Traveling to Curaçao: Rich in Art, History, and Culture

Once a Dutch colony (1634-2008), Curaçao is one of the richest islands, both in culture and economy, located about 40 miles off the northern shore of Venezuela. 

A cafe in downtown Curaçao.

Viviana was invited by Michéle Russel-Capriles, an art collector and gallery director of Landhuis Bloemhof in Curaçao. Michéle's grandmother, Josette Capriles Goldish, was an artist and art patron, and guided their family to be one of the main promoters of art on the island in decades past as well as today. 

This private home in Curaçao hosts an extensive collection of art. The matriarch of the family was an artist as well as an avid art lover, her family keeps her tradition alive. 

Viewing the collection inside the house. 

A stained class piece in the house. 

Michèle Russell-Capriles, Myrna (Museum director), Viviana, (Museum curator) and her baby.

One of the galleries exhibiting local contemporary art.

A gallery inside the Curaçao Museum, with traditional furniture from the colony. 

The lecture: "Challenges on the Conservation-Restoration of Art".

The lecture was about the advances in technology that have helped conservators do research in their field and improve methodology; including nanotechnology, microscopy, and photography.

At the gallery, the audience was very engaged, asked a lot of questions, and shared their experiences as conservators on the island, as well as their connections to the Dutch museums. 

Viviana found the experience very rich, and will continue to travel to Curaçao for future lectures and workshops. 

FAPAP Conference, May 2016

During the FAPAP Conference in May 2016 in Venice, FL, Viviana Dominguez gave a lecture on "A Conservator's Perspective on Public Art Materials". Below are the slides from the lecture with examples, images, and explanations of materials and processes. For more information, please visit www.artconservatorslab.com. 

New Challenges Conserving Contemporary Art: From Fine Arts to Street Art

The history of art tells us that contemporary art can be traced back to Marcel Duchamp and his Fountain (1917), a urinal signed with the pseudonym "R. Mutt". According to “The Blind Man” magazine’s article on the piece: "Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view - and created a new thought for that object." Also, café Voltaire’s regulars, Dada artists, and their “ready-mades” revolutionized the meaning of art and opened a new world of ideas and materials. 

Today, in contemporary art materials range from female stockings to mayonnaise,  anything that could be available on an art store, a supermarket, a hardware store, a trash container and everything else out there dead or alive. These are now components of the fine arts palette. 

Detail of Julianne Schnabel painting.

Julianne Schnabel, mixed media. Paint on canvas with  broken ceramic pieces.

For the AIC (American Institute of Conservation) professional conservators who uphold the institution’s standards, respecting the artist’s intention not only refers to salvaging the materiality of the artwork, but also the statement implied in the artwork. Conservators have become the new Cenino Ceninis, the custodians of the artist’s cuisine, by recording, writing, and videotaping their methodology and concepts. In the last two decades, the field dedicated to save these documents for the present and future generations is facing new challenges everyday with these new art components, from perishable products (such as salami or chocolate) to pristine finishes and electronic media.

A whole new set of relentless questions have arisen: More traditional heritage objects have well-established hierarchy of values, and so does the well-established conservation philosophies. However, when it comes to contemporary art, the conservator works with a range of different and varied conservation philosophies and approaches. For example, I was once contacted  by the City of Atlanta Cultural Affairs Division to conserve a wall drawing by Sol Lewitt from, a leading artist of the Minimalist and Conceptual movements, located on one their office building. Lewitt's mural were and still are to be executed by other people other than the artist himself, the wall drawings are executed on-site and the destroyed after the exhibition and re-done someplace else. There are only a few permanent murals and Drawing # 581(89/90) is one of them. Overtime the mural was neglected and was  severely damaged accidentally. The event left the drawing with a large loss. The restoration of the artwork was done according Lewitt's principles instead to following the conservation traditional standards. In other words, minimum intervention by treating only those areas with losses. 

Detail of the Living Room by Roy Lichtenstein, wallpaper series

Detail of the Living Room with damaged (loss) on center

Lithograph of Asger Jorn founder of COBRA (Copenhagen, Brussels +Amsterdam) movement. The group who's working methods were based on spontaneity and experiment, using found objects and materials in general. To read more click here

In terms of Street Art, once considered vandals and vagrants, graffiti and street artists are now the celebrities of major capitals of the world.  The painted walls are currently viewed as a great free art expression, taking the streets of large urban developments and beautifying the once forgotten walls. Worthy of being preserved. 

Detail of Mural by Swoon. Painted with mixed media and xerox paper pasted on top. .

Nowadays, conservators are not only trained in art history, scientific methods for material analysis, and environmental impact and treatment protocols of the artwork, but also on interviewing capabilities. The conservator keeps the dialogue open with the artist in regards to the preservation of their artwork. Also, we are being trained on rescuing art after a natural or man-made massive disaster, such as the work being done by AIC-CERT (Collection Emergency Response Team) at national and international level. 

Viviana Dominguez, the author of this blog, is an AIC professional conservator and a member of AIC-CERT.

Considerations when selecting a wall for a mural in Public Places

Location: indoor or outdoor   Orientation: North, East, South, West.

Both are important due to traffic, pollutants and light exposure. Location and orientation will have an impact on the mural and make it more or less vulnerable to decay. 

Indoors murals:

We can better protect indoor murals by creating a controlled climate, but be careful in terms of the location. Mold can easily grow in areas where the air is not flowing, and the humidity is high. Also, the proximity to a kitchen can be a problem due to high temperatures and soot. 

Murals in corridors could be very vulnerable to abrasions. There are also structural issues to consider related to a building's structure, such as cracks or the breakage of mortar. Remember, the mural is an integral part of the architecture so it moves and settles with the building. 

Mural by Jean Charlot is at the Lee College Theatre (entrance hall) in Pearl City, Hawaii.  

The theatre attendees rest there elbows and place their drinks on top of the ledge, damaging the mural over time.  Detail of scratches and paint losses. 

Outdoor murals: 

Are more exposed to weathering. Sunlight produces fading, so it is important to select a surface that is not too exposed to the sun, or that is protected by architectural hangers.

Paints used need to be of high quality, and pigments lightfast. A clear coating protection with UV filter is recommended. 

Graffiti is one of the main concerns, so applying an anti-graffiti coating may be appropriate to improve protection. Remember that anti-graffiti coatings need to be maintained. 

"Whale of a Mural" is located on an under pass in the City of Santa Monica, CA

Detail the painting showing the paint detaching due to salt efflorescence coming through the concrete walls.

Removing graffiti from vinyl mural in Miami's
Wynwood District.

Most important

•  Prepare the wall prior to painting the mural (cleaning, removal of loose materials, and priming).

• Consider alternative substrates or supports that may improve longevity.

•  Make sure the materials are compatible (substrates are compatible with the paint layer, pigments are lightfast).

•A conservator can assess the wall and approve materials.

• Apply protection.

• Have a maintenance plan in place.

Artist Jill Weisberg