In addition to the eye-alluring array of fine and decorative arts featured at the 2014 METRO Show, the DIALOGUES educational series is proceeding under the theme dubbed “Collecticism.” Organized by Randall Morris of the Cavin-Morris Gallery, this year’s program focuses on the way that institutions, curators, private collectors and dealers search out and choose works of art, especially those collections that cross genres. Says Mr. Morris, “Eclectic choices in collecting are how much of the post-Venice Biennale art world is proceeding these days, with art and design merging on a global level and incorporating mainstream and non-mainstream categories including: ceramics, textiles, wood, folk art, art brut as well as contemporary art.  Contemporary art itself now embraces art brut through conceptual.”

Mr. Morris has gathered an impressive list of participants ranging from independent and institutional curators to private collectors from all over the country. Topics are diverse ranging from lectures on the folk and self taught collections of the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Museum of Art–both of whom hold significant collections of folk and contemporary works by self-taught artists; a panel discussion about the implications of the very important 55th Venice Biennale, with guest panelist Massimiliano Gioni, who curated the “Encyclopedic Palace,” which questioned the distinctions between outsider and insider artists; and a lecture and panel on vernacular photography and spotlights on various unique and wonderful private collections.

In addition to the Dialogues Program,  intimate booth talks will take place at a number of stands including M. Finkel & Daughter, Cavin-Morri Gallery, William Siegal Gallery, The Ames Gallery, Gail Martin Gallery, the Carl Hammer Gallery, H. Malcolm Grimmer Antique American Indian Art, Just Folk, the Mindy Solomon Gallery, and Samuel Herrup Antiques.

Complementing the “Dialogues” education program is a morning devoted to interior design featuring a conversation between interior designer Clodagh and design marketing expert Ilene Shaw called What’s American about American Decorating?, in co-operation with the New York School of Interior Design. This will be followed by a guided tour of the fair by Maureen Footer, a leading American interior designer, whose book George Stacey and the Creation of American Chic will be published by Rizzoli on April 1, 2014, with a foreword by Mario Buatta.  Ms. Footer’s biography and cultural history focuses on this trailblazing decorator whose work in the 1930s defined American chic and established the groundwork for classic American design still in effect today.

The schedule is as follows:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23

10:20 AM: Interior designer Clodagh and design marketing expert Ilene Shaw called “What’s American about American Decorating?”

11:00 AM: Maureen Footer, a leading American interior designer, will guide visitors on a walking-tour of the METRO Show, pointing out her favorite selections from among the 35 galleries. Ms. Footer’s latest book, “George Stacey and the Creation of American Chic,” will be published in April by Rizzoli.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24

9: 45 AM: Opening Remarks by Randall Morris

10:00 AM LECTURE:

Self-taught Artists and the Mainstream Museum: the Evolution of Collecting at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Leslie Umberger:  curator of folk and self-taught art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This lecture will focus on the strategies and methodologies of a major American museum collecting and displaying work that ranges from historic Americana to contemporary work.

11:30 AM  PANEL DISCUSSION:

Life After Venice

Panelists: Leslie Umberger (curator of folk and self-taught art, Smithsonian American Art Museum), Massimiliano Gioni (Associate Director, New Museum and the artistic director of the Nicola Trussardi Foundation in Milan), Lynne Cooke (chief curator, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid), Valerie Rousseau (curator of 20th Century and contemporary art, American Folk Art Museum), Randall Morris (Cavin-Morris Gallery) and Cara Zimmerman, (project assistant curator, Philadelphia Museum of Art)  

A panel exploring the implications of the very important 55th Venice Biennale, in particular the “Encyclopedic Palace” pavilion curated by Massimiliano Gioni, which combined self-taught and contemporary art– with no boundaries or borders between them.  This democratic and insightful mixing of the two could have profound implications for the field. As Roberta Smith recently stated -  “outsider art has come in from the cold.”

1:30 PM  LECTURE: The Artist as Collector

Mike Noland, artist/collector

Mike Noland is a well-known contemporary painter who has collected art for many years.  He is represented by the American Primitive Gallery in New York City.  His lecture will explore the artist as collector, using images from his much-lauded collection of contemporary, folk and self-taught artists.

2:45 PM  LECTURE: Private Collecting to Public Collection

Cara Zimmerman, project assistant curator at Philadelphia Museum of Art, co-curator and author of  "Great and Mighty Things: Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection

Collectors are, very often, the link between great artworks and public institutions. While some museums and departments have purchased portions of their holdings, others have been formed solely through donation. The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection of outsider and self-taught art exists because of generous private donors. In providing works and—in the case of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz—entire collections, individuals have formed what is now one of the largest public collections of self-taught and vernacular art in the United States. This lecture addresses the important role private collectors play in forming public collections, and considers how the taste of individual collectors and donors has shaped how Philadelphia sees “outsider art.”

SATURDAY, JANUARY 25

9:30 AM  Introduction by  Randall Morris with a few words on Collecting

10:00 AM  LECTURE: Power Objects and The Rise of Anonymous 

John Foster, independent curator and collector

John Foster will discuss his 30-year search for objects of art that mainstream art museums have largely ignored. From the genres of folk art to self-taught art, to anonymous objects he describes as having “power and mystery,” Foster will present images from his collection as well as those of others whose objects he co-curated with Roger Manley in the 2012 exhibition "Art Without Artists,” at NC State University. Additionally, he is one of the top collectors of the emerging genre called vernacular photography, or “orphaned anonymous snapshots” that, with Foster's eye, verge on the extraordinary. It was with this particular collection in mind that Art & Antiques magazine included Foster in its list of the “Top One-Hundred Art Collectors in the United States” in 2005.

11:30 AM PANEL DISCUSSION: Vernacular Photography

Collector and independent curator John Foster will lead a conversation that will focus on the new recognition in the art world given to photography from anonymous sources.  Joining him will be Brian Wallis, Curator of Photography at the International Center of Photography; David Winter, gallerist and collector; and Dalle Kaplan, Vice-president and Director of Photographs & Photobooks, at Swann Galleries.

1: 30 PM  LECTURE: Mixing it up: Curating without Borders

Tom Patterson, art critic and independent curator

Tom will speak about his experiences collecting and co-curating with Roger Manley on the exhibition Farfetched: Mad Science, Fringe Architecture and Visionary Engineering at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, North Carolina State University.   This exhibition mixed all genres of art in a fascinating juxtaposition of art and science.  He will give a focus as well to artists Emery Blagdon and Charles A.A. Dellschau.

3:00 PM  LECTURE AND SCREENING: Bill Traylor - Coal into Diamonds with Jeff Wolf

Filmmaker Jeff Wolf, who directed James Castle: Portrait of the Artist, a well-received and important documentary film, will present a trailer of and discuss his upcoming film on the artist Bill Traylor. The South Bill Traylor was born into was created by enormous pressure from opposing directions: The increasing restrictions of white society and the expanding aspirations of black citizens. Because of and in spite of these forces a unique African American culture was born. Bill Traylor was there, observing and chronicling the birth of this new world.

4:00 PM LECTURE : Who, Why and When: A Personal Look at Our Gallery's                                Artist Selection Process

Roger Ricco, Ricco/Maresca Gallery

Roger Ricco, co- founder and owner of Ricco/ Maresca Gallery and co- author of a number of now classic books on the field of self taught and outsider art will describe the wholly intuitive manner in which he and his gallery selects and chooses to represent many contemporary artists,  whether apparently self taught  or emerging career artists. His talk will present abundant visuals of artists they are currently representing. Mr. Ricco is also known for his personal art career working in both photography and painting in the U.S . He is the recipient of the prestigious Prix d' Rome in Painting from the American Academy in Rome. He also speaks widely on the subject of the creative process of people on the autism/Aspergers spectrum.   Examples of some of these artists’ works will also be discussed.

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OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW

The Opening Night is Wednesday, January 22 and begins with a by-invitation-only Preview from 6 to 7 PM. The Public Preview begins at 7 PM. Tickets for the Public Preview are $75 dollars and are available online or at the door. Both previews continue until 9 PM. Designer Committee co-chairs include Mario Buatta, Ellie Cullman, John Derian, Maureen Footer, Mariette Hines Gomez, Miles Redd, Bunny Williams and

Katie Ridder.

GENERAL ADMISSION

The show opens to the public on Thursday, January 23. Hours are Thursday, January 23: 11 AM to 7PM; Friday, January 24: 11 AM to 7 PM; Saturday, January 25: 11 AM to

7 PM; Sunday, January 26: 12 noon to 5:30 PM. General admission is $15 per person; a four-day METROpass is $30 per person.

GENERAL INFORMATION

800.563.7632 or visit metroshownyc.com