Joseph Antenucci Becherer (born 1965) is an American curator, professor, writer, and arts administrator. He is a scholar of modern and contemporary sculpture, organizing major exhibitions and installations from Auguste Rodin to Jonathan Borofsky, Henry Moore to Magdalena Abakanowicz, [1] Jenny Holzer to Ai Weiwei. [2]
He is the director of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame. [3] Concurrently, he is a professor of art history in the university's department of Art, Art History and Design. Formerly, he was the chief curator and vice president of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he directed the departments of Sculpture and Sculpture Exhibitions, Horticulture and Annual Exhibitions, Communications and Public Relations. Additionally, Becherer served as the Lena Meijer Professor in the History of Art at Aquinas College, where he taught courses in Renaissance, Baroque, and Contemporary Art. [4]
Becherer was born in Canton, Ohio, to Joseph and Joanne Becherer and attended Catholic schools. He uses the name Antenucci in honor of his maternal grandmother, Rose Antenucci. At Canton Central Catholic he developed a serious interest in art and literature.
He attended Ohio University on scholarship and received a BFA and an MFA in art history with minors in English literature and studio art. For several semesters he studied in Rome, Florence and London. A seminar on Donatello opened his interest in three-dimensional forms. His mentor was Marilyn Bradshaw PhD, a Renaissance scholar, but he wrote his thesis on the modern painter and printmaker, Georges Rouault.
After initial teaching assignments and museum work, he enrolled at Indiana University, Bloomington. He completed his PhD under the direction of Bruce Cole, distinguished professor and later chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. His dissertation focused on Pietro Perugino and the foundations of American collecting. [5]
Following a period of teaching at Ohio University as a sabbatical replacement, Becherer moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. During the 1991–1992 academic year he developed an art history program for Grand Rapids Community College, and successively served as department chair, Assistant Dean and then Dean of Arts, Liberal Arts and Social Sciences leading more than 120 faculty. Simultaneous, he did consultation work for Prentice-Hall publishing and the Grand Rapids Art Museum. [6] For the later he organized the landmark exhibition, “Pietro Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance” in 1997-1998 – the first of its kind anywhere in the world.
After a period of consulting work, Becherer officially joined Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in 1999. The organization was only four years old when he became the founding director and curator of the now internationally renowned sculpture program helping to realize the vision of retail magnate and philanthropist, Frederik Meijer. Becherer also began teaching upper divisions classes at Aquinas College.
At Meijer Gardens, Becherer developed a permanent collection opening in the late 19th century with iconic works by Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol, Jacques Lipchitz and Joan Miró, to Louise Nevelson and Barbara Hepworth, Mark di Suvero, Hanneke Beaumont and Beverly Pepper, [7] Richard Serra and Jaume Plensa, [8] Antony Gormley and Louise Bourgeois. In all the collection hosts more than 300 works across the campus including at 25 acre sculpture, but in concert with gardens and natural environments across the 158 acre campus. In 2015, Meijer Gardens opened the Richard and Helen DeVos Japanese Gardens [9] designed by Hoichi Kurisu including iconic works by Anish Kapoor, Jenny Holzer, Zhang Huan and Giuseppe Penone among others. [10] In addition, he has developed a major collection of works on paper, models and maquettes for the organization.
Thus far, Becherer has organized nearly fifty exhibitions including retrospectives for Jim Dine (sculpture), [11] [12] Beverly Pepper and George Segal. He has published dozens of books, catalogs, essays and articles.
Independently, he lectures and advises on projects across the country, Europe, Japan and China.
Becherer has served on numerous national and international projects including those commissioning major public works by Dennis Oppenheim and Maya Lin. In 2010–2011, he served as National Chairman of the committee to commission a sculpture of President Gerald R. Ford for the Rotunda of the US Capitol Building. [13]
He currently serves on the Board of the Midwest Art History Society [14] and the Ohio University Alumni Association and advisory boards to the International Sculpture Center. [15]
“Ai Weiwei at Meijer Gardens: Natural State”, January 27 – August 20, 2017 (with gallery guide). [16]
“Mimmo Paladino: Present into Past”, February 26 – August 14, 2016 (with catalogue and gallery guide). [17]
“Connected-Disconnected. The sculpture of Hanneke Beaumont”, January 2013 - April 2013. [18]
“Jonathan Borofsky: Human Structures and the Light of Consciousness”, (with gallery guide), January – May, 2009. [19]
“Outside In - Sculpture for the Natural World”, (with catalogue), September - October, 2004 for Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago. [20]
“Color and Light: Chihuly at the Gardens”, January – May 2003. [21]
Becherer and his wife, Lisa, have two sons and live in South Bend, Indiana.
Dale Chihuly is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is well known in the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture".
Jaume Plensa i Suñé is a Spanish visual artist, sculptor, designer and engraver. He has also created opera sets, video projections and acoustic installations.
Magdalena Abakanowicz was a Polish sculptor and fiber artist. Known for her use of textiles as a sculptural medium and for outdoor installations, Abakanowicz has been considered among the most influential Polish artists of the postwar era. She worked as a professor of studio art at the University of Fine Arts in Poznań, Poland, from 1965 to 1990, and as a visiting professor at University of California, Los Angeles in 1984.
George Warren Rickey was an American kinetic sculptor.
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a 158-acre (64 ha) botanical garden, art museum, and outdoor sculpture park located in Grand Rapids Township, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1995, Meijer Gardens quickly established itself in the Midwest as a major cultural attraction jointly focused on horticulture and sculpture.
Philip Grausman is an American sculptor, known for his portrait works.
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of "tofu-dreg schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In April 2011, Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing Capital International Airport for "economic crimes," and detained for 81 days without charge. Ai Weiwei emerged as a vital instigator in Chinese cultural development, an architect of Chinese modernism, and one of the nation's most vocal political commentators.
Beverly Pepper was an American sculptor known for her monumental works, site specific and land art. She remained independent from any particular art movement. She lived in Italy, primarily in Todi, since the 1950s.
Excessivism is an art movement. In 2015 American artist and curator Kaloust Guedel introduced it to the world with an exhibition titled Excessivist Initiative. The review of the exhibition written by art critic and curator Shana Nys Dambrot, titled "Excessivism: Irony, Imbalance and a New Rococo" was published in the Huffington Post. Its early adopters go back to late 20th century.
Chakaia Booker is an American sculptor known for creating monumental, abstract works for both the gallery and outdoor public spaces. Booker’s works are contained in more than 40 public collections and have been exhibited across the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Booker was included in the 2000 Whitney Biennial, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Art in 2001. Booker has lived and worked in New York City’s East Village since the early 1980s and maintains a production studio in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Mimmo Paladino is an Italian sculptor, painter and printmaker. He is a leading name in the Transvanguardia artistic movement and one of the many European artists to revive Expressionism in the 1980s.
Laura Ford in Cardiff, Wales, is a British sculptor. She is currently president of the Royal Society of Sculptors.
Hanneke Beaumont is a Dutch sculptor known for her large scale figurative works in terracotta, bronze and cast iron.
Carole A. Feuerman is an American sculptor and artist working in hyperrealism. Feuerman utilizes a variety of media including resin, marble, and bronze. She has been included in exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery; and Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy.
The Snite Museum of Art, was the fine art museum on the University of Notre Dame campus, near South Bend, Indiana. It included about 30,000 works of art that span cultures, eras, and media. The Museum supported faculty teaching and research and through programs, lectures, workshops, and exhibitions. Students played a role as gallery guides and as student advisory members.
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale is an open-air museum for Contemporary Art in Canada. It is a non-profit charitable organization that mounts a major outdoor sculpture exhibition, biennially. Each exhibition is accessible for a two-year period, featuring international artists, New Media and Performance Art, in the cities of Vancouver, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Squamish and Richmond public spaces. The sculpture is in situ and is open to the public 24/7, 365 days a year.
ARTZUID is an international large-scale sculpture exhibition which takes place every two years in Amsterdam.
The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park is a 4.4-acre (1.8 ha) park within Western Gateway Park in Des Moines, Iowa. It opened in 2009 with 24 sculptures, with four more acquired later. The sculpture park is administered by the Des Moines Art Center and contains works by artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Jaume Plensa, Ai Weiwei, and Barry Flanagan. It is considered "one of the most significant collections of outdoor sculptures in the United States".
Michael Hue-Williams is a British art dealer and gallery director. He currently lives and works in London, and owns Albion Barn gallery in Oxfordshire.