aren’t just for books! Though we may think of archives as solely residing in libraries, in practice, many institutions, both public and private, host an archive. Levi’s Jeans, for example, has an archive of denim items (and other ephemera) dating back to the late 1800s. Referring to both the accumulation of historical records or materials–in any medium–and the actual space in which they reside, archives are predominantly unpublished, primary source documents, like letters or diaries, kept to show the history and/or function of a private business, non-profit, or even a solitary person. These unique documents are selected for continued preservation because of their value to cultural history; for example, newspapers have archives to provide insights into the past that also allow historians and others to verify information. Artworks are also primary documents, products of the social, cultural, and economic environment in which they are created. These selected materials, whether letters or artworks, curate the histories told about past and present; therefore, many are working to deconstruct these repositories and make them easily accessible and available, expanding the stories told to reflect the diverse world in which we live.
The Special Collections and Archives Initiative builds and cares for accomplished, perhaps under-appreciated, contemporary artists (late-20th to early-21st century). Masters of their craft, these American photographers, printmakers, and painters provide large quantities of their work for the FWMoA to both preserve their legacies and trace their development as artists, in both style and technical skill.
Take a look at a work from each of the artists in our Archive; altogether, more than 1,300 works of art were donated by this group in the last four years. What do we select to be saved, and why?
John and Lynn Bower
Recent additions, John Bower is an Indiana photographer traveling back country roads to capture the abandoned structures and objects of Hoosier life. His black-and-white photography recalls the past and nostalgia as he photographs the state’s history through architecture, farming, cemeteries, and agriculture. Lynn Bower works in a variety of mediums, and her humorous art pulls people from the mundane and predictable to re-experience child-like wonder.
Art Cislo
Raised in a Polish-Catholic household, theological discussions with his family surrounding their faith and stories from the Bible captured Cislo’s imagination and informs the subjects of his art.
Robert Kipniss
Painter, printmaker, and writer, Kipniss’ prints hint at human life by depicting spare, modest houses and shadowy interior spaces. With no figures, his primarily domestic scenes visualize his interest in the poetry of one’s surroundings.
Dennis McNett
First and foremost a storyteller, McNett’s wood engravings transcend their 2D applications through his use of carved markings for relief prints. These prints are repurposed into collage materials and enter the sculptural real through grandiose installations at museums, art centers, and other environments.
Katja Oxman
Oxman’s multi-plate aquatint etchings are still lifes of richly patterned Oriental rugs that display an arrangement of shadow-less objects including opened letters; postcards from museums; birds, feathers, and nests; potted plants; and ripe fruit and vegetables. A nearly bird’s-eye perspective, the viewpoint is a callback to Japanese woodblock prints. Emanating a sense of stability and calm through their warm and earthly subtle range of tones, Oxman’s prints reflect on domesticity, a departure from her more geometric layouts at the beginning of her career.
David Shapiro
Shapiro’s abstract paintings are a riot of shape and color balanced to invoke the meditative practices of Eastern traditions and meditation in general. His compositions include adjacent square or rectangular panels united by a shared color scheme and broken patterning. His 2016 gift, courtesy of his wife Yara Trokel, of nearly 800 prints and paintings is the largest in both scope and value in this history of FWMoA’s collecting.
Steven Sorman
Sorman’s abstract, visually compelling prints and paintings include complex linework, intimate details, and vivid color. Though FWMoA began collecting his work in 1985, it wasn’t until 20 years later that the collection truly began to form.
Chuck Sperry
Printmaker and poster designer Chuck Sperry is recognized for his use of psychedelic color (often employing up to nine color layers to achieve his hypnotic designs and patterns) and homages to Greco-Roman muses, Art Nouveau, the Belle Époque, and vintage rock albums. Whether designing a rock poster or a fine art poster, his work expresses the synergy of pop culture and iconography.
Want to see works in person? Visit our Print & Drawing Study Center Tuesday-Friday, 11am-3pm, or by appointment.