Spotlight: Inside Collections Care and Conservation
SEP 15, 2023–APR 28, 2024
As CSM’s first complete chronological installation in more than two years and the third installment in CSM’s “Spotlight” series, this installation seeks to reacquaint visitors with a thorough overview of Clyfford Still’s sixty-year career—with a twist. Conservation-themed “spotlights” are integrated throughout all of CSM’s nine galleries to delve into the theory, process, and conservation techniques as they relate to the work of Clyfford Still.
Each conservation vignette explores a specific issue or topic relevant to CSM’s collections, offering viewers an enhanced understanding of Still’s process, materials, and artwork through a conservator’s lens at the Clyfford Still Museum. Spotlights are revealed through interpretative gallery text, scientific imagery, and related artworks and build in complexity over the installation. This organization provides the viewer with a linear way of understanding the technical and philosophical scope of modern conservation and preservation-related practices and how they relate to CSM’s collection.
Co-curated by CSM conservators James Squires, Pam Skiles, and curator of collections, Bailey Placzek, this exhibition includes never-before-seen works by Clyfford Still, behind-the-scenes views of museum collections and conservation practices, and archival objects illustrating Still’s art-making process and preservation philosophy.
Enjoy more ways to connect to the collection and our Museum with the new Clyfford Still Museum mobile guide, available on the free arts and culture app Bloomberg Connects, available via Google Play or the App Store. Scan the QR code to download Bloomberg Connects and find CSM’s digital guide. Access behind-the-scenes audio and video content and commentary from curators and our community in the digital guide.
Photo by Brent Andeck Photography
Spotlight: Inside Collections Care and Conservation Exhibition Tour, Part I
Bailey Placzek, CSM’s curator of collections and Spotlight co-curator, takes us through an introduction of this exhibition.
Spotlight: Inside Collections Care and Conservation Exhibition Tour, Part II
Listen as Spotlight co-curators Pam Skiles and James Squires, take us through the first two galleries of the exhibition.
Spotlight: Inside Collections Care and Conservation Exhibition Tour, Part III
Listen as Spotlight co-curators Pam Skiles and James Squires, take us through the third, fourth, and fifth galleries of the exhibition.
Spotlight: Inside Collections Care and Conservation Exhibition Tour, Part IV
Listen as Spotlight co-curator James Squires takes us through the works on paper gallery and The Making Space.
Spotlight: Inside Collections Care and Conservation Exhibition Tour, Part V
Listen as Spotlight co-curators Pam Skiles and James Squires, take us through the final galleries of the exhibition.
Behind the Scenes: Conservation of PH-1026, Part I
Clyfford Still painted PH-1026 in 1959, but the painting looks very different in our collection today. Watch as CSM’s chief conservator James Squires and senior paintings conservator Pam Skiles take a close look at the painting and discover what has occurred as it has aged.
Behind the Scenes: Conservation of PH-1026, Part II
There are many ways to bring PH-1026 closer to the condition Clyfford Still imagined in 1959. Listen in as CSM’s chief conservator James Squires and senior paintings conservator Pam Skiles present their findings to director Joyce Tsai and curator of collections Bailey Placzek and discuss strategies to prepare PH-1026 for exhibition.
Behind the Scenes: Conservation of PH-1026, Part III
Take a peek into the treatment process of PH-1026 with CSM’s chief conservator James Squires. Using both mechanical and physical conservation techniques on a portion of the painting, PH-1026 returns to its original state before our eyes.
