What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette F or its two new exhibitions, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville brings the art outside and the nature in. "Color Field" opened June 1 and invites guests to meander the North Forest where large, colorful sculptures occupy every point of view through the forest. "Nature's Nation: American Art and Environment" opened May 25 in the temporary gallery space and uses an artistic lens to consider humanity's relationship with and effect on the environment. The two summer exhibitions are being sold as a combo ticket through Sept. 9, when "Nature's Nation" closes. Though the themes are unrelated, both exhibits also encourage the viewer to reflect back on pieces and messages in the permanent collection. "It's an opportunity to think expansively about painting and think expansively about color and about what both of those things can do," muses Allison Glenn. Glenn is the associate curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and developed "Color Field" after noticing the number of color field paintings in the permanent collection. The color field painters — like Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler and James Turrell — fit between the abstract expressionist movement and the pop art movement, Glenn explains. It's a form that makes color itself the subject of the work through utilizing large swaths of pigment, focusing on color in a field rather than mark-making or technique. "I thought, what a wonderful way to introduce some key ideas around color theory and how color impacts not only the color around it, but how color impacts mood, how light impacts color, how color shifts based on the time of day and based on the amount of light available," Glenn recalls. FEATURE 8 WHAT'S UP! JUNE 2-8, 2019 FAQ Art Out, Nature In Beauty spills out onto museum grounds PHOTO COURTESY GILCREASE MUSEUM, TULSA, OKLA. Alexandre Hogue's "Crucified Land" (1939) is part of the section of "Nature's Nation" that considers the scale of humanity's impact on the environment. The piece reflects how industrialization had expanded to affecting full regions. Here, the land itself has been crucified for the sake of progress. 'Color Field' WHEN — Through Sept. 30 'Nature's Nation: American Art and Environment' WHEN — Through Sept. 9 WHERE — Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville COST — Combo ticket for both exhibits, $16; 'Color Field' will be $12 after Sept. 11; both are free to members, veterans and youth 18 and younger INFO — 418-5700, crystalbridges. org "The sculptures are brightly colored, a lot of them are abstract forms, and they have elements of interactivity," Glenn says of several works in the "Color Field" installa- tion. "I really wanted to place the work in the forest in ways that would entice guests to get closer, to walk the path, to engage, to explore. So, the interactivity became some- thing that was presented by some of the artists, but also an opportunity for guests to engage and to kind of place their bodies in this experi- ence."