Earlier this week, the Barry Art Museum opened one of its biggest and smallest exhibitions to date. How did we manage to do both at the same time, you ask? By focusing on dollhouses, that’s how! Let’s take a look at our newest exhibition, Dollhaus: Reimagining the Domestic Space.
About the Exhibition
Dollhouses and miniature tableaus have fascinated artists and audiences for centuries. As installations, they provide unique opportunities for artists to reimagine their work. That reimagining can take on many forms. For some artists, this happens when they adapt their work to a smaller scale. Others find new creative opportunities by partnering up with other makers on collaborative projects.
Dollhaus explores the creativity of dollhouses through a selection of historical and contemporary pieces. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a large, custom-built dollhouse. The twist is that each of the rooms has been designed by a different faculty member at ODU Art and Theatre departments.
The dollhouse installation is definitely the focal point of the show, but we’ve supplemented it with miniature selections from the permanent collection. Highlights include a glass diner scene from New Mexico glass artist Emily Brock, a 19th-century storefront filled with toys, sewing notions, and other goods, and a 19th-century novelty doll whose skirt opens to reveal a hidden kitchen.
The Rooms
In order to create Dollhaus, the Barry Art Museum invited each artist to select a room of their choice, from bedrooms to dining rooms. Each participant then received an empty wooden box. Over the summer, they designed an interior reflecting their artistic practice. The result is an eclectic installation in miniature, with no two rooms alike in concept or style. As a creative project, this centerpiece reflects on the dollhouse as an art form while showcasing the creativity of ODU’s faculty.
What I love about this installation is how each artist interpreted the prompt differently, resulting in rooms that are completely different in content and execution. Let’s consider the three photos above, for instance. On the left, Woody Robinson created a meticulous replica of his workshop in the Theatre department, complete with a tiny model of himself. In the middle, we have Peter Eudenbach paying homage to Dada and perception with his use of an antique camera and cyanotype floor. Finally on the right, Ryan Lytle has crafted a fantastical dining room complete with acid-colored snake and rabbit, providing a playful yet sinister take on the space.
Here’s a complete list of the participating artists with links to their websites:
- Heather Beardsley
- Vittorio Colaizzi
- Emily Culver
- Peter Eudenbach
- Kenneth FitzGerald
- Melissa Hill
- Emily (Mimi) King
- Kyle Kogut
- Ryan Lytle
- Natalia Pilato
- Jing Qin
- Jamie Robertson
- Woody Robinson
- Julia Rogers
- John Roth
- Kristi Totoritis
Creating Dollhaus: Many Hands and Minds
Like many exhibitions, Dollhaus went through a complex evolution. The show’s initial inspiration was Museum founder Carolyn Barry’s exquisite, custom-built dollhouse, also on view in the gallery. We wanted to create a show responding to that work. Given the dollhouse’s historicized appearance, we originally considered doing a show of antique dollhouses. However, that idea quickly proved cost-prohibitive when we started factoring in shipping expenses. As an alternative, we came up with the idea of doing an installation featuring local contemporary artists. We further refined that concept by concentrating on ODU faculty.
At its heart, Dollhaus is a collaborative effort reflecting multiple curatorial contributions. This is because a lot of the show’s conceptual work happened during my Halleran Dissertation Fellowship summer break. To stay on schedule, the show’s development had to continue while I was on leave. To be clear, I did write the label copy, worked out the show’s branding with our graphic designer, and configured the layout. But I also want to emphasize that the research of our full-time staff, Gallery Hosts, and especially guest curator Brett Day Windham informed my work. As such, I regard the show as a co-curated project, and everyone who worked on it deserves credit.
Why Dollhaus?
By now I’m sure you’re all pondering the same question: why did you spell it as Dollhaus instead of Dollhouse?
There are two reasons for the name. The first is to align the show’s branding with our Annual Public Arts Festival in October, which will feature the Rhode Island-based collective Pneuhaus. On a more conceptual level, the title playfully references the Bauhaus. An influential German art school active from 1919 to 1933, the Bauhaus combined individual creativity with mass production and functional design. Given that we were designing a house filled with rooms decorated by artists, each with their own aesthetic, we felt the reference was apt.
Come Visit Us
I consider Dollhaus a great introduction to ODU’s creative faculty, both for myself and our visitors. As a curator interested in working more closely with faculty, it’s been a really fun yet effective way to get acquainted with everyone’s studio and teaching practices. The time I spent visiting their respective studios over the summer to see their work in progress was a great opportunity to learn more about their research. For our visitors, I hope the dollhouse will serve as a unique introduction to ODU’s creative faculty and personnel.
Dollhaus will be on view through January 5th, 2025. If you’re in the area, be sure to check it out!