CREATING JOY: ART INSPIRED BY MUSIC

Salazar's Painting On view in the Lehr Gallery June 9 – September 20, 2020 Harrisburg, PA

"Gnomes," Salazar's painting was selected for this National Show. The painting is a remix on Stonenhenge Paper, and was created by Salazar for the 2nd Movement of:  

 Modest Mussorgsky composition Pictures at an Exhibition, a solo piano work--capturing in music---sound--a viewer's experience at an exhibition of paintings by Viktor Hartmann. Mussorgsky composed ten short movements for ten of Hartmann's paintings, each rendering a sonic response to the visual.” Hartmann was what the Russian critics called “a man of the 6o’s”. “The phrase refers to the period in the 19 century in which Russian artists in every medium sought to create a distinctively Slavic renaissance in peasant handicraft, folk-song, folk-tales, the daily life of the contemporary world, and the traditions of medieval Russia.”

Sonic experience has long been a powerful influence on artistic expression. Practicing the visualization of music helped Modernist artists break free of traditional subject matter and begin to think abstractly. Artists Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg were directly inspired by the music they listened to in their studios, while the Rolling Stones and Patti Smith collaborated with iconic visual artists to create new works of art for their albums.

In a divisive contemporary world, music is one of the best ways to cultivate joy in our daily lives. Susquehanna Art Museum is interested in how artists find joy at the intersection of music and art. Works were selected for this exhibition by juror Melissa Feldman. They provide unique perspectives on the joyful relationship between music and art both visually and conceptually.