BLACKOUT: A Centennial Commission by Paul Henry Ramirez at the Newark Museum

BLACKOUT: A Centennial Commission by Paul Henry Ramirez
February 17, 2010 through May 23, 2010

BLACKOUT: A Centennial Commission by Paul Henry Ramirez is a major site-specific installation that allows viewers to experience painting as an environment that one can enter. Using the Museum’s Charles Engelhard Court as his canvas, renowned artist Paul Henry Ramirez employs his signature curvaceous biomorphic forms amidst a profusion of pop-inspired colors in dialogue with the Court’s distinctive Beaux-Arts architecture. Dynamic rounded black forms and fine lines that spill and shift against the adjacent walls further animate the space, as do three geometrically inspired paintings that suggest bodies pushing against each other and through space. By including these and other elements that celebrate the human form and thrive on contemporary popular culture, Ramirez creates an immersive environment that pushes the boundaries of how we define and experience painting.

Organized by E. Carmen Ramos, Guest Curator, BLACKOUT is the fourth and final commissioned project initiated to celebrate the Museum’s Centennial year. It coincides and dialogues with the major Centennial exhibition, Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America, 1920s-50s, which examines the connections among abstract artists from the United States and South America.

Friday, March 5, 6-8:30 PM

Dance Performance: Zero Point Zero

Gallery Viewing: 6-7 PM, Performance: 7-7:30 PM, Wine Reception: 7:30-8:30 PM

Choreographer Debra J. Fernandezcreates a dialogue in dance with the exhibition BLACKOUT. This second collaboration for Fernandez and Ramirez features dynamic sound and movement designed to activate Ramirez’s installation, with original music by So Takahashi and Carl Landa, and costumes by Kim Vanyo.

Debra J. Fernandez is a director/choreographer whose work has spanned dance, theater and opera. Her recent work has focused on the museum as an interactive theater space and she has directed three large-scale performance events for The Tang Teaching Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York. She is a professor and chair of dance at Skidmore College where she teaches ballet, choreography, and performance elements. During her 18 years on the faculty she has created over 50 original works for the Skidmore dancers.

Wednesday, April 28, 6-8 PM

Centennial Conversation

Panel Discussion: Abstract Art — A Living Legacy

6-7 PM Reception; 7-8 PM Program

Pre-registration required; call 973.596.6550.

Matthew Delegetwill moderate a discussion with an international group of contemporary artists including Lenora de Barros, Paul Henry Ramirez and Don Voisine. The artists will talk about the legacy of constructivist abstract art as it relates to their work and explore why abstraction continues to be a vital mode of expression.

photographs by Raymond Adams