Arts Summary

July 7, 2019

Lubaina Himid, Mika Rottenberg and Diedrick Brackens at New Museum, Summer 2019

Photographs by Corrado Serra.

“Lubaina Himid: Work from Underneath”, June 26 to October 6, 2019

The New Museum debuts an entirely new body of work by Turner Prize–winning British artist Lubaina Himid (b. 1954, Zanzibar), marking the artist’s first solo museum exhibition in the United States. A pioneer of the British Black Arts Movement of the 1980s and ’90s, Himid has long championed marginalized histories. Her drawings, paintings, sculptures, and textile works critique the consequences of colonialism and question the invisibility of people of color in art and the media. While larger historical narratives are often the driving force behind her images and installations, Himid’s works beckon viewers by attending to the unmonumental details of daily life.

Old Boat / New Money, 2019.

Left: Old Boat / New Money, 2019. Right: Metal Handkerchief series, 2019

Series Metal Handkerchief, 2019

Left: Close Up – Materials for Change, 2019. Right: Six Tailors, 2019.

Left: Three Architects, 2019. Right: Close Up – Ideas for Development, 2019

Left: Close Up – Ideas for Development, 2019. Right: Shopping for a Loaf Tin, 2019

Lubaina Himid: Work from Underneath is curated by Natalie Bell, Associate Curator.

“Mika Rottenberg: Easypieces”, June 26 to September 15, 2019

This exhibition marks the first New York solo museum presentation of work by New York–based artist Mika Rottenberg (b. 1976, Buenos Aires, Argentina). “Mika Rottenberg: Easypieces” takes its title from the book Six Easy Pieces (1994), in which theoretical physicist Richard Feynman introduces the fundamentals of physics to general audiences. Rottenberg’s exhibition likewise considers our relationship to the material world, while questioning human attempts to control or explain the inexplicable. Her investigations reveal the unseen connections between the basic or “easy” items that we manipulate and consume almost without thinking—from luxury goods and plastic objects to emails, Bitcoin, and particle beams—and matters of the universe beyond our control.

Ponytail (Orange), 2016. Hair and mechanical system

Lips (Study #3), 2016/2019. Single-channel video installation, sound, color; 1:28 min

Frying Pans (duo), 2019

Installation view

Front: Ceiling Fan Composition, 2016. Back: Video

Installation view

Installation view

Mika Rottenberg: Easypieces is curated by Margot Norton, Curator.

“Diedrick Brackens: darling divined”, June 4 to September 19, 2019

For the artist’s first institutional solo exhibition in New York, Brackens presents a new installation of weavings in the New Museum’s Lobby Gallery. Diedrick Brackens (b. 1989, Mexia, TX) constructs intricately woven textiles that speak to the complexities of black and queer identity in the United States. Interlacing diverse traditions, including West African weaving, European tapestries, and quilting from the American south, Brackens creates cosmographic abstractions and figurative narratives that lyrically merge lived experience, commemoration, and allegory.

Far left: the flame goes, 2017. Left: in the valley, 2017. Right: the cup is a cloud, 2018

Left: in the decadence of silence, 2018. Right: bitter attendance, drown jubilee, 2018

Center: break and tremble, 2019

Left: demigod, 2019. Right: opening tombs beneath the heart, 2018

Diedrick Brackens: darling divined is curated by Margot Norton, Curator, and Francesca Altamura, Curatorial Assistant.

Text courtesy new Museum.

July 5, 2019

Order of Imagination: The Photographs of Olivia Parker at Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), July 13 – November 11, 2019

“For more than 40 years, Olivia Parker (b. 1941) has used photography to explore the relationships between vision, knowledge, and the natural world. From deceptively simple still lifes that transform the commonplace to her most recent work exploring memory loss, Order of Imagination: The Photographs of Olivia Parker features more than 100 intricately composed photographs that reflect the artist’s wide creative range and unflagging curiosity. This is the first exhibition to present a comprehensive retrospective of Parker’s extensive career.

A highly-celebrated and acclaimed photographer, Olivia Parker’s work is represented in major collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the George Eastman Museum, and PEM. Originally trained as a painter, the Massachusetts-based artist notes that she is drawn to photography for its ability to create a controlled dialogue between nature and abstraction, permanence and ephemerality, and for its ability to use light to sculpt form and define space.” — Peabody Essex Museum

Olivia Parker, Cinquefoil, 1975, printed 1977. Gelatin silver print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Pheasant, 1976. Gelatin silver print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Evidence, 1977. Gelatin silver print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Orchids from the Ephemera Portfolio, 1977. Gelatin silver print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Interior with Pears, 1979. Gelatin silver print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Child, 1980. Dye diffusion print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Eggs, 2005. Inkjet print. © Olivia ParkerOlivia

Olivia Parker, Wing 1, 2008. Inkjet print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, A Book of Curses, 2008. Inkjet print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Shell in a Landscape, 2011. Inkjet print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Honeymoon, 2016. Inkjet print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Nattering Things, 2016. Inkjet print. © Olivia Parker

Olivia Parker, Frans Francken II, Oil on Copper; 1625, 2017. Inkjet print. © Olivia Parker

Portrait of Olivia Parker. © Peabody Essex Museum. Photography by Bob Packert.

“It is always a gratifying and wonderful journey to be able to look at an artist’s whole career,” says Sarah Kennel, PEM’s Byrne Family Curator of Photography. “In the case of Parker’s work, it’s been a great privilege to understand the way she lives and how impacted she is by her environment–the items that she collects, how light and shadow play in her studio, how her wit and understated humor infuse her work. When you begin to unlock these pictures, you discover all of these ways in which she is making little visual jokes and word plays to further enliven the work and reward close reading.”

Images courtesy Peabody Essex Museum.

July 3, 2019

Mark Morris Dance Group, Mostly Mozart Festival at Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, July 10 – 13, 2019

Mark Morris returns to Mostly Mozart Festival with Sport a new dance work commissioned by Lincoln Center that illuminates the playful tapestry of sound of Satie’s Sports et divertissements. Then comes Empire Garden, an exploration of Ives’s lyrical and at times, whimsical Piano Trio. The performance culminates in a Morris masterwork, V, a triumphant and virtuosic piece set to Schumann’s exuberant piano quintet.

V. London, 2001. Photo: Robbie Jack

V. London, 2001. Photo: Robbie Jack

V. London, 2001. Photo: Robbie Jack

V. London, 2001. Photo: Robbie Jack

Empire Garden_Mostly Mozart 2009_Gene Schiavone - 4242

Empire Garden. Mostly Mozart, 2009. Photo: Gene Schiavone

Empire Garden_Mostly Mozart 2009_Gene Schiavone - 4397

Empire Garden. Mostly Mozart, 2009. Photo: Gene Schiavone

The Program: Sport (World premiere) Satie: Sports et divertissements. Empire Garden Ives: Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano. V Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat major

Mark Morris Dance Group: Mark Morris, choreographer. Colin Fowler, piano. Georgy Valtchev, violin. American String Quartet

Images courtesy Mark Morris and Lincoln Center.

July 1, 2019

Summer at LongHouse Reserve, through October 5, 2019

New artwork by Wendell Castle, Jun Kaneko, Will Ryman, Joseph Walsh and Young Jae Lee has been installed at LongHouse Reserve for their 2019 season. On June 22, LongHouse revealed two new site specific installations by Stephen Talasnik and Lawrence Weiner. This unique outdoor museum and arboreta is one of the most popular cultural destinations on the East End of Long Island.

LongHouse Reserve exemplifies living with art in all forms. Founded by Jack Lenor Larsen, its collections, gardens, sculpture and programs reflect world cultures and inspire a creative life. LongHouse Reserve is a 16-acre sculpture museum and garden located in East Hampton, NY. In addition to new works on loan, LongHouse Reserve’s permanent collection features pieces designed by prominent artists including Buckminster Fuller, Yoko Ono and Willem de Kooning amongst others.

Wendell Castle, Grand Temptation (2014). Courtesy LongHouse Reserve © Richard Lewin

Jun Kaneko, Dango, 1996

Will Ryman, The LongHouse 6, 2019 © Richard Lewin

Will Ryman, The LongHouse 6 (detail), 2019 © Richard Lewin

Joseph Walsh, Enignum Shelf XXXVI, 2019. Ash. 188 x 110 x 17. Collection LongHouse Reserve. Gift of the artist, 2019

Vessels by Young Jae Lee © Richard Lewin

Stephen Talasnik, Echo, 2019 (concept sketch). Various dimensions. Bamboo. Courtesy of Stephen Talasnik; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Installation view of Lawrence Weiner: OUT OF SIGHT at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Courtesy of the artist © Lawrence Weiner. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Images courtesy LongHouse Reserve.

June 28, 2019

LIFE: Six Women Photographers at New-York Historical Society, June 28 – October 6, 2019

“The New-York Historical Society is proud to present the work of six prominent women photographers, whose iconic work for LIFE magazine helped create modern photojournalism as it depicted a quickly-evolving world. On view in the Center for Women’s History’s Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, the exhibition features more than 70 images by Margaret Bourke-White, Marie Hansen, Martha Holmes, Lisa Larsen, Nina Leen, and Hansel Mieth, who were among the few women photographers employed by LIFE between the late 1930s and the early 1970s.

For decades, Americans saw the world through the lens of the photographers at LIFE, the first magazine in the United States to tell stories with images rather than text. These innovative photo essays became the trademark of the publication. The exhibition provides context to this unique storytelling format through published and unpublished photographs, including vintage prints, copy prints, and contact sheets. Taken together with select items from the Time Inc. records, the photographs show the editing process behind the final, published stories that helped define the United States as a world power during what Luce called the ‘American Century.’ This is the first exhibition to focus on some of the women who worked on staff for LIFE.” — New-York Historical Society

Margaret Bourke-White, photograph from “Franklin Roosevelt’s Wild West,” LIFE, November 23, 1936 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation

2 Margaret Bourke-White - Wild West Nov 23 1936

Margaret Bourke-White, photograph from “Franklin Roosevelt’s Wild West,” LIFE, November 23, 1936 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation

Hansel Mieth, photograph from “International Ladies’ Garment Workers: How a Great Union Works Inside and Out,” LIFE, August 1, 1938 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation. Image courtesy New-York Historical Society.

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)

Marie Hansen, photograph from “The WAACs,” LIFE, September 7, 1942 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation. Image courtesy New-York Historical Society.

WACs doing daily calisthenics exercises.

Marie Hansen, photograph from “The WAACs,” LIFE, September 7, 1942 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation. Image courtesy New-York Historical Society.

Nina Leen, photograph from “American Woman’s Dilemma,” LIFE, June 16, 1947 (similar frame published) © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation. Image courtesy New-York Historical Society.

Nina Leen, unpublished photograph from “American Woman’s Dilemma,” LIFE, June 16, 1947 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation. Image courtesy New-York Historical Society.

Martha Holmes, photograph from “Mr. B.,” LIFE, April 24, 1950 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation. Image courtesy New-York Historical Society.

11 Lisa Larsen - Tito as Soviet Hero June 25 1956

Lisa Larsen, photograph from “Tito As Soviet Hero, How Times Have Changed!” LIFE, June 25, 1956 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation. Image courtesy New-York Historical Society.

12 Lisa Larsen - Tito as Soviet Hero June 25 1956

Lisa Larsen, unpublished photograph from “Tito as Soviet Hero, How Times Have Changed!” LIFE, June 25, 1956 © LIFE Picture Collection, Meredith Corporation. Image courtesy New-York Historical Society.

“These pioneering women photographers captured events international and domestic, wide-ranging and intimate, serious and playful,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. “At the forefront of history, these photographers enabled the public ‘to see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events,’ as LIFE founder and editor-in-chief, Henry Luce, described it. We are honored to highlight their work in our Center for Women’s History, where their contributions to photojournalism can shine.”

Title image by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.

June 27, 2019

Marta Minujín: Menesunda Reloaded at New Museum, June 26 – September 29, 2019

“In 1965, at the Instituto Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Marta Minujín and Rubén Santantonín devised the now-legendary environment La Menesunda. This intricate labyrinth sought to provoke visitors and spur them into action, offering new modes of encounter with consumer culture, mass media, and urban life. While La Menesunda was created as a direct response to street life in Buenos Aires—the title is slang for a confusing situation—the work, alongside that of Christo, Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, Niki de Saint Phalle, and others, counts among the earliest large-scale environments made by artists, demonstrating how Minujín anticipated the contemporary obsession with participatory spaces, the lure of new pop-up museums, and the quest for an intensity of experience that defines social media today.

Occupying the Museum’s Third Floor, La Menesunda is composed of eleven distinct spaces through which visitors move, one at a time. Entering the work through a doorway in the shape of a human silhouette, visitors must then climb a set of stairs and proceed through a series of narrow hallways and staircases, discovering new spaces and situations intended to surprise and shock along the way. Moving through an environment simulating human intestines, a refrigerator, and the interior of a woman’s head, visitors encounter live performers and moving parts triggered by the visitors’ own actions; they emerge transformed by an encounter with unexpected textures, forms, and sensations. In 2015, the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires presented a reconstruction of La Menesunda. The New Museum’s presentation of the work—titled Menesunda Reloaded—marks the second recreation of this installation, and its first-ever presentation in the US.” — New Museum

Photographs by Corrado Serra.

Marta Minujín: Menesunda Reloaded is curated by Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director, and Helga Christoffersen, Associate Curator.

La Menesunda is co-produced by the New Museum and the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires.

June 26, 2019

Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination and Michael Sherrill Retrospective at Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, June 28, 2019 – January 5, 2020

“This summer, the Smithsonian American Art Museum presents two exhibitions that highlight the beauty of nature through botanically inspired sculptures. Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination turns the Renwick Gallery into a post-apocalyptic scene where, upon viewing her hand-blown glass-stump sculptures through an augmented reality lens, holograms of fictional flora sprout and transform the space into a thriving oasis. Visitors can download the free app Reforestation on their phones or use the iPads in the gallery to bring this second reality to life.

Michael Sherrill Retrospective was organized by The Mint Museum. The presentation at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery includes more than seventy-five objects from Sherrill’s earliest teapots and functional clay vessels to his recent mixed-media sculptures inspired by the landscape outside his studio in the mountains of North Carolina. In his delicately rendered sculptures in clay, glass, and metal, he seeks to elicit a sense of wonder from viewers, and to make them see the natural world anew. Sherrill’s most recent work reveals his naturalist’s sensitivity to botanical wonders.” — Renwick Gallery

Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination

“This is nature reimagining itself. The imagination can’t be exterminated. It just recreates itself.” — Ginny Ruffner

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Liriodendrum plausus (Flapping tulip), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Pyrus fenestrata (Pear with windows), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Canna grandiflora (Magnolia gondola), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Musa saponifica (Soapy muse), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Picus germinabunt (Woodpecker flower), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Scandent vinea clayaria (Morning glory with Paul Klee leaf), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Tulipia kandinskiana torquem (Kandinsky tulip), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Avem iridis illuricae (Hummingbird flower), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Astromaria zentada lillium (Blue/purple flowering vine), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Rosa cilliabunda (Rose with eyelashes), 2017, holographic image. Courtesy Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Avem iridis illuricae (Hummingbird flower), 2017, sculpture (handblown glass with acrylic paint tree rings), island (plywood, low-density foam, fiberglass, epoxy, sand, pebbles, and acrylic paint), and holographic image. Sculpture: 15 x 12 x 6 ½ in. Installation view at MadArt Studio, 2018. Courtesy Ruffner Studio. Photo by Ruffner Studio.

Ginny Ruffner with Grant Kirkpatrick, Digitalis artherium (Double art flowers), 2017, sculpture (handblown glass with acrylic paint tree rings), island (plywood, low-density foam, fiberglass, epoxy, sand, pebbles, and acrylic paint), and holographic image. Sculpture: 9 x 13 x 11 ½ in. Installation view at MadArt Studio, 2018. Courtesy Ruffner Studio. Photo by Marge Levy.

Michael Sherrill Retrospective

Michael Sherrill. Two Sides of Tea, 1992, ceramic. Left: 16 1/8 x 18 ½ x 8 ¼ in. Right: 16 3/8 x 18 5/8 x 7 ½. Gift of MCI. 2001.89.5.1A-B and 2001.89.5.2A-B. Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Michael Sherrill, Star Bottles, 1997, white stoneware, barium glaze. Tallest: 29 x 9 x 6 in. Shortest: 19 ½ x 10 x 5in. Collection of the artist. Photo by Scott Allen

Michael Sherrill, Yellowstone Rhododendron, 2000, porcelain, glaze, steel. 11.25 x 15 x 11 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of David and Clemmer Montague, in memory of her mother Beatrice Slaton and her brother Carson Slaton, Mississippi Gardeners, 2005.34.

Michael Sherrill, Stormy Rhododendron, 2005, porcelain, abraded glaze, forged steel. 16 x 17 x 14 in. Collection of Larry Brady. Photo by Tim Barnwell.

Michael Sherrill, Temple of the Cool Beauty (Yucca), 2005, porcelain, Moretti glass, silica bronze. 54 x 38 in. Gift of Ann and Tom Cousins. 2014.78a-b. Collection of The Mint Museum.

Michael Sherrill, May’s Apples, 2006, porcelain, abraded glaze, steel. Left: 16 x 15 x 8 in. Right: 16 x 11 x 5 in. Collection of the artist. Photo by Scott Allen

Michael Sherrill, Julesvernium (Seaflower), 2008, colored laminated porcelain, silica bronze, Moretti glass. 43 x 20 x 11 ½ in. Collection of Mark Parker.

Michael Sherrill, Black Medicine, 2014, silica bronze, Moretti glass. 38 x 34 x 20 in. Collection of Fleur Bresler. Photo by Scott Allen.

Michael Sherrill, Dutch Solomon, 2015, porcelain, silica bronze, glass. 12 x 27 x 8 in. John Michael Kohler Arts Center, gift of the artist, 2015.022.001. Photo by Scott Allen.

Michael Sherrill, Remnant, 2016, porcelain, silica bronze. 48 x 34 x 12 in. Private collection. Photo by Scott Allen.

Michael Sherrill, A Beautiful Death, 2017, porcelain, silica bronze, Moretti glass. 47 x 25 x 22 in. Collection of the artist. Photo by Scott Allen.

June 24, 2019

Velázquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer: Parallel Visions at Museo Nacional del Prado, June 25 – September 29,2019

“Velázquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer: Parallel visions is an exhibition that encourages visitors to not only appreciate the quality and importance of the 72 works on display, some by the most admired painters of 17th-century Europe, but also to establish points of comparison between them.

The traditional and long-standing idea of the art produced in different parts of Europe is that it is notably different: that Velázquez, for example, is “very Spanish” and Rembrandt “very Dutch”. This viewpoint is based on the excessive influence that 19th- and 20th-century nationalist mindsets and ideologies have had on our way of understanding art. Studies from that period placed enormous importance on the idea that every nation had a different national character, as a result of which the notion that these differences were manifested in the art of each country became widespread. This perspective functioned to minimise the traits shared by European artists.

The case of 17th-century Spanish and Dutch painting is symptomatic of this. Separated by a war, the art of these countries has traditionally been interpreted as opposing. Nonetheless, the legacy of Flemish and Italian painting, the influence of which defined all of European art, was interpreted in a similar way in the two places. In the 17th century both countries saw the emergence of an aesthetic that departed from idealism and which focused on the real appearance of things and the manner of representing it. In their works the artists represented in this exhibition did not express the “essence” of their nations but rather gave form to the ideas and approaches that they shared with an international community of creators.” — Museo Nacional del Prado

“The unity of Western painting is one of the great realities that reveals the unity of European culture.” — José Ortega y Gasset

PAIR 1: 1A. Self-Portrait, CAREL FABRITIUS. Oil on panel, 65 x 49 cm, c. 1645. Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen 1B. Jerónimo of Cevallos, EL GRECO. Oil on canvas, 64 x 54 cm, 1613. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

PAIR 2: 2A. Democritus, JOSÉ DE RIBERA. Oil on canvas, 125 x 81 cm, 1630. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado 2B. Democritus, HENDRICK TER BRUGGHEN. Oil on canvas, 85,7 x 70 cm, 1628. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Gift of B. Asscher, Amsterdam and H. Koetser, Amsterdam

PAIR 3: 3A. Menippus, DIEGO RODRÍGUEZ DE SILVA Y VELÁZQUEZ. Oil on canvas, 179 x 94 cm, c. 1638. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado 3B. Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul, REMBRANDT HARMENZOON VAN RIJN. Oil on canvas, 91 x 77 cm, 1661. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. De Bruijn-van der Leeuw Bequest, Muri, Switzerland

PAIR 4: 4A. Portrait of a Man, FRANS HALS .Oil on canvas, 79.5 x 66.5 cm, c. 1635. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Gift if Jonkheer J.S.R. van de Poll, Arnhem 4B. The Buffoon el Primo, DIEGO RODRÍGUEZ DE SILVA Y VELÁZQUEZ. Oil on canvas, 106.5 x 82.5 cm, 1644. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

PAIR 5: 5A, Mars, DIEGO RODRÍGUEZ DE SILVA Y VELÁZQUEZ. Oil on canvas, 179 x 95 cm, c. 1638. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado 5B. A Woman bathing in a Stream, REMBRANDT HARMENZOON VAN RIJN. Oil on panel, 61.8 x 47 cm, 1654. London, The National Gallery, London. Holwell Carr Bequest, 1831

PAIR 6: 6A. View of the Gardens of the Villa Medici, Rome, DIEGO RODRÍGUEZ DE SILVA Y VELÁZQUEZ. Oil on canvas, 48.5 x 43 cm, c. 1630. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado 6B. View of Houses in Delft, Known as The Little Street, JOHANNES VERMEER. Oil on canvas, 54.3 x 44 cm, c. 1658. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Gift of H.W.A. Deterding, London

PAIR 7: 7A. Francisco Pacheco, DIEGO RODRÍGUEZ DE SILVA Y VELÁZQUEZ. Oil on canvas, 41 x 36 cm, c. 1620. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado 7B. Portrait of a Goldsmith, Probably Bartholomeus Jansz van Assendelft, WERNER VAN DEN VALCKERT. Oil on panel, 66 x 49.5 cm, 1617. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum

“Neither Velázquez nor Vermeer nor other painters of the period expressed the essence of their nations in their art, as has often been said, but rather aesthetic ideas which they shared with an international community of artists.” — Alejandro Vergara, the exhibition’s curator

The exhibition is curated by Alejandro Vergara, Chief Curator of Flemish Painting and the Northern Schools at the Museo del Prado.

Images courtesy Museo Nacional del Prado.

June 23, 2019

National Geographic Photo Ark: Joel Sartore at Southampton Arts Center, June 27 – September 8, 2019

“The International Center of Photography (ICP) and the Southampton Arts Center (SAC) are presenting the National Geographic Photo Ark exhibition, featuring the compelling and visually stunning work of National Geographic photographer and Fellow Joel Sartore. The exhibition will highlight Sartore’s images from his work in more than 250 zoos, aquariums and animal rescue centers around the world.

Founded by Sartore in 2006, the National Geographic Photo Ark aims to document species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, inspire action through education, and help save wildlife by supporting on-theground conservation efforts. National Geographic is showcasing this important project through multiple platforms, including this exhibition, to inspire people not just to care, but also to help protect these animals for future generations. In addition to creating an archival record for generations to come, this project is a hopeful platform for conservation and shines a light on individuals and organizations working to preserve species around the world.

Sartore estimates the completed National Geographic Photo Ark will include portraits of over 12,000 species representing several animal classes, including birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. In what will be the largest single archive of studio-quality photographs of biodiversity ever, the National Geographic Photo Ark now includes more than 9,500 species, thanks in part to Sartore’s enduring relationships with many of the world’s zoos and aquariums. These iconic portraits have captured the imagination of people around the world and have even been projected on the Empire State Building and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.” — ICP & SAC

A Coquerel’s sifaka, Propithecus coquereli, at the Houston Zoo. © Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark. natgeophotoark.org.

A federally threatened koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, with her babies at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. © Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark. natgeophotoark.org.

Two Golden snub-nosed monkeys, Rhinopithecus roxellana, at Ocean Park Hong Kong. © Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark. natgeophotoark.org.

An endangered Malayan tiger, Panthera tigris jacksoni, at Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo. © Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark. natgeophotoark.org.

An endangered baby Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, named Aurora, with her adoptive mother, Cheyenne, a Bornean/Sumatran cross, Pongo pygmaeus x abelii, at the Houston Zoo. © Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark. natgeophotoark.org.

A Fiji Island banded iguana, Brachylophus fasciatus, at the Los Angeles Zoo. © Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark. natgeophotoark.org.

“The National Geographic Photo Ark has already inspired millions around the world with the message that it is not too late to save some of the world’s most endangered species,” said Kathryn Keane, vice president of Exhibitions, National Geographic Society.” Joel Sartore has demonstrated what one man can do using the power of photography—and now National Geographic wants to inspire people all over the country to contribute to this global challenge.” National Geographic Photo Ark is organized in collaboration with the National Geographic Society.

Images courtesy Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark, ICP and SAC.

June 21, 2019

Basquiat’s “Defacement”: The Untold Story at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, June 21 – November 6, 2019

“The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents Basquiat’s “Defacement”: The Untold Story. This focused, thematic exhibition of work by Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960–1988), supplemented with work by others of his generation, explores a formative chapter in the artist’s career through the lens of his identity and the role of cultural activism in New York City during the early 1980s.

The exhibition takes as its starting point the painting The Death of Michael Stewart, informally known as Defacement, created by Basquiat in 1983 to commemorate the fate of the young, black artist Michael Stewart at the hands of New York City transit police after allegedly tagging a wall in an East Village subway station. Originally painted on the wall of Keith Haring’s studio, the work was not meant to be seen widely and has rarely been exhibited in a public context. With approximately twenty paintings and works on paper by Basquiat and his contemporaries, this presentation will examine Basquiat’s exploration of black identity, his protest against police brutality, and his attempts to craft a singular aesthetic language of empowerment.” — Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Basquiat’s “Defacement”: The Untold Story is organized by guest curator Chaédria LaBouvier.

Jean-Michel Basquiat. The Death of Michael Stewart, 1983. Acrylic and marker on plasterboard, framed: 86.4 x 101.6 cm. Collection of Nina Clemente, New York © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York. Photo: Allison Chipak © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 2018

Jean-Michel Basquiat. La Hara, 1981. Acrylic and oilstick on wood panel, 182.9 x 121.9 cm. Arora Collection © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Jean-Michel Basquiat. Charles the First, 1982. Acrylic and oil stick on canvas, three panels, 198.1 x 165.1 cm. Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Jean-Michel Basquiat. Back of the Neck, 1983. Screenprint with hand-coloring on paper, 127.6 x 259.1 cm. Edition 1/24. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Jean-Michel Basquiat. Untitled (Sheriff), 1981. Acrylic and oilstick on canvas, 130.8 x 188 cm. Carl Hirschmann Collection © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

David Hammons. The Man Nobody Killed, 1986. Stenciled paint on commercially printed cardboard with cut-and-taped photocopy from a spiral bound periodical with works by various artists. From Eye magazine, no. 14, “Cobalt Myth Mechanics,” 1986. Publisher: Eye Publications, New York, Printer: the artist, New York. Each page: 27.9 x 21.6 cm, closed: 27.9 x 22.9 x 1.9 cm. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Henry Church Fund (by exchange), 2015 © The Museum of Modern Art. Licensed by SCALA/ARS New York

Keith Haring. Michael Stewart – USA for Africa, 1985. Enamel and acrylic on canvas, 294.6 x 365.8 cm. Collection of Monique and Ziad Ghandour © The Keith Haring Foundation

Card for benefit at Danceteria, October 3, 1983 19.4 x 14 cm. Collection of Franck Goldberg. Photo: Allison Chipak © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

“Remember Michael Stewart” button, 1984. Design by Eric Drooker, 3.8 x 3.8 x 0.5 cm. Collection of Patricia A. Pesce, New York. Photo: Allison Chipak © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

Images courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

June 20, 2019

Collision/Coalition at The Shed, June 19 – August 25, 2019

The Shed presents three distinct yet interrelated new commissions in an exhibition that explores social and cultural confrontations and alliances. Collision/Coalition pairs new work by artists Tony Cokes and Oscar Murillo with screenings of a new documentary film about artist Beatriz González, directed by Yanina Valdivieso and Vanessa Bergonzoli. The commissions are on view in The Shed’s Level 4 Gallery.

Tony Cokes (b. 1956, Richmond, Virginia) lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island. Cokes creates video works in a recognizable style that piece together found footage or solid-color slides, animated quoted text, and pop music. He offers social critiques by quoting a range of sources including philosophers, musicians, activists, comedians, and other cultural figures. His works often include archival footage, images from Hollywood films, textual commentary, voiceovers, and popular music.

Oscar Murillo (b. 1986, La Paila, Colombia) is a multidisciplinary artist who works in painting, drawing, sculpture, video, installation, interventions, and performance. In exploring the conditions of contemporary globalization, Murillo considers the movement and use of people, things, and ideas. In 2019, Murillo was nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize.

Photographs by Corrado Serra.

Tony Cokes

Tony Cokes

Tony Cokes

Tony Cokes

Tony Cokes

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo

“Collision/Coalition asks ,‘What is the role of art in the face of political, social, and economic power?’” said Emma Enderby. “The Shed is a place for conversation and reflection and by interconnecting three distinct commissions and angles—Tony Cokes, Oscar Murillo, and Yanina Valdivieso and Vanessa Bergonzoli’s documentary on Beatriz González’s work—questions are raised on art’s agency and relationship to capital, on its power to succumb or to subvert.”

Collision/Coalition is organized by Emma Enderby, Senior Curator, with Adeze Wilford, Curatorial Assistant.

June 19, 2019

Bodies of Knowledge at New Orleans Museum of Art, June 28 – October 13, 2019

“The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) presents Bodies of Knowledge. The exhibition brings together eleven international contemporary artists to reflect on the role that language plays in defining our cultural identities, and will be the first global contemporary exhibition of its kind at NOMA. Working with materials that range from books and silent film to ink and musical scores, artists Manon Bellet, Wafaa Bilal, Garrett Bradley, Mahmoud Chouki, Adriana Corral, Zhang Huan, William Kentridge, Shirin Neshat, Edward Spots, Donna Crump and Wilmer Wilson IV propose new ways of representing our collective past.

Organized around a series of immersive installation and film projects, Bodies of Knowledge asks us to consider how we might write more inclusive narratives, reshape public space, and account for people and histories that have, in large measure, been shared.” — New Orleans Museum of Art

“Bodies of Knowledge brings a global perspective to current discussions in New Orleans surrounding cultural preservation and historical memory,” said Susan Taylor, NOMA’s Montine McDaniel Freeman Director. “This exhibition invites visitors to consider the role that language plays in their lives, and explore the many ways history can be erased, rewritten, and reinterpreted.”

Manon Bellet, Brève braise, 2010-present, Site-specific installation, Burnt silk paper affixed to the wall, Dimensions variable, Installation image from Galerie Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel Switzerland, 2011, Photo by Viktor Kolibal © Manon Bellet

Manon Bellet, Brève braise, 2010-present, Site-specific installation, Burnt silk paper affixed to the wall, Dimensions variable, Installation image from Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Switzerland, 2013, Photo by Viktor Kolibal © Manon Bellet

Manon Bellet, Brève braise, 2010-present, Site-specific installation, Burnt silk paper affixed to the wall, Dimensions variable, Image courtesy the artist from a performance at the Contemporary Art Center New Orleans, Photo by Julie Verlinden, © Manon Bellet

Wafaa Bilal, 168:01, 2016 to present, Site-specific installation, Dimensions variable, Image courtesy of the artist, Photograph by John Dean © Wafaa Bilal

Wafaa Bilal, 168:01, 2016 to present, Site-specific installation, Dimensions variable, Image courtesy of the artist, Photograph by John Dean © Wafaa Bilal

Wafaa Bilal, The Ashes Series: Piano, 2003-2013, Archival inkjet photograph, 40 x 50 inches, Image courtesy of the artist © Wafaa Bilal

Wafaa Bilal, The Ashes Series: Pool, 2003-2013, Archival inkjet photograph, 40 x 50 inches, Image courtesy of the artist © Wafaa Bilal

Garrett Bradley, America (film still), 2019, Multi-Channel video installation, 35mm film transferred to video, black and white, sound, Image courtesy of the artist © Garrett Bradley 2019

Garrett Bradley, America (film still), 2019, Multi-Channel video installation, 35mm film transferred to video, black and white, sound, Image courtesy of the artist © Garrett Bradley 2019

Garrett Bradley, America (film still), 2019, Multi-Channel video installation, 35mm film transferred to video, black and white, sound, Image courtesy of the artist © Garrett Bradley 2019

Adriana Corral, Memento, 2013-present, Site-specific installation, Dimensions variable, Female victim names (Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico) transferred onto (three) walls: acetone, ash burial plot in the center of the space (dimensions of plot, 4ft x 8ft x1inch), Ashes obtained from burned name listings transferred onto wall, Installation image from the McNay Museum, San Antonio, Texas, 2013 © Adriana Corral

Wilmer Wilson IV, Black Mask, 2012, Single channel video, 5:56 minutes, Edition 3/5, New Orleans Museum of Art

Wilmer Wilson IV, Black Mask, 2012, Single channel video, 5:56 minutes, Edition 3/5, New Orleans Museum of Art

Wilmer Wilson IV, A Running Tour of Some Monuments of Rome (detail), 2014, Publication, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist.

Wilmer Wilson IV, A Running Tour of Some Monuments of Philadelphia (detail), 2014, Publication, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist.

Shirin Neshat, Rapture Series (Women with Writing on Hands), 1999, Chromogenic color print, 40 ½ x 60 ¼ inches, Edition of 5 + 2AP. New Orleans Museum of Art, Museum Purchase, 2001.292, © Shirin Neshat, courtesy Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont, Paris

Shirin Neshat, Rapture (Production still), 1999, Two-channel black and white video, sound (projection), 13 min loop, © Shirin Neshat, Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels

Shirin Neshat, Fervor (Production still), 2000, Two-channel black and white video, sound (projection), 10 min loop, © Shirin Neshat, Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels

William Kentridge, Zeno Writing, 2002, Video still of animated film using charcoal and pastel drawing, footage from theater performance, documentary material from First World War, 35mm and digital video, Video and DVD transfer, 12 minutes, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Joint acquisition of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, funded by Nina and Michael Zilkha; and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2004.201, Image courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery © William Kentridge

William Kentridge, Zeno Writing, 2002, Video still of animated film using charcoal and pastel drawing, footage from theater performance, documentary material from First World War, 35mm and digital video, Video and DVD transfer, 12 minutes, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Joint acquisition of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, funded by Nina and Michael Zilkha; and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2004.201, Image courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery © William Kentridge

Zhang Huan, Family Tree, 2000 (Detail), 9 Chromogenic color prints on Fuji Archival paper, Edition A/P 1, 80 x 70 inches each, Collection of Howard and Joy Osofsky, Photograph courtesy Zhang Huan Studio © Zhang Huan, courtesy Pace Gallery

Bodies of Knowledge is organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art and co-curated by Katie Pfohl, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and Allison Young, The Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow for Modern and Contemporary Art.

Images courtesy New Orleans Museum of Art.