Summer Snow 1978

Curator: Well, that certainly doesn’t look like summer snow to me! More like brightly colored building blocks. Editor: That’s precisely the charm! This piece, "Summer Snow" by Betty Parsons, was created in 1978. Parsons was an influential figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement. This particular work utilizes mixed media, primarily wood, and falls into the realm of sculpture. Curator: Wood... reclaimed perhaps? There's such a lovely rawness. And the way she’s arranged these simple shapes... It's so playful! Is it meant to evoke… childlike wonder or… is she jiving on architecture? Editor: There's a beautiful tension there, I think. Parsons herself was quite instrumental in shaping the gallery scene in New York. Her gallery was one of the first to show artists like Pollock, Rothko, and Still, offering them a space that established them into the trajectory of art history and discourse.. Works like "Summer Snow", even if diminutive compared to say, Pollock's Mural at Iowa, demonstrate her command of materiality, abstraction, and an avant-garde vision. Curator: Hmm... that gives her creation, especially her use of color, extra nuance! I find her colour to evoke warmth. Look, even those rudimentary nails catch light in odd ways—it humanizes the structure and takes her sculpture far beyond pure form. There’s a hint of her irreverence! Editor: It really reflects how art's role was morphing, though. Parsons existed between her art making practice and being an art dealer. This brings into focus how the institutional and creative roles blurred in the 20th Century. This makes it increasingly complex to dissect what the artist's "intention" was, especially at this critical time. Curator: A delicious convolution indeed! And I think something beyond those rigid lines resonates. It feels… hopeful, against the backdrop of postwar uncertainty. Summer after snow? Something always bursts out. Editor: Right! It gives new meaning to 'building up' after deconstruction and even perhaps her career which gave voice and exposure to several of America's legendary art giants. A lovely dialogue to be sure. Curator: Yes. "Summer Snow" warms and thaws expectations of the form's potential to touch us personally!