Robert and Ingrid Wiegand

The video works of Robert Wiegand and his first wife, Ingrid, were made in the 1970s when video art was first making an appearance in the art world. During this early period of video creation, the mechanical nature of the medium was a source for experimentation and inspiration. Robert and Ingrid Wiegand translated their prior training as painters into a hands-on, process-oriented exploration of this new electronic medium, allowing the aesthetic possibilities of video to take center-stage as they discovered how to manipulate sound, layer images and capture narrated performances.

This exhibition highlights several of the Wiegands’ works in which technological aspects of video are explored. Georges, Julie, Omar es el Uno, Face-Off, and Walking (interstices) are played in a loop and serve as intimate documentations of the artists’ early experimentations with new media. These works are on loan from the collection of the Robert Wiegand papers and video art at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Crystal Sanchez, Smithsonian Institution.