A little over an hour outside of New York City, The Brant Foundation Art Study Center sits atop sprawling acres in suburban Connecticut. Far from an unlikely artistic destination, the center—designed by Richard Gluckman—has long played host to riveting contemporary art exhibitions. The most recent, “Animal Farm,” might be its most important to date. Curated by artist and musician Sadie Laska, the show presents more than 50 works drawn from various movements spanning half-a-century. Visually, there’s a playfulness to exhibition and the art within. It’s very easy to walk through both floors and simply enjoy the pieces Laska selected. Of greater importance, arguably, is a curatorial experience Laska weaves through out: bright, eccentric and poppy works have great political depth if you want to delve inward.
“I was asked kind of quickly to curate the show,” Laska explains to CH. She was approached in January as a result of scheduling changes at the foundation. “Usually the exhibitions here center on one artist that the Brants have collected,” she continues, “there wasn’t enough time for an artist to do this type of [solo] show. Peter Brant [the entrepreneur, and founder of The Brant Foundation] began looking for a guest curator, and was considering an artist to curate rather than an academic curator.” Laska had performed at the foundation and through friends found herself interviewing—and then making the exhibition come together in three months time. “It was impulsive. It was write a list and get it done.” She began with the tone. “I knew the show was going to open in the spring. I was thinking about it all in a dark winter moment, post -Trump inauguration.” She met with Brant the day after returning from DC’s Women’s March. “I just thought ‘what kind of show do people need to see right now?'” she says.
May 15, 2017
