Halle Exhibition Opens at Phoenix Art Museum

Around 1993, when Diane Halle decided to start an art collection, specifically a Latin American art collection, she didn’t just plunge in and start buying. Instead, she approached it as a student, researching at the Phoenix Art Museum library, tapping into the minds and expertise of then librarian Clayton Kirking, of a friend who was an art collector and of gallery owners and contemporary art experts around the world. Then, with her husband, Bruce, she began traveling and making strategic purchases, based on both knowledge and instinct.

Why Latin American art? When Diane moved to Arizona in 1980 and became involved with Phoenix Art Museum, first as a docent, then as a board member and eventually as board chair, she realized that the ratio of Arizona’s Latino population was disproportionate to the representation of Latino art at the museum and elsewhere. To her, the choice was obvious.

Twenty years later, the Diane and Bruce Halle Collection of Latin American Art is, by all accounts, the most significant collection of Latin American Art in the United States, and, quite likely, in the world. For Phoenix Art Museum, the collection is a boon. The Halles have already gifted selected pieces to the museum and more are promised.

"The Space Between," 1970, by Antonio Dias of Brazil, inspired Dr. Vanessa Davidson to name the exhibition "Order, Chaos and the Space Between." The black cube represents the beginning and the white cube represents the end. "It's the space between that counts," Davidson says. "It is an apt metaphor for the Halle Collection as it continues to grow and evolve."

With the opening of "Order, Chaos and the Space Between," an exhibition of part of the Halle Collection, on Feb. 6, 2013, the couple have come full circle, back to the place where Diane’s interest was piqued so many years ago. During installation in the Steele Gallery, the exhibition was kept under wraps. But for at least a week and a half, visitors to the museum saw a little teaser: the process of installing “Black Cloud.”

Edgar Torres Bosadilla, assistant to Carlos Amorales, meticulously applies individual moths and butterflies to the walls of Phoenix Art Museum

Starting in the Greenbaum Lobby and leading visitors on a path to the Steele Gallery, “Black Cloud,” a 2007 work by Carlos Amorales, comprises 30,000 black paper moths and butterflies. Installation took more than a week and created quite a buzz as guests got a little sneak preview during the process. Each butterfly and moth has been individually applied to the walls, with Amorales supervising the installation. The piece provides a visually stimulating entrée into the exhibition.

"Lover," by Arturo Herrera, 2009, acrylic paint on wall

Co-curated by Dr. Vanessa Davidson, curator of Phoenix Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Collection, and Dr. Beverly Adams, curator of the Diane and Bruce Halle Collection, "Order, Chaos, and the Space Between" includes more than 50 works from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, and fills 9,000 square feet of exhibition space. Multiple art forms are represented: photography, painting, sculpture, drawing and video. Davidson and Adams worked together to select artists who question the nature of the creative process, drawing from tradition but not defying it.

Visitors will see 10-foot long hand-turned and painted Shanghai pick-up sticks. They will see paintings on mattresses by Kuitca. Another artist, Felix Gonzalez-Torres has created an untitled “candy spill,” composed of candies lying on the floor – art to be “consumed” in a different way.

The exhibition, which runs through May 5, serves as a springboard to a series of four artist lectures in collaboration with Arizona State University, as the artists visit with students and lecture in classrooms. ASU students also helped with the installation of “Black Cloud.”

A book about the exhibition, “Order, Chaos, and the Space Between,” is available at the Phoenix Art Museum Gift Shop.

Information on related programs

Photo of “Black cloud” installation by Ashley Lowery

Photo at top of Diane and Bruce Halle courtesy the Halle family

Additional photos courtesy Phoenix Art Museum

Text by Cindy Miller