In this series of paintings I make the guard is subject. I explore their place in the gallery. Where in the gallery are they? What is their sight line in relationship to the works on display, or the passage to the next gallery guarded by a colleague. Are they standing still? Are they fidgety? Or do they stand in a yogic rest position? Do they walk? Back and forth? Are they pacing? Do they stare straight ahead? Are they open to making eye contact? I have seen all these behaviors and more.
To what extent are they there because the management considers it good practice, and to what extent because the insurance policy requires their presence?
What do they know about the artworks in the galleries they’re stationed? Could you ask them a question about any of them? Some museums educate the guards about the exhibits, and to share what they learned with the interested visitor. I appreciate such empowerment.
I paint these from snapshots I’ve taken over the years. I say snapshots, as I take them candidly, capturing them as they are, unposed, arms crossed or akimbo, standing, leaning or sitting, empty-handed, or reading a leaflet, or scrolling on a cell phone.
At home, I go through the photos and pick the ones that speak to me the most, based on the guard’s juxtaposition with art and other features, their pose, their place in the architecture, etc.
I skew the selected photo in Photoshop to make the vertical lines parallel, and crop the photo to the proportion of the canvas I plan to paint the painting on.
I think of these paintings as odes to the guards expressed in a medium they protect.
A guard at the Pace Gallery Richard Tuttle exhibition alerted me to the fact that the shadows on the wall were drawn by Tuttle himself. I might not have picked this up if not for the guard.
Hi Bernice,
Thanks for telling me about this. I did a quick google search to see if I could find an image of this, but haven’t yet. Do you know which of the Pace Galleries it was, and what year it was?
Thanks,
Erik
I talk to the guards sometimes. Some are artists. Some have an osmosis art education from working in museums. At The Met, there is an employees exhibit every couple years. The guards’ works are some of my favorites. One piece from years ago was called The Guard’s Dilemma– it was Ed Ruscha style with the painted words: PLEASE TOUCH.
Hi Esther,
I’m reading Patrick Bringley’s “All the Beauty in the World.” He’s a guard at he Met. Fabulous book. He is definitely an art student by way of osmosis. I writes about the staff exhibit. I’d love to see the next such exhibit. He also writes that the guards started a magazine called “Sw!pe” in which guards share (or shared) their creative outputs in all kind of disciplines.
Erik