{"id":322542,"date":"2018-05-31T16:00:22","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T20:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=322542"},"modified":"2019-01-07T15:42:20","modified_gmt":"2019-01-07T20:42:20","slug":"sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/","title":{"rendered":"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

When he was a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, Jonathan Binstock began researching Sam Gilliam, one of America\u2019s most prominent abstract painters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt challenged by the work,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t understand it then and I can still say that I don\u2019t quite grasp it entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, Binstock, now the Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery<\/a>, is respected as an international expert on Gilliam. He has cocurated the Washington, D.C.\u2013based artist\u2019s first solo museum exhibition in Europe, \u201cThe Music of Color.\u201d Opening this month at the Kunstmuseum Basel<\/a>, which houses one of Europe\u2019s significant public collections, the exhibition will run simultaneously with Switzerland\u2019s Art Basel<\/a>, the largest and considered the most selective modern art fair in the world.<\/p>\n

In addition, Binstock will lead a VIP tour of the Gilliam exhibition and the opening of Art Basel for members of the University and MAG communities who are taking part in the \u201cArt Travel\u201d program of the Memorial Art Gallery.<\/a> The behind-the-scenes looks are highlights of a weeklong trip to Switzerland organized by the Gallery Council.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Art Basel attracted 95,000 people\u2014many of them private collectors and representatives from museums and institutions around the world\u2014over six days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no greater global stage for art than this,\u201d Binstock says.<\/p>\n

\"abstract
Fishing Well,<\/em> 1997. (Memorial Art Gallery photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Music of Color\u201d presents some 50 works from public and private collections in Europe and the United States. The show focuses on a period of great radicalism for Gilliam\u2014from 1967 to 1973\u2014in which he poured acrylic paint directly onto unprimed canvas, then folded and crumpled the canvas before the paint dried. It also covers work reflecting the 1968 race riots, and the polarizing debate over black art and abstract painting in 1960s and 1970s America.<\/p>\n

The show was cocurated by Josef Helfenstein, director of the Kunstmuseum Basel in Basel, a city on the Rhine River in northwest Switzerland.<\/p>\n

Helfenstein characterizes Binstock as \u201cindispensable in many ways\u201d in advising which of Gilliam\u2019s works should be exhibited.<\/p>\n

\u201cJonathan was also a great sparring partner both for the artist and me,\u201d he says, \u201cand I think the result will be the proof of what a productive conversation this has been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilliam is known for his vivid drape paintings, hung not on wooden stretcher bars but unsupported like curtains, or bunting. They are never hung the same way twice. He never stopped creating abstract work despite accusations from African-American contemporaries that he didn\u2019t support civil rights\u2014other black artists were making figurative pieces meant as overtly political statements about civil rights from the 1960s to the 1980s\u2014and even as abstract art fell out of favor internationally between the late 1960s and the early 2000.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam remained committed to abstract painting precisely when it seemed irrelevant, but he also demonstrated how painting was also sculpture, also architecture, and also performance art,\u201d says Binstock, who completed the first doctoral dissertation on Gilliam, curated a major retrospective of his work for the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and wrote a monographic catalog on his work. \u201cIn this way he helped lay the groundwork for the interdisciplinary thinking and making that is so central to artistic practices today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"portrait
Jonathan Binstock, the Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the\u00a0Memorial Art Gallery. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Binstock characterizes the fact that Gilliam\u2019s work remains a challenge\u2014long after he sat partially bewildered as a doctoral student in Sharon Patton\u2019s African-American art history class\u2014as \u201ca testament to its strength and quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artnet News<\/a>, in fact, recently characterized Gilliam, represented internationally by Los Angeles\u2013based David Kordansky Gallery, as a \u201cliving legend\u201d who is \u201cenjoying his greatest renaissance yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something in there for Binstock as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I think it means that I get to join the club of people who say, \u2018Do what you love, do what you think is right, and it will all work out,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m very glad Sam is getting his due for what he has accomplished, and I\u2019m very fortunate to have been able to play a role in helping him achieve the recognition he so rightly deserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m enjoying a fantastic ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Robin L. Flanigan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Binstock is respected as an international expert on Sam Gilliam, one of America’s most prominent abstract painters. Now the Memorial Art Gallery director is cocurating the artist’s first solo museum exhibition in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1112,"featured_media":322562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13092],"tags":[29502,936],"class_list":["post-322542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-arts","tag-featured-post-side","tag-memorial-art-gallery"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMAG director showcases American artist on global stage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jonathan Binstock, an international expert on abstract painter Sam Gilliam, is cocurating the artist's first solo museum exhibition in Europe.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jonathan Binstock, an international expert on abstract painter Sam Gilliam, is cocurating the artist's first solo museum exhibition in Europe.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-31T20:00:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-07T20:42:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachael Brown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachael Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rachael Brown\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/941b57c512c7b52f4a8ff8b968b0c4d8\"},\"headline\":\"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-31T20:00:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-07T20:42:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":744,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"featured-post-side\",\"Memorial Art Gallery\"],\"articleSection\":[\"The Arts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/\",\"name\":\"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-31T20:00:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-07T20:42:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/941b57c512c7b52f4a8ff8b968b0c4d8\"},\"description\":\"Jonathan Binstock, an international expert on abstract painter Sam Gilliam, is cocurating the artist's first solo museum exhibition in Europe.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Middleboro, 1976. By American artist Sam Gilliam, in the Memorial Art Gallery collection. (Memorial Art Gallery image)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/941b57c512c7b52f4a8ff8b968b0c4d8\",\"name\":\"Rachael Brown\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/rbrown\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage","description":"Jonathan Binstock, an international expert on abstract painter Sam Gilliam, is cocurating the artist's first solo museum exhibition in Europe.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage","og_description":"Jonathan Binstock, an international expert on abstract painter Sam Gilliam, is cocurating the artist's first solo museum exhibition in Europe.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2018-05-31T20:00:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-07T20:42:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rachael Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rachael Brown","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/"},"author":{"name":"Rachael Brown","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/941b57c512c7b52f4a8ff8b968b0c4d8"},"headline":"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage","datePublished":"2018-05-31T20:00:22+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-07T20:42:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/"},"wordCount":744,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg","keywords":["featured-post-side","Memorial Art Gallery"],"articleSection":["The Arts"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/","name":"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg","datePublished":"2018-05-31T20:00:22+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-07T20:42:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/941b57c512c7b52f4a8ff8b968b0c4d8"},"description":"Jonathan Binstock, an international expert on abstract painter Sam Gilliam, is cocurating the artist's first solo museum exhibition in Europe.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/fea-sam-gilliam.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"caption":"Middleboro, 1976. By American artist Sam Gilliam, in the Memorial Art Gallery collection. (Memorial Art Gallery image)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-gilliam-mag-director-showcases-artist-on-global-stage-322542\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MAG director showcases American artist on global stage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/941b57c512c7b52f4a8ff8b968b0c4d8","name":"Rachael Brown","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/rbrown\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322542"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":357322,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322542\/revisions\/357322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}