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 associate curator, 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.
