Lecture Review: Maddy Rosenburg

Maddy Rosenberg, curator and artist, as well as the guest juror of the UNR Annual Student Art Show

Maddy Rosenberg's lecture was peppered with images representing her career as an artist as well as a curator...two professions that must be interesting to juggle but that occasionally go hand in hand with one another. From what I can remember this is one of the only lectures I've seen here at UNR from someone with both professions. Because of this, the information Maddy had to share was pertinent and distinct. (And it's always satisfying to hear the back stories of who's in charge of jurying and  curating the student show!) I really enjoyed how she juggled stories of herself as an artist with those of her as a curator...despite all the exposure to other artwork and other artists, as well as all the heat she has received for producing paintings that are so small, she remains true to herself and her artistic vision, which is one that explores (through paintings at least) relationships between architecture, color, and depths of visual space. Her artists books display more variety and variability in terms of form and content; instead of her paintings that appear to be an ongoing exploration of a conceptual theme, her books are more individualized projects that work out specific concepts.

As for her curating and gallery practices (she is responsible for Central Booking in New York), it's compelling and slightly challenging to think that she treats every exhibition she curates as her own installation project according to her vision, taking into consideration the work at hand. For this reason, she plays, explores, and innovates the typical use of gallery spaces and alters them as she sees fit. For example, as can be seen in the Annual Student Art Show, she has pieces hanging unevenly spaced from each other, not along a center line, and she has grouped pieces of artwork together according to slightly thematic relationships. Being an artist and curator simultaneously, the concept of treating each exhibition as a personal installation piece challenges the notion of where the artist's intention stops and where the curator's vision begins, resulting in shows that are definitely unique and atypical. Thanks Maddy!

Questions for Maddy would be, "What themes did you find within the student work here at UNR?" (She mentioned she didn't find an overarching theme but multiple themes) and "What does a typical day or week consist of for you?"