Event 3 -- Fowler Museum

Early this quarter I went to check out the Fowler Museum for the first time. I have had many classes in the building's main lecture hall, but surprisingly I had never been inside the museum portion. There were some amazing exhibits, including one that had a direct link to what we've learned in this class.

The exhibit that struck me the most was Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivian Sundaram. On display were numerous garments made out of medical materials, including pills and surgical masks (as seen below) as well as items like x-rays, bandages, tampons, and many more. The collection was meant to embody a "tension between beauty and illness" but juxtaposing couture designs with practical medical supplies. 

Similar to the way in which the the age old technique of dissection was used a means of better understanding the body for art purposes, some of Sundaram's work included sculptures that had been created using anatomical models of human organs and body parts. The sculptures were a way of highlighting the fragility of the body, the harsh reality of illness, and the beautification of of human anatomy.

The exhibition The Art of Hair in Africa highlighted the beautiful hair accessories and sculptures associated with African hair styles. It was created to celebrate beauty and highlight the idea of ideal beauty and social status in African cultures that has come to be aligned with hair styles and accessories .Many of the intricate combs had striking geometrical patterns which reminded me a lot of the Math + Art lecture in which the geometry as art was a focal point. Most of the sculptures also had geometric patterns painted on them with precise lines and systematic color schemes.

The Fowler Museum was also home to many other exhibits celebrating cultures and their rich visual histories. The Museum itself was absolutely gorgeous, with a small decorative courtyard in the center.   It was a great way to explore local art right on our own campus!