Hidden Treasures, Dynamic Collaborations
Henry Bermudez installing his work “Tattooed Borbures” for his show “Tattooed Nature” at the List Gallery at Swarthmore College. Photo: Andrea Packard
Swarthmore College’s beautiful campus and arboretum provide so many remarkable spaces and learning opportunities — from the amphitheater to the Nason Garden — that one could easily wander for hours without noticing the List Gallery. Walking uphill from the center of town, turning left across Parrish Lawn and passing by Clothier Circle, one enters an allé of towering Dawn Redwoods that form a shady tunnel leading to the Lang Performing Arts Center (LPAC). If you turn left at the end of the allé and face LPAC’s main entrance, you might notice a handicap ramp leading down to a stone patio and set of doors.
Behind those doors, September through May, the List Gallery’s 1,200-foot space presents about a dozen exhibitions, featuring the college’s alumni (such as MacArthur Fellowship recipient Njideka Akunyili Crosby ‘04), emerging talents, and some of the leading artists of our time.
At a time when it is more common to change jobs every few years, friends have sometimes asked me, “How can you work at the same place for so long?” Yet, after directing the List Gallery for nearly 25 years, I find that I have not stayed in the same place. This is because the college, its faculty, staff, and students, and our art exhibitions are always changing, and the process that shapes each exhibition is, in itself, so creative, open-ended, and collaborative.
That collaborative synergy can be glimpsed in the List Gallery’s current exhibitions. The inner room of the gallery features “Holding Absence,” a selection of cardboard sculptures and reliefs created by Michelle Marcuse. Marcuse, who grew up under South Africa’s Apartheid system, creates works that translate her experience of both “breakdown” and resilience. The front room of the gallery features “Tattooed Nature,” a series of large-scale collages by the Venezuelan-American artist Henry Bermudez, whose hybrid mythologies and love of pattern take inspiration from his early years living in a remote community in Venezuela’s rain forest.
Behind the Scenes
Exhibitions like these from Marcuse and Bermudez are born out of the List Gallery’s ongoing engagement with the contemporary art scene, dialogue with Swarthmore College’s Department of Art and Art History faculty, and important contributions from staff, students, and volunteers. Professor of Art Syd Carpenter, department Technical Assistant Doug Herren, and I have been following the careers of both Henry and Michelle for years. In January 2019, when I met with faculty to select future exhibitions, we agreed that Henry and Michelle model conceptual rigor, high standards of craft, and engagement with diverse media and disciplines.
After Henry and Michelle accepted our invitation to exhibit, I began meeting with them, first at the List Gallery, so they could begin envisioning their art in the space. Later, we met at their studios and nearby gallery exhibitions to begin identifying works for exhibition. As often happens, these conversations influenced their creative processes as they made new works. Last October, gallery staff and I visited their studio to begin developing interpretive materials. List Gallery interns Max Gruber ‘20 and Isabel Llosa ‘20 interviewed the artists at length and began producing a video profile of Michelle, and a transcribed and bilingual interview with Henry. List Gallery Assistant Tess Wei, who graduated in 2017 and returned to work in the gallery last fall, began writing a press release for the exhibition and preparing to introduce the artists at their joint lecture.
Swarthmore College art department studio technician Doug Herren and artist Michelle Marcuse during the installation of her show “Holding Absence” at the List Gallery. Photo: Andrea Packard
When the artists arrived at the List Gallery on January 18, Tess Wei met them, helped unload their rental truck, and assisted them as they unrolled 10-foot-wide sheets of cut and painted paper and unpacked delicate sculptures made of found paper and cardboard. I invited the artists to bring more work than the gallery could fit so that we could make final editing decisions on site. The installation process continued into the following week as Doug Herren installed hooks on the 12-foot-high ceilings and butterfly bolts in our partition walls, and I worked with the artists to finalize the selection and arrangement of art. Dedicated volunteers assisted with this process, including Patrick Li ‘23, a conscientious and insightful art handler. Bill Lotz, who regularly assists with publicity, kept our spirits high.
Once you locate the List Gallery, you’ll find an ever-changing treasure trove of exhibitions that reflect diverse collaborations. If you don’t have an affinity for a particular show, come a few weeks later, and you will find something entirely different.
Andrea Packard is the director of the List Gallery at Swarthmore College.
The List Gallery is free and open to the public Tuesdays – Sundays, noon – 5 p.m. Exhibition catalogs and a schedule of events are available on their website.
