Bits of fabric, metal scraps, trash—these are just some of the experimental materials artists have used to make political statements. From sculpture to the graphic arts, a vibrant tradition of found materials, assemblage, and collage exists in Brazil, where artists have deployed these techniques to illuminate economic, racial, and environmental issues. This talk explores innovative works at the Harvard Art Museums and beyond, followed by a demonstration of how to make a collagraph print at home using found materials.
Visit the Materials Lab at Home to enjoy a series of prompts designed by our Materials Lab team to encourage you to experiment with artistic processes, including collagraph printmaking, using materials and implements found around the house.
This talk is part of a series investigating power dynamics in artworks across the collections. Considering intersections of art and power, our curatorial team discusses how artists engage with social and political crises, use art to upset systems of power, and imagine more equitable futures.
Led by:
Natalia Ángeles Vieyra, Maher Curatorial Fellow of American Art, Division of European and American Art
Joanna Sheers Seidenstein, Stanley H. Durwood Foundation Curatorial Fellow, Division of European and American Art
Francesca Bewer, Research Curator, Conservation and Technical Study Programs, and Director of the Summer Institute for Technical Studies in Art
Works explored:
Clarissa Tossin, Brazilian, Spent, 2009. Porcelain and trash. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Elaine Levin, 2018.307. © Clarissa Tossin, “Spent,” 2019; courtesy of the artist.
Vik Muniz, American, After Motherwell, from the series Pictures of Ink, 2002. Iris digital print with silkscreen varnish. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund, 2007.182.6. © Vik Muniz/Artist Rights Society, New York, N.Y.
Beatriz Milhazes, Brazilian, Coisa Linda, 2002. Fabric bound book with screenprints. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., 2017.67.
Helen Citron Boodman, American, Red White and Blue, 1973. Collagraph. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of the artist, M24129. © Helen Citron Boodman.
Helen Citron Boodman, American, Red White and Blue, 1973. Collagraph plate, appliquéd card, and foil cut-outs, pre-molded figurative elements, variously colored, on fabric-covered Masonite. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of the artist, M2430. © Helen Citron Boodman.
