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Sharon Kopriva, Breaking Bonds, 2019, 5 Panel Piece, graphite and collage on paper, 80 x 113 inches |
"...My Mom’s back was hurting from having to stand in the gallery, and she was becoming impatient for her martini, so I decided to decline Sharon Kopriva’s invitation to a dinner..."
Sharon Kopriva: No Small Thing - Hilliard University Museum - Damn, I Missed the Dinner
My Mom’s back was hurting from having to stand in the gallery, and she was becoming impatient for her martini, so I decided to decline Sharon Kopriva’s invitation to the dinner after the opening of Sharon Kopriva: No Small Thing at Hilliard University Museum. Before leaving the museum, I gave my regrets to Sharon, who was chit-chatting with philanthropist and art collector Marilyn Oshman. Marilyn told me she too was beginning to feel fatigue from standing in the gallery, and Sharon told me that taking care of my 88-year old mother was more important than the dinner. “She’s your mother!”
So I missed the dinner. However it was fun to be invited. And it was fun to have some of my writing included in the exhibition catalogue for Sharon Kopriva: No Small Thing. My stuff appeared alongside comments by important curators and art writers. It was particularly fun to bank an additional exhibition catalogue without having to compose new material. That’s hard work.
Although, I regret I missed the dinner. I missed the chance to hang out with LouAnne Greenwald, Director of the Hilliard Museum. And with Bradley Sumrall, who organized Sharon’s 30-year survey exhibition Terra Verde: The Art of Sharon Kopriva at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans in 2012. Terra Verde opened on the day of my birthday. I regret not being able to spend time with Hilliard Museum Curator of Exhibitions, Benjamin Hickey. I thanked Benjamin for putting my stuff in the museum’s catalogue, nose to nose with some biggies.
Houston collector Lester Marks was invited to the dinner. He’s really big. I don’t know if Lester went to the dinner, because I missed it. Houston philanthropist Curry Glassell was invited to the dinner. One day I would like to meet her. Papercity editor Catherine Anspon, was invited to the dinner. I adore Catherine. So was Houston gallerist Deborah Colton. Ditto Deborah. Savannah real estate big-wig Bradford Moody flew to Louisiana for the dinner. “Good Lord woman, it’s been hectic, I arrived here yesterday, and had dinner with Michael and Jean Kreamer, Jeanie’s on the Board of the Hilliard. Tonight I’m going to Sharon’s dinner, and tomorrow, LouAnne coerced me into going on a Swamp Tour. In a boat.”
Brad, don’t fall out of that boat. Last week my nephew Jacques captured a 12 foot long gator.
In 2013, Susie Kalil wrote a fine description of Sharon’s work in Art in America: “Kopriva (b. 1948) gained widespread recognition when Walter Hopps curated a solo exhibition of her work at the Menil Collection in 2000. Equal parts archaeological dig, torture chamber and formalist exploration, her compelling oeuvre - often consisting of eloquent meditations on the body as well as on ritual, faith and the natural world - possesses the power to bring you to a complete stop.”
At the time of Sharon’s 2000 solo exhibition at the Menil Collection, referenced by Kalil, I was too timid to speak to her. Probably because Sharon was well known. A few years later, after we became acquainted, I realized how dumb that was.
Among the many things Sharon and I discussed in our 2014 interview, was the impact of Peruvian mummies on her sculptures. When I traveled in Peru, I went to Nazca to see the Chauchilla Cemetery, a large burial ground with mummified corpses in open mud bricked tombs or pits. Many of the mummies had hair preserved. They were wrapped in colorful textiles, some remarkably un-faded. Sharon spent quite a bit of time in Peru, knew the Nazca necropolis mummies, and acknowledged they lent artistic inspiration. Perhaps you can trace Sharon’s rotting-mummy aesthetic in her sculpture The Cardinal.
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| Peruvian Mummy from Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru |
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| Sharon Kopriva, The Cardinal, 1994, Papier Mache and Mixed Media, 50 x 48 x 48 inches |
Sharon Kopriva: No Small Thing at Hilliard University Art Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, through January 4, 2020.
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Sharon Kopriva, Cathedral Green, 2012. Oil and mixed media on photo canvas. 81 x 186 x 2 ½ inches |
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Sharon Kopriva and Virginia Billeaud Anderson, Hilliard Museum |
https://www.sharonkopriva.com
(Selected Articles on BoudinandBourbon.com)
Billeaud's Too, Calvin Trillin, and Jacking with Cajun Boudin - Essay
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2020/04/billeauds-too-calvin-trillin-and.html
Consciousness Screwing with Us: Rice University’s 2023 Archives of the Impossible Conference
Garland Fielder Weighs In on Architectural Design and the Creative Process
A Talk with Angie Dumas About Her Blog "Da'Stylish Foodie" - Interview
Eating Garlic Beef at Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant - Mai's Immigrant Story
Discovering S.P.Q.R. and Miraculous Oil at the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere
Visiting Azienda Agricola Casamonti in the Chianti Classico - Wine and Cinta Senese Pigs
My Visit to Houston Farmers Market
Visiting ShyKatz Cafe on Galveston Island, Historical Architecture
Romano’s Pizza - Houston Italian Restaurant - Vinny Quarto, Frank Fragale - History of Calabria Italy - Essay
Eating Oysters at Topwater Grill in San Leon at Galveston Bay - Essay
A Tribute to Legendary Wildcatter Jim Bob Moffett
A Talk with Food Guru George Graham about Acadianatable.com - Graham’s New Cookbook “Fresh From Louisiana: The Soul of Cajun and Creole Home Cooking” - Interview
Ryan Baptiste - The Light Beyond The Blight - Redbud Gallery - Echoes of New Orleans - Interview
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2020/06/ryan-baptiste-light-beyond-blight.htmlhttps://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2020/04/billeauds-too-calvin-trillin-and.html
Jimmy Domengeaux Chats about His Louisiana Wetlands Photography Exhibition - Interview
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2019/10/jimmy-domengeaux-chats-about-his.html
Avesta Persian Grill's Pomegranate Walnut Stew, Cyrus the Great, Tajikistan - Essay
Long Live Irma Thomas - Essay
A Closer Look at Christy Karll’s Painting “Swerve” – Interview
A Closer Look - Beef Empanadas with Olives - Seco’s Latin Cuisine - Essay
Giacomo Restaurant's Foradori, Rotaliano, Trentino 2015" - Red wine produced by Elisabetta Foradori in Trentino Italy - A Closer Look
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2018/06/giacomo-restaurants-teroldego-foradori.html
