Holding Up What's Falling Down: Ephemeral Materials and Contemporary Art

In Not New Work: Vincent Fecteau Selects from the Collection, an artist has mined SFMOMA’s collection for artworks rarely — and, in some cases, never before — seen by the public. The show has given the museum’s conservators the opportunity to study works long stored away, and also the challenge to maintain pieces that are breaking down. Starting with a large-scale latex painting by Robert Overby, Barger discusses the complicated task of conserving artworks, particularly those whose very materials were not built to last.