Curatorial Creations: The Vision of Manon Slome
By Donna L. Clovis
T he powerful will and self-confidence this story reveals is apparent immediately upon meeting Manon Slome, Chief Curator of the Chelsea Art Museum. Tall with dark hair, she gives off an ambiance of determination.
At first, Slome did not want a career in the art world. Her father, an artist, passed away when she was a small child. She decided that she never wanted to get close to something that hurt her so badly like art.
Although she started her education in literature, in which she holds
wall text must be informative.”
After her fellowship with the Whitney Museum, Slome was hired as curator for the Guggenheim Museum, where she spent seven years curating exhibitions. Slome longed to work in the contemporary art scene and later became the curator for the Chelsea Art Museum, where she has resided for the last five years. With Chelsea Piers across the street from the museum as an international seaport and location for immigration, Slome believed that an international flavor for the museum was very important.
“We don’t produce the same blue chip art,” said Slome.
Beginnings of an Exhibition
Her thoughts for an exhibition at the Chelsea Art Museum begin with an idea and an image. She builds upon the ideas and images from various artists to create the body of the exhibition over time. She researches artist works in depth in order to make a concrete show. When asked about receiving unsolicited work from artists, Slome comments that she does not consider it.
“There’s a lot of footwork done to select artists for my shows,” said Slome, “I go to artist studios, visit art fairs, and international exhibitions where I can see large bodies of works at once.”
Slome’s favorite contexts for art involve politics, where reportage and fine art have blurred their boundaries. These contexts are often revealed in the titles of exhibitions shown at the museum. Slome is currently developing The Aesthetics of Terror for the autumn 2008 season. The exhibition will depict the idea of terrorism and its representations
a PhD from Columbia University, she soon became involved in the curatorial aspects of art through the Whitney Independent Study Program, and her family’s artistic heritage emerged anyway. As part of the Curatorial Fellowship, she competed for an exhibition by submitting a proposal called Articulations. Her proposal won, and she curated her first show as part of the Whitney Program.
Slome sits back in her chair, the determined, triumphant note in her voice still echoing in the room. She seems to be catching her breath, for she has been speaking passionately about her experiences and high standards toward the display of art. “It is important for a curator to have an eye about the showing of art,” said Slome, “There is a responsibility to the art, even the
as discussed ever since 9/11. Very few of these contemplations have tackled the issue of specific formal qualities and pictorial strategies of terrorism. The show investigates certain visual characteristics of the spectacle of terror and its echoes in contemporary art. The exhibition also employs the distinction made by artist Roee Rosen on the principle gap between representations of underground terrorism produced by terrorist groups, and images of state terror.
Past exhibitions, such as Slome’s Anxiety, investigated the mood of America today and the reality of attacks on American soil, the imminence of war, and the erosion of civil liberties. More recently, Dangerous Beauty examined the description of beauty in today’s society and how the cult of beauty is structured and