Pairs and Partners: Curatorial Conversations

Pairs and Partners is all about points of view—specifically the points of view of museum curators. In this series of exhibitions drawn from the permanent collection of the MMFA, curators and other “guests” demonstrate the variety of ways in which works of art might be interpreted, based upon an individual’s education, experience, and judgment. In each installation, the curators select two works of art from the museum’s collection that address the show’s specific theme. They will then compare and contrast the works they have chosen, specifically explaining how they feel their chosen works address that theme.

The second exhibition in the Pairs and Partners series is devoted to the concept of portals, that is, something which functions as a passageway from one place (or state of being) to another. Interpreters will be examining the idea of portals (for example, doorways) as the viewer might discern them in the work of art. The idea of the portal is specifically tied to the concepts of position, space, and time; artists may exploit those references to encourage the viewer to assess how concepts or objects can convey a sense of physical or psychological passage.

Exhibition overview from museum website.