Be Here Now: Conversations Between Objects

Black and white photo of white fence post with BE HERE NOW carved into the side

Lou Stoumen, American (1917 – 1991), ‘Be Here Now’, Santa Monica, 1980, from the “Ordinary Miracles” series, gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 inches, Gift of Robert and Gail Carlsen, CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder, 2012.04.17, Photo: Jeff Wells, ©Lou Stoumen Archive/Museum of Photographic Arts

rounded triangle of reddish stone with a hole drilled in the top

Unidentified Artist, Loom Weight, n.d., slipped terracotta, 3 x 2 ½ inches, gift of Hazel E. Barnes and Doris J. Schwalbe, 2011.10.16. Photo: Jeff Wells / © CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder.

Bright collage of abstract vases on wall

Betty Woodman, American(1930-2018), Vases and Windows III-04, 2010, woodcut monotype print, 39 1/4 x 34 1/2 inches, gift of David and Annette Raddock, CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder, 2013.05. Photo: Jeff Wells, © CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder.

Be Here Now: Conversations Between Objects

February 12–March 23, 2016

is the second exhibition in a series subtitled Conversations Between Objects, which provokes a dialogue between artworks that span different time periods and geographic locations.

Setting the stage for this exhibition of recent acquisitions are the photographs of Lou Stoumen (1917–92), which consider the fragile nature of the human body expressed through the objects we create and their inevitable deterioration over time. These black-and-white images document human intimacies, labor, leisure and loss from all over the United States and elsewhere in the world.

Curated by Sandra Q. Firmin, director, CU Art Museum.

This exhibition is generously supported by CU Boulder Student Arts and Cultural Enrichment fees, and CU Art Museum members.

View images of the exhibition installation here.