[Gesamt]kunstwerk

[Gesamt]kunstwerk

Exhibition
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Cochrane-Woods Art Center
Add to Calendar 2025-01-27 09:00:00 2025-02-28 17:00:00 [Gesamt]kunstwerk There is so much pressure for an artwork to be harmonious, unified, complete. And yet, there are many times when we only have a piece of an art object at our disposal—whether that be in the form of an actual extract, a replica, a photograph, or a description. In fact, art history itself often relies on fragments of works. Some works are simply not on view, damaged, or otherwise unavailable to art historians. Even still, accessible portions are compiled for study. A lot of value lies in viewing a part of a whole, imagining what is metaphysically rather than physically present via the impetus of a fragment. In some cases, even a new aesthetic object can emerge from a portion of its predecessor.  This exhibition highlights the scholarship that CWAC houses: art historical and architectural work that frequently uses the available fragments of originals. Each featured object is either a fragment of a previously complete work, material involved in the creation or installation of a work, or a work that speaks to the significance of fragments. Objects were sourced from three campus reserves: the Joel Snyder Materials Collection at the Visual Resources Center, the Smart Museum Campus Collection, and The Renaissance Society storage. Additionally, three Visual Arts undergraduates present work of the latter category. Drawing on the concept of a “total work of art” encompassed by the German word gesamtkunstwerk, this exhibition strives to harness the ephemerality of art objects that instead are—whether intentionally or accidentally—incomplete. Totality need not be a requisite for aesthetic merit. Curators [Gesamt]kunstwerk is curated by Emma Huerta, AB’25 Artists [Gesamt]kunstwerk features work by a number of artists and makers from the collections of the Joel Snyder Materials Collection, the Smart Museum Campus Collection, and The Renaissance Society. Lade Tinubu, Maryam Shariff, and Jake Quinlan, college student artists from the Department of Visual Arts, also contributed works to the exhibition. Support  This exhibition is generously supported by the Department of Art History, University of Chicago. Special thank you to Lauren Payne, Project Manager, Collections and Art in Public Spaces, Smart Museum of Art. Special thank you to the entire team of the Renaissance Society, especially Pierre Sondeijker, Exhibitions Manager and Karen Reimer, Director of Publications and Registrar. Installation support and preparation provided by Emma Huerta, Anju Lukose-Scott, Yutao Qian, Jake Quinlan, Lade Tinubu, Maryam Shariff, and Ruoxuan Yuan.  Accessibility CWAC Exhibitions is committed to accessibility for all our exhibitions. However, the second floor of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center is accessible only by stairs. To request an accommodation or alternative format, please email visualresources@uchicago.edu.  Related Programming Opening Celebration for [Gesamt]kunstwerk, January 31, 2025 at 4pm   Cochrane-Woods Art Center Department of Art History drupal@seastar.uchicago.edu America/Chicago public

There is so much pressure for an artwork to be harmonious, unified, complete. And yet, there are many times when we only have a piece of an art object at our disposal—whether that be in the form of an actual extract, a replica, a photograph, or a description. In fact, art history itself often relies on fragments of works. Some works are simply not on view, damaged, or otherwise unavailable to art historians. Even still, accessible portions are compiled for study. A lot of value lies in viewing a part of a whole, imagining what is metaphysically rather than physically present via the impetus of a fragment. In some cases, even a new aesthetic object can emerge from a portion of its predecessor. 

This exhibition highlights the scholarship that CWAC houses: art historical and architectural work that frequently uses the available fragments of originals. Each featured object is either a fragment of a previously complete work, material involved in the creation or installation of a work, or a work that speaks to the significance of fragments. Objects were sourced from three campus reserves: the Joel Snyder Materials Collection at the Visual Resources Center, the Smart Museum Campus Collection, and The Renaissance Society storage. Additionally, three Visual Arts undergraduates present work of the latter category. Drawing on the concept of a “total work of art” encompassed by the German word gesamtkunstwerk, this exhibition strives to harness the ephemerality of art objects that instead are—whether intentionally or accidentally—incomplete. Totality need not be a requisite for aesthetic merit.

Curators
[Gesamt]kunstwerk is curated by Emma Huerta, AB’25

Artists
[Gesamt]kunstwerk features work by a number of artists and makers from the collections of the Joel Snyder Materials Collection, the Smart Museum Campus Collection, and The Renaissance Society. Lade Tinubu, Maryam Shariff, and Jake Quinlan, college student artists from the Department of Visual Arts, also contributed works to the exhibition.

Support 
This exhibition is generously supported by the Department of Art History, University of Chicago. Special thank you to Lauren Payne, Project Manager, Collections and Art in Public Spaces, Smart Museum of Art. Special thank you to the entire team of the Renaissance Society, especially Pierre Sondeijker, Exhibitions Manager and Karen Reimer, Director of Publications and Registrar. Installation support and preparation provided by Emma Huerta, Anju Lukose-Scott, Yutao Qian, Jake Quinlan, Lade Tinubu, Maryam Shariff, and Ruoxuan Yuan. 

Accessibility
CWAC Exhibitions is committed to accessibility for all our exhibitions. However, the second floor of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center is accessible only by stairs. To request an accommodation or alternative format, please email visualresources@uchicago.edu. 

Related Programming