Norton Family Christmas Project Exhibit
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Come and see an exhibit featuring art objects and artists’ books from The Norton Family Christmas Project
Where: East Faculty Exhibit Case, Young Research Library
When: December 4, 2008 – January 5, 2009
Retired computer entrepreneur Peter Norton is a contemporary art collector as well as an active participant in various civic and philanthropic activities. In 1988 the Norton Family began commissioning artists to do original, multiple-edition works that are mailed as holiday greetings to friends, colleagues, and selected institutions.
The Arts Library has been fortunate to receive these wonderful holiday greetings on a yearly basis since 1989. The objects and artists’ books that comprise the Norton Family Christmas Project collection are incredibly varied. Some of the artists have chosen to work in a more traditional book format, while others have experimented with sculptural forms using a wide variety of materials including wood, glass, plastic, and cloth.
Reinvented forms of things found in daily life are a recurring theme: a doll house, salt and pepper shakers, a music box, a teacup. A sense of whimsy runs through many of the pieces: salt and pepper shakers become snow globes, a music box exhorts us to be Silent. Many works also have a sociopolitical focus, addressing issues as varied as slavery, AIDS, and gender identity.
Taken together, the Norton Family Christmas Project objects and artists’ books provide a wonderful snapshot of the last twenty years of activity in the art world at large, presenting the work of both emerging and more established artists. The 2008 edition of the Norton Family Christmas Project will arrive while this exhibit is in progress; who knows what it will be?
Photo: Takashi Murakami, Norton Family Christmas Project 2000 © Takashi Murakami.
