| Yekaterinburg. Summer 1994 |
Houston. Autumn 1994
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The TEXAS ART for RUSSIA exhibition
was initiated by an invitation from Tamara Galeeva of Ural State
University in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Ms. Galeeva had become familiar
with my work during an exhibit I had at the Museum of Fine Arts
in Yekaterinburg in the summer of 1994. And she knew of my activities
in the art community of Houston, Texas, from 1981 to 1993, before
I moved to Russia. Ms. Galeeva extended an invitation for me to
help organize exhibits of contemporary American art for the American
Information Center in Yekaterinburg.
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| Yekaterinburg. January - February 1995 |
During my tenure in Houston I had been
on the Board of Directors of the Art League of Houston. I contacted
Linda Carter, the Executive Director of the Art League and Lydia Bodner
- Balahutrek, an artist and professor of painting, to help organize
an exhibit from Houston for Yekaterinburg. With a plan in hand I contacted
Paul Smith, the Cultural Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, to
see if the United States Information Service would be interested in
helping with their sponsorship; and they were. Paul and I both thought
it would be a good idea to investigate the possibility of doing the
exhibit at other American Centers throughout Russia as well. After
contacting the primary six American centers throughout the country
and getting positive responses from all, it became simply a scheduling
problem to facilitate Texas Art for Russia.
And of course we had to get the works of forty Texas artists gathered,
prepared, crated and transported from the American Southwest to points
east. |
| Conceptually, I felt it more important
to make this exhibit an introductory program rather then get into
any specific movements or trends that might be prevalent in Houston
at that time. It was therefore my intent, to include a broad spectrum
of "contemporary" artists. That is to say, we chose and
invited artists of differing ages, a variety of conceptual approaches,
ethnic backgrounds, and with a sound representation of the kinds of
materials that were used by artists in Houston at that time. We limited
the size to 18 by 24 inches, due to the constraints of the budget
and unpredictable travel arrangements. And it was decided we should
implement the exhibits in the space of one year. The work shown was
primarily works on paper, a few collages and photography. |
| St. Petersburg. April - May 1995 |
|
Texas Art for Russia was shown first in Yekaterinburg then Tomsk,
St. Petersburg, Rostov on Don, Nizhney Novgorod, Tyumen, and it
concluded in Moscow in November and December of the 1995. Each of
the exhibits was shown for a little over a month's time in the local
American Centers of these Russian cities except for St. Petersburg
were the exhibit was hosted by the Russian State Museum at their
Marble Palace galleries. In Tyumen the exhibition was hosted and
sponsored by the Tyumen/Houston Sister City organization.
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| Rostov on Don. June - July 1995 |
| The American Centers were and are basically
libraries and resource centers. This made the installation something
of a challenge in each case. The work was presented under clear plastic
to keep the physical dimension of the work as thin as possible making
it easy to pack in two small carrying crates. We installed with any
kind of hanging device we could utilize on the spot; there was generally
limited wall space available, so we used the sides of book shelves,
drapes, display cases, etc. Tyumen gave us a local art salon to show
in which was very nice. But of course the Russian Museum was by far
the most professional and impressive venue. I personally framed the
work with individually fitted wooden frames and glass for that exhibition. |
| Nizhney Novgorod. September - October
1995 |
| As an outreach program I believe it
was very successful and it was a tremendous personal experience. I
met hundreds of Russians: students, educators, artists and arts professionals,
journalists, politicians and business people of all stripes. I presented
an average of three slide lectures daily when on the road with the
exhibit. My lectures were about Texas contemporary art, American contemporary
art in general and my own career as an American contemporary artist.
The talks were presented at universities, art galleries, Unions of
Artists gatherings, architecture groups, grade schools, and of course
in the American Centers. The following photographic presentation is
an attempt to chronicle and share fragmented portions of the year
long experience. |
|
I
owe many thanks to the cumulative efforts of the American Center
Staffs throughout Russia, Tamara Galeeva, Linda Carter, Lydia Bodner
- Balahutrek, Paul Smith and the United States Information Service,
the Art League of Houston, the Tyumen/Houston Sister City Organization,
and forty trusting artists for the year long loan of their work
for the exhibition Texas Art for Russia.
Frank
Williams
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| Moscow. November - December 1995 |
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© Frank Williams. All Rights
Reserved.
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