FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NORWOOD VIVIANO TRANSFORMS STATISTICS
INTO BLOWN-GLASS FORMS DEPICTING URBAN POPULATION LOSS AND GROWTH
—Cities: Departure and Deviationexamines changes
to 25 American metropolises, questions reasons for ascents and declines;
Artist will be special guest at collaborative symposium on sea-level rise in Norfolk—
Norwood Viviano (American, b. 1972), Installation detail of Cities of New York, Norfolk, and Philadelphia, from the series
Cities: Departure and Deviation,2011, Blown glass and vinyl cut drawings. The exhibition is on loan from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in a purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund.City of Norfolk, 2015, addition is on loan courtesy of the artist and Heller Gallery, New York. Photo by Cathy Carver for Heller Gallery, New York
NORFOLK, VA. (January 14, 2016) — As the City of Norfolk and many of its leading arts and educational institutions focus their attention this winter on water and sea-level rise, The Chrysler Museum of Art presents an unexpected approach to these issues with Norwood Viviano—Cities: Departure and Deviation. The exhibition will be on view in the Chrysler’s Glass Projects Space (G. 118) from January 30 through July 31, 2016. Admission is free.
Composed in shades of white, black, and gray and hung evenly from the ceiling, Viviano’s minimalist blown-glass forms depict the dynamic histories of urban America. Read as three-dimensional timelines, his glass diagrams explore 400 years of the rise and decline of key cities’ industries and how fluctuations in manufacturing or business have prompted dramatic changes in their populations.
Each of Viviano’s 25 hanging forms represents an American city. The length of each form depicts time, the width describes population density, and a shift in color indicates a period of significant change. The artist uses 3-D computer modeling to assist with the scaling, as one of the most technically challenging aspects of crafting the works is keeping the blown-glass forms proportional. Digital renderings on the wall alongside each glass form also give population statistics about each metropolis.
The installation, arranged alphabetically, enables visitors to compare the magnitude of cities as varied as New York (population 8.2 million) and Flint, Michigan (population 102,000) and to ponder their differences. As Viviano’s works demonstrate, commercial growth has drawn together hordes of job seekers, sometimes creating cities where only towns had existed, while economic failures have emptied and devastated once-thriving communities. Viewers can contrast the now-small Rust Belt cities that have experienced tremendous industrial decline (Flint and Youngstown) with major metropolitan centers where populations have fluctuated due to complex causes, including the rise and fall of commerce, race relations, suburban flight, and international migration.
Viviano earned degrees in fine arts and sculpture from Alfred University and Cranbrook Academy of Fine Arts. His works have recently been exhibited at the Smithsonian American Museum, Renwick Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and, in 2014, at the Palazzo Bembo, Venice Biennale. As both an artist and an educator (he coordinates the sculpture program and teaches art and design at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan), Viviano embraces the process of data visualization, seeking new ways to express modes of information quickly. Most of his recent series and residencies—Global Cities, Mining Industries, Recasting Michigan, and Cities—have done so using art in a variety of media.
“By using molten glass, a material known for its warmth, fluidity, and ability to transform into nearly any shape, Norwood Viviano masterfully converts cold and rigid statistical data into a tranquil abstraction that also is a visual database,”says Diane Wright, the Chrysler’s Barry Curator of Glass and organizer of the exhibition. “Norwood says that he likes to use statistics as a tool to start conversations,” she notes. “By turning historical population data into sculpture, he hopes to promote dialogue about what can make a city thrive and what can cause it to fail.”
To investigate how these questions apply locally, Viviano specially created the glass graph of Norfolk for this exhibition at the Chrysler. One of the oldest, thus longest, cities represented, Norfolk is also very thin and even, demonstrating slow and steady population growth with only recent decline.
“It’s an eye-opening statement about the geographical, historical, and cultural factors affecting our locale over time,” Wright says. “The work raises many questions about the city’s past and future: What role have the region’s key industries, such as international shipping and the U.S. Navy, played in Norfolk’s success? What role will sea-level rise play in its future?”
The latter concern, especially key to Norfolk’s future, led the Chrysler Museum of Art to partner with Old Dominion University to host the annual Adaptation Forum. The mid-February symposium will foster dialogue about sea-level rise, how it impacts Hampton Roads, andwhat roles cultural institutions can play in educating the public about this crucial topic. Invitees include visual and performing artists, scientists, environmental activists, city and regional planners, educators, and students. They will join at the Museum to discuss how best to communicate complex information to the public in compelling, but scientifically accurate, ways. Norwood Viviano, as our special guest artist-educator, will help participants consider how they might collaborate and share resources to educate and engage our community.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Related Exhibitions
Norwood Viviano—Cities: Departure and Deviation is part of a trio of water-related exhibitions at the Chrysler Museum of Art this season.
Edward Burtynsky: Water, our winter keynote show, presents 60 large-scale color photographs by the Canadian artist. Verging between landscapes and abstractions, together they weave an ambition representation of water’s ever-more-fragmented lifecycle, as well as raise questions about our increasingly stressed relationship with our most vital natural resource.
Seascapes by William Trost Richards(1833–1905)features scores of Chrysler Collection canvases, sketches, and drawings by the master marine painter, as well as the portable materials kit that he used to capture his evocative outdoor scenes.
Cost: Admission to each exhibition is free.
Third Thursday Artist Talk: Norwood Viviano
Thursday, February, 18 | 6:30 p.m.
Artist Norwood Viviano talks about his statistics-turned-art exhibition on view in the Glass Projects Space (G. 118). After his illustrated presentation, Boardwalk Brass Band cranks out Cajun favorites in Huber Court as we celebratelaissez les bon temps rouler. Both the Museum and the Perry Glass Studio are open until 10 p.m. on Third Thursday. Cash bar at both locations.
Cost: Museum Members and students with current ID, $5 for all others. Third Thursday is generously sponsored by The Capital Group Companies and Virginia Natural Gas/AGL Resources.
Water, Cities, and Native: An Exhibition Expedition
Saturday, February 20 | 4 p.m.
Explore the art of Edward Burtynsky and Norwood Viviano, as well as new works from a commissioned exhibition that focus on the interplay between sea and land in our community. This walking tour starts at the Chrysler and ends at nearby Work|Release a few blocks away on Granby Street.
Cost: Free
Family Day: Water, Water Everywhere
Saturday, March 12 | 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
Rain or shine, this family fun is all about the H2O. Plan to get a little wet as you explore this natural resource through hands-on activities, artmaking, and more.
Cost: Free. Family Day is generously sponsored by the Bunny and Perry Morgan Fund.
Visit the Museum’s website, chrysler.org for details on exhibitions and relatedprogramming and events.
ABOUT THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART
The Chrysler Museum of Art is one of America’s most distinguished mid-sized art museums, with a nationally recognized collection of more than 30,000 objects, including one of the great glass collections in America. The core of the Chrysler’s collection was given to the Museum by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., an avid art collector who donated thousands of objects from his private collection to the Museum. In the years since Chrysler’s death in 1988, the Museum has dramatically enhanced its collection and extended its ties with the Norfolk community. The Museum, expanded in 2014 to add additional gallery spaces and amenities for visitors, now has growing collections, especially of American art, contemporary glass, and 21st-century works. The Chrysler also mounts an ambitious schedule of visiting exhibitions and educational programs and events each season.
In 2011, the Chrysler opened a full-service glass Studio adjacent to the Museum. This state-of-the-art facility features a 560-pound capacity glass furnace, a full hot shop, a flameworking studio, nine annealing ovens, and a coldworking shop. In addition, the Chrysler Museum of Art administers two historic houses in downtown Norfolk: the Moses Myers House and the Willoughby-Baylor House.
The Chrysler Museum of Art, One Memorial Place, Norfolk, and its Perry Glass Studio at 745 Duke St., are open to the public Tuesday through Sunday. The Historic Houses on East Freemason Street are open weekends. General admission is free at all venues. For more information on the Chrysler Museum of Art, visit chrysler.org.
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For more information, interview assistance, or high-resolution images, contact Amber Kennedy at The Meridian Group at (757) 340-7425 or .