September 8, 2018

Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow at New-York Historical Society, September 7, 2018 – March 3, 2019

Photographs by Corrado Serra.

“The New-York Historical Society announced a new initiative to dedicate renovated, prime rotating gallery space to the topics of freedom, equality, and civil rights in America. Launching in fall 2018 with the inaugural exhibition Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, the galleries will primarily explore the long struggle of African Americans for full rights as citizens, including the right to be accepted and to feel safe, with future exhibitions widening the lens to include other historically marginalized groups.

Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow examines the meaning of citizenship for African Americans following the abolition of slavery through Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. Opening to mark the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, the exhibition is organized chronologically from the end of the Civil War to the end of World War I and highlights the central role played by African Americans in advocating for their rights. It also examines the depth and breadth of opposition to black advancement, including how Jim Crow permeated the North. Art, artifacts, photographs, and media illustrate these transformative decades in American history and their continuing relevance today.” — New-York Historical Society

“At a time of great urgency for public understanding of the nation’s founding principles of freedom and equality—and in the context of the long struggle of Americans, in particular African Americans, to ensure that these principles apply to all—the New-York Historical Society aims to educate the public about the roots of contemporary civil and equal rights movements in the Constitution and its Amendments over time,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of New-York Historical. “Establishing these dedicated spaces throughout the museum builds on our long and sustained record of exhibitions and programs around the history of America’s diversity, ranging from our acclaimed exhibition Slavery in New York (2005) to more recent shows exploring the Latino, Asian American, and Jewish American experiences. Above all, this landmark initiative responds to our deep conviction that telling the story of American history is important, but that it is inadequately known, taught, and understood today.”

Curated by Dr. Marci Reaven, New-York Historical’s vice president of history exhibitions, and Lily Wong, assistant curator, Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow is developed in collaboration with New-York Historical Trustee Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Reconstruction-era scholar Dr. Eric Foner. The exhibition benefitted from collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture and includes objects from the NMAAHC collection.

September 7, 2018

Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture, 1963-2017 at The Met Breuer, September 6 – December 2, 2018

Photographs by Corrado Serra.

“Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture, 1963–2017 presents the extraordinary and previously unknown sculptures of acclaimed American artist Jack Whitten (1939–2018), who has long been celebrated for his work as an innovative abstract painter. Featuring 40 sculptures and 18 of his most notable paintings, Odyssey will be the first exhibition in New York City to span the entirety of Whitten’s career and the first time in 36 years that Whitten has enjoyed a monographic exhibition at a New York City museum. Ultimately, Odyssey will not only rewrite the history of a canonical artist whose oeuvre has yet to be fully explored; it will also showcase an exciting, alternative to mainstream modernism and expand our understanding of the aesthetic vocabularies favored by artists in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.” — The Met

Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture, 1963–2017 is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Baltimore Museum of Art. It is curated by Kelly Baum, Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Curator of Contemporary Art in The Met’s Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Katy Siegel, Senior Programming and Research Curator at The Baltimore Museum of Art and Thaw Chair in Modern American Art at Stony Brook University. The Met’s presentation is assisted by Meredith Brown, Research Associate in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art.

September 5, 2018

Leonor Antunes: the last days in galliate at Pirelli Hangar Biccoca, Milan, September 14, 2018 – January 13, 2019

“Pirelli HangarBicocca presents the exhibition the last days in galliate, dedicated to Berlin-based artist Leonor Antunes (born 1972 in Lisbon). Using traditional materials—such as rope, wood, brass, leather, rubber and cork—and employing ancient artisan or manual techniques, Antunes creates elegant sculptures and installations that investigate the significance of everyday objects and the social role of art and design as a means to improve living conditions.

For her first exhibition in Milan, Leonor Antunes presents a new body of work and a site-specific installation for the Shed space. Engaging with the specific local context, Antunes reflects on the Modernist tradition in Milan, and particularly on pioneering architects and designers such as Franca Helg (1920-1989, Franco Albini (1905-1977) and Giò Ponti (1891-1979), who become a source of inspiration for a series of floor, hanging, and standing pieces.

Furthermore the exhibition encompasses a new rearrangement of some exiting works, paying homage to other female figures, such as architects, artists and designers Clara Porset (1895-1981), Anni Albers (1899-1994) and Mary Martin (1907-1967).” — Pirelli HangarBicocca

Leonor Antunes. Exhibition view, “the last days in chimalistac”, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, 2013. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Basel. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes. Exhibition view, “Leonor Antunes: I Stand Like A Mirror Before You”, New Museum, New York, 2015. Courtesy of New Museum, New York. Photo: Maris Hutchinson

Leonor Antunes, a secluded and pleasant land, in this land I wish to dwell, 2015. Installation view, 8th Berlin Biennial, 2015. Courtesy of the artist and the 8th Berlin Biennial. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes. Exhibition view, “the pliable plan”, CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, 2015. Courtesy of the artist and the CAPC, Bordeaux. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes. Exhibition view, “the pliable plan”, CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, 2015. Courtesy of the artist and the CAPC, Bordeaux. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes. Exhibition view, “the frisson of the togetherness”, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and Whitechapel Gallery, London. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes. Exhibition view, “the frisson of the togetherness”, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2017 Courtesy of the artist and Whitechapel Gallery, London Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes. Exhibition view, “the frisson of the togetherness”, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and Whitechapel Gallery, London. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes, so then we raised the terrain so that I could see out, 2017. Installation view, 57a Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 2017. Courtesy of the artist; Air de Paris, Paris; kurimanzutto, Mexico City and Luisa Strina Gallery, São Paulo. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes, so then we raised the terrain so that I could see out, 2017. Installation view, 57a Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 2017. Courtesy of the artist; Air de Paris, Paris; kurimanzutto, Mexico City and Luisa Strina Gallery, São Paulo. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes, so then we raised the terrain so that I could see out, 2017. Installation view, 57a Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 2017. Courtesy of the artist; Air de Paris, Paris; kurimanzutto, Mexico City and Luisa Strina Gallery, São Paulo. Photo: Nick Ash

Leonor Antunes, so then we raised the terrain so that I could see out, 2017. Installation view, 57a Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 2017. Courtesy of the artist; Air de Paris, Paris; kurimanzutto, Mexico City and Luisa Strina Gallery, São Paulo. Photo: Nick Ash

The last days in Galliate is curated by Roberta Tenconi.

Images courtesy Pirelli Hangar Biccoca.  

September 4, 2018

American Masters: Wyeth, A film by Glenn Holsten, Premiere Friday September 7, 2018 on PBS

“WYETH tells the story of one of America’s most popular, but least understood, artists – Andrew Wyeth. Coming from a family of successful artists, including his commanding father, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth was raised to be an artist. Unprecedented access to archival footage from the Wyeth family reveals his early immersion in a creative world. 

Andrew Wyeth exhibitions consistently broke attendance records at the most prestigious art museums across the country. Detailing the stunning drawings and powerful portraits created in Pennsylvania and on the coast of Maine, WYETH shows the artist’s mastery of the form and why his work appealed to audiences around the world. Remarkably, the filmmaking team has access to many of the locations that provided continual inspiration to Andrew Wyeth during his lifetime. Our cameras visit these places — his studio and the Kuerner Farm in Chadds Ford, PA, the Olson House in Cushing, Maine (the location for his famous Christina’s World) — and lovingly bring them to life.

He confidently continued to paint the people and places he knew, undeterred by the dramatic evolution of the art world. His sensational paintings of Helga Testorf landed cover stories in both Time and Newsweek. Interviews with family and friends – including Helga – demonstrate the effect on Andrew of living and working in the public eye. Now, with the distance of time, art critics and historians are rediscovering and reinterpreting his work. Layers of complexity in the art are revealed and celebrated by some of the most preeminent scholars of American art. 

Amidst these moving testimonies is the work. The stunning drawings, studies, paintings and powerful portraits that capture the ‘frozen motion’ that Wyeth was seeking throughout his life. WYETH builds a life, layer by layer, much in the way Andrew Wyeth created his exquisite master paintings–meticulous study followed by layer upon layer of tempera.” — PBS

Andrew Wyeth. Photo © Bruce Weber

Andrew Wyeth’s Studio. Photo © Phil Bradshaw

Christina’s World, 1948, tempera (c) Andrew Wyeth/Artists Rights Society (ARS). Museum of Modern Art, New York

Groundhog Day, 1959, tempera (c) Andrew Wyeth/Artists Rights Society (ARS). Philadelphia Museum of Art. Gift of Henry F. DuPont and Mrs. John Wintersteen

Garret Room, 1962, drybrush (c) Andrew Wyeth/Artists Rights Society (ARS). Private Collection

Poster for Wyeth: The Life of Andrew Wyeth in Bold Strokes

American Masters: Wyeth is a production of glennfilms and FreshFly in association with Thirteenth’s American Masters. Glenn Holsten is director. Chayne Gregg is producer.

Wyeth broadcast premiere is September 7 on National PBS and is available to stream September 8 on pbs.org/americanmasters and on PBS apps.

Title photo: In His Eyes © Peter Ralston.

All images courtesy PBS.

Filed under: USA
September 1, 2018

Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done at The Museum of Modern Art, September 16, 2018 – February 03, 2019

“Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done is a major exhibition that will look anew at the unique moment in the 1960s when a group of choreographers, visual artists, composers, and filmmakers made use of a local church to present groundbreaking cross-disciplinary performances. With a gallery exhibition, a print publication, and an ambitious performance program in the Museum’s Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium, The Work Is Never Done will feature celebrated dance works from the 1960s and ’70s by Judson artists. The exhibition will highlight the group’s ethos of collaboration and the range of its participants through live performance and some 300 objects including film, photographic documentation, sculptural objects, scores, music, and archival material.

Titled after a phrase used by choreographer Steve Paxton, The Work Is Never Done reflects both the Judson group’s spirit of experimentation and inquiry and the ongoing importance of their work today. The exhibition will begin with the workshops in which many of its artists participated— including Anna Halprin’s improvisation classes in Northern California and pianist Robert Ellis Dunn’s teaching sessions, based on his work with composer John Cage at the studio of his collaborator and partner, choreographer Merce Cunningham. Placing Judson within New York’s burgeoning Downtown cultural scene—from free jazz to community protests against real estate speculators—the exhibition also examines the influence of figures such as Simone Forti and Andy Warhol, as well as venues for collective action like Judson Gallery, the Living Theater, and others.” — MoMA

Anna Halprin. The Branch. 1957. Performed on the Halprin family’s Dance Deck, Kentfield, California, 1957. Performers, from left: A. A. Leath, Anna Halprin, and Simone Forti. Photo: Warner Jepson. Courtesy of the Estate of Warner Jepson

Peter Moore’s photograph of Trisha Brown and Steve Paxton in Trisha Brown’s Lightfall, 1963. Performed at Concert of Dance #4, Judson Memorial Church, New York, January 30, 1963. © Barbara Moore/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Peter Moore’s photograph of Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, and Yvonne Rainer performing Hay’s Would They or Wouldn’t They?, 1963. Performed at Concert of Dance #13, Judson Memorial Church, New York, November 20, 1963. © Barbara Moore/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Al Giese’s photograph of Yvonne Rainer’s “Bach” from Terrain, 1963. Performed at Judson Memorial Church, New York, April 28, 1963. © Estate of Al Giese/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Al Giese’s photograph of Ruth Emerson in Carolee Schneemann’s Newspaper Event, 1963. Performed at Concert of Dance #3, Judson Memorial Church, New York, January 29, 1963. © Estate of Al Giese/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy of Carolee Schneemann, Galerie Lelong & Co., and P•P•O•W, New York

Al Giese’s photograph of Rudy Perez, Elaine Summers, and John Worden performing Summers’s SUITE, 1963. Performed at Concert of Dance #3, Judson Memorial Church, New York, January 29, 1963. © Estate of Al Giese/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Peter Moore’s photograph of (from left) Robert Rauschenberg, Joseph Schlichter (hidden), Sally Gross, Tony Holder, Deborah Hay, Yvonne Rainer, Alex Hay, Robert Morris (behind), and Lucinda Childs performing Rainer’s We Shall Run, 1963. Performed at Two Evenings of Dances by Yvonne Rainer, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, March 7, 1965. © Barbara Moore/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Deborah Hay. Still from Group I, 1968. Filmed by Robert Rauschenberg. © Deborah Hay

Deborah Hay. Still from Group II, 1969. Filmed by Hollis Frampton. © Deborah Hay

Peter Moore’s photograph of David Gordon in Mannequin Dance, 1962. Performed in Dance Concert of Old and New Works by David Gordon, Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, Judson Memorial Church, January 10, 1966. © Barbara Moore/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, NY. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Babette Mangolte’s photograph of David Gordon, Valda Setterfield, and unidentified performers in The Matter, 1972. Performed at Merce Cunningham Studio, New York, 1972. © Babette Mangolte

Peter Moore’s photograph of Lucinda Childs in Pastime, 1963. Performed in Surplus Dance Theater: Program Exchange, New York, March 2, 1964. © Barbara Moore/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, NY. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Trisha Brown. Still from Walking on the Wall, 1971. Film by Elaine Summers. © Trisha Brown Dance Company

Andy Warhol. Jill and Freddy Dancing. 1963. 16mm film (black and white, silent), 4 min. Original film elements preserved by The Museum of Modern Art Collections of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Simone Forti. Huddle. 1961. Performance. 10 min. Committee on Media and Performance Art Funds. © 2018 The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Performed in Performance 2: Simone Forti, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 7–8, 2009. Digital image © 2018 Yi-Chun Wu/The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Performance view of Yoshiko Chuma + Jodi Melnick Workshop, Judson Memorial Church, January 22, 2018. Still image of video by Quentin Burley

Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done is organized by Ana Janevski, Curator, and Thomas J. Lax, Associate Curator, with Martha Joseph, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and Performance Art. 

Images courtesy The Museum of Modern Art.

August 31, 2018

Corot: Women at National Gallery of Art, September 9 – December 31, 2018

“Corot: Women focuses on images of women that Corot painted throughout his career but rarely exhibited in his lifetime. Dressed in rustic Italian costume or nude on a grassy plain, rendered with a sophisticated use of color and a deft, delicate touch, Corot’s women convey a mysterious sense of their inner lives. Corot: Women features 44 paintings created between the 1840s and the early 1870s: nudes, individual figures in costumes, and an allegorical series of the model in the studio.

One of the greatest landscape painters of the 19th century, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796–1875) bridged the French neoclassical tradition and the impressionist movement of the 1870s. His figure paintings constitute a much smaller and less well-known portion of his oeuvre, but are of equal importance to the history of art, in particular for the founders of modernist painting, such as Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque.” — National Gallery of Art

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Gypsy Girl with Mandolin, c. 1870, oil on canvas, overall: 63.5 x 50.8 cm (25 x 20 in.) framed: 87 x 75.6 x 9.5 cm (34 1/4 x 29 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Count Cecil Pecci-Blunt

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. The Blonde Gascon, c. 1850, oil on canvas, overall: 40.01 x 30.16 cm (15 3/4 x 11 7/8 in.). Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Purchased with the Drayton Hillyer Fund Photo by Stephen Petegorsky

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Young Woman in a Pink Skirt, c. 1845–1850, oil on canvas, overall: 47.8 x 39.3 cm (18 13/16 x 15 1/2 in.) framed: 71.12 x 62.87 x 7.62 cm (28 x 24 3/4 x 3 in.). Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown Image © Sterling and Francine Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA (photo by Michael Agee)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. The Muse: History, c. 1865, oil on canvas, overall: 46 x 35.2 cm (18 1/8 x 13 7/8 in.) framed: 73.7 x 61 x 11.5 cm (29 x 24 x 4 1/2 in.). Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Agostina, 1866, oil on canvas overall: 132.4 x 97.6 cm (52 1/8 x 38 7/16 in.) framed: 173.7 x 138.4 cm (68 3/8 x 54 1/2 in.) National Gallery of Art, Washington, Chester Dale Collection

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Bohemian Woman at a Fountain, c. 1865–1870, oil on canvas, overall: 58.1 x 42.86 cm (22 7/8 x 16 7/8 in.). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The George W. Elkins Collection, 1924 The Philadelphia Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Marietta (Roman Odalisque), 1843, oil on paper mounted on canvas, overall: 29.3 x 44.2 cm (11 9/16 x 17 3/8 in.) framed: 49 x 63 x 8 cm (19 5/16 x 24 13/16 x 3 1/8 in.). Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris © Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. The Repose, 1860, reworked c. 1865/1870, oil on canvas, overall: 57.8 x 101.6 cm (22 3/4 x 40 in.) framed: 83.8 x 127.3 x 12.1 cm (33 x 50 1/8 x 4 3/4 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Bacchante with a Panther, 1860, reworked c. 1865–1870, oil on canvas, overall: 55 x 95 cm (21 5/8 x 37 3/8 in.) framed: 81 x 121 x 9 cm (31 7/8 x 47 5/8 x 3 9/16 in.). Collection of Shelburne Museum, Anonymous gift in memory of Harry Payne Bingham

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Woman with a Pearl, c. 1868–1870, oil on canvas, overall: 70 x 55 cm (27 9/16 x 21 5/8 in.) framed: 93 x 74.5 x 9 cm (36 5/8 x 29 5/16 x 3 9/16 in.). Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Peintures © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY. Photo by Stéphane Maréchalle

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Woman Reading in the Studio, c. 1868, oil on paperboard on wood, overall: 32.5 x 41.3 cm (12 13/16 x 16 1/4 in.) framed: 50.5 x 59.1 x 6.4 cm (19 7/8 x 23 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Corot’s Studio: Woman Seated before an Easel, a Mandolin in Her Hand, c. 1868, oil on wood, overall: 61.8 x 40 cm (24 5/16 x 15 3/4 in.) framed: 78.4 x 56.5 cm (30 7/8 x 22 1/4 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Corot’s Studio: Pensive Woman Seated before an Easel, a Mandolin in Her Hand, c. 1865– 1866, oil on canvas, overall: 56 x 46 cm (22 1/16 x 18 1/8 in.) framed: 76 x 67 cm (29 15/16 x 26 3/8 in.). Musée du Louvre, Paris, on deposit at The Musée d’Orsay, Paris © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY, photo by Herve Lewandowski

Jean-Baptiste-Camille. Corot The Artist’s Studio, 1870, oil on canvas, overall: 63 x 48 cm (24 13/16 x 18 7/8 in.). Collection of Marlene and Spencer Hays

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. The Lady in Blue, 1874, oil on canvas, overall: 80 x 50.5 cm (31 1/2 x 19 7/8 in.) framed: 125.5 x 95.5 x 16.5 cm (49 7/16 x 37 5/8 x 6 1/2 in.). Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Peintures © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY, photo by Stéphane Maréchalle

“Recognized as a great master of landscape painting, Corot is among the best represented artists in the Gallery’s collection of 19th-century French art. This unique exhibition presents an opportunity to examine a smaller and less well-known aspect of his career,” said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. “We are grateful to The Edwin L. Cox Exhibition Fund, as well as Leonard and Elaine Silverstein, who helped to make this exhibition possible.”

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington and is curated by Mary Morton, curator and head of the department of French paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Images courtesy National Gallery of Art.

August 28, 2018

Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library at Annenberg Space for Photography, through September 9, 2018

“The exhibition is a collection of nearly 500 images – discovered within a collection of more than 14 million pictures – permanently housed in the world’s largest library at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Put together by the distinguished photography curator Anne Wilkes Tucker, the exhibition features the image entitled Not an Ostrich and a large selection of rare and handpicked works from the vaults of the library, many never widely available to the public. Each picture documents a special moment in America’s culture and history. Tucker, named ‘America’s Best Curator’ by TIME, was granted special access to the photographic archives at the Library of Congress.

The images selected for Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library span three centuries of photography (1800s, 1900s, 2000s), simultaneously telling America’s story through evocative imagery, while revealing the evolution of photography itself – from daguerreotypes, the first publicly available photographic process, to contemporary digital images. The exhibition’s name, Not an Ostrich, refers to an actual image included in the collection – a photo of actress Isla Bevan holding an ‘Floradora Goose’ at the 41st Annual Poultry Show at Madison Square Garden – and hints at the unexpected and unusual artifacts collected at the Library of Congress over its 218-year history, some of which will be on display inside the Annenberg Space for Photography”. — Annenberg Space for Photography

Robert Cornelius. Self-portrait, 1839. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Benjamin F. Powelson. Harriet Tubman; a hitherto unknown carte-de-visite in the Emily Howland photograph album, 1868 or 1869. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Gerhard Sisters. Geronimo showing photographers reflected in his eye, c. 1904. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Not an Ostrich: ‘Floradora goose’ at 41st annual Poultry Show, Madison Square Garden, 1930. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Unknown. Brünnhilde, 1936. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Dorothea Lange. Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children, age 32. Migrant Mother, 1936. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Toni Frissell. Jacqueline Bouvier and John Kennedy on their wedding day, Newport, RI, 1953. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro. Architectural hats, 1960. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Phillip Harrington. New Designs: Ingo Maurer Bulb, 1970. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Dan Esgro. Bella Lewitzky Dance Company, c. 1970–80. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Sharon Farmer. Beatrice Fergerson, age 97, Washington, DC, 1990. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Carol M. Highsmith. Mammy’s Cupboard restaurant, Natchez, MS, 2008. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Dawoud Bey. Fred Stewart II and Tyler Collins, Birmingham Museum of Art from the series Birmingham: Four Girls, Two Boys, 2012. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

Carol M. Highsmith. Tough takedown in the Frontier Days arena, Cheyenne, WY, 2017. (From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

“What a pleasure and an honor it was to work with the Library of Congress selecting these photographs. Glamour, worship, invention, bravery, humor, cruelty and love – this collection of photographs preserves all examples of our humanity as well as chronicling America’s history in extraordinary photographs. The Library is an inexhaustible trove available for anyone to explore,” said Anne Wilkes Tucker, Curator Emerita of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

“The Library of Congress not only collects and preserves America’s cultural heritage but also works to make those comprehensive collections accessible to as many people as possible. I am so thrilled about this opportunity to present the Library’s rich photography collection at the Annenberg Space for Photography,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “I hope photography and history enthusiasts around Los Angeles and beyond who visit this unprecedented exhibition will have their curiosity piqued about all that is available to them at their national library.”

Images courtesy Annenberg Space for Photography.

August 22, 2018

Tennessee Williams: Playwright and Painter at Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, through October 7, 2018

“This exhibit features nine of Tennessee William’s paintings dating from the 1970s. The paintings are on loan from David Wolkowsky, one of Williams’ closest friends and long-standing Key West resident. Wolkowsky entertained Williams at his private island on Ballast Key, nine miles off of Key West and at his Pier House Resort. Williams was one of the most admired playwrights of the 20th century. While he wrote fiction and motion picture screenplays, Williams is most widely known for his plays, which are chiefly set in the South. Several of his plays including, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are considered among the finest of the American stage. Painting was a passion for Williams, almost to the point that it became a second profession. Toward the end of his life, Williams gradually gave up writing for painting; for him, painting was an easier form of self-expression. Critics did not think as much of his painting as his plays, however his artwork remains widely popular among collectors.” — Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU

“The story behind these paintings, and the close friendship between Wolkowsky and Williams, is just one example of the many unexpected treasures in the rich history of Jewish culture in the State of Florida, spanning four centuries,” said Susan Gladstone, the Executive Director of the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. “The fact that Williams painted, much less that he painted in Key West, is a surprise to many and his paintings have mostly remained outside of the public eye. We are honored to have these works here at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, and to be one of the few museums that David Wolkowsky has selected to exhibit these works outside of their Key West home.”

Michael York, by Tennessee Williams (1970s), oil and pencil on canvas. On loan from David Wolkowsky.

The Blaze of the Moment, by Tennessee Williams (1970s), oil on canvas. On loan from David Wolkowsky.

Citizen of World III, by Tennessee Williams (1970s), oil on canvas board. On loan from David Wolkowsky.

The Tidings Brought to Mary at Far Rockaway, by Tennessee Williams (1975), oil on canvas. On loan from David Wolkowsky.

She Sang Beyond the Genius of the Sea, by Tennessee Williams (1976), oil on canvas. On loan from David Wolkowsky.

Le Solitaire, by Tennessee Williams (1976), oil on canvas board. On loan from David Wolkowsky.

Tennessee Williams painting in Key West.

A signed portrait from Tennessee Williams, inscribed to David Wolkowsky, reads: “Dear David – It’s been one hell of a trip. Love, Tennessee”

Images courtesy Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU.

August 14, 2018

Ranjani Shettar: Seven ponds and a few raindrops at The Met Fifth Avenue, through September 16, 2018

Photographs by Corrado Serra.

“Suspended from the ceiling, Seven ponds and a few raindrops is composed of stainless steel elements that have been molded into a series of sensual, curved, amoeba-like forms covered in tamarind-stained muslin—a technique derived from a craft tradition Shettar observed in the small village of Kinnala, India. The shadows cast by the suspended elements give the viewer a sense of having stumbled upon a hidden-away oasis.

Born in 1977, Shettar is based in the South India state of Karnataka. The inspiration for her large-scale installation comes from her observations of the now-threatened natural environs of rural India. She combines natural and industrial materials like beeswax, wood, organic dyes, vegetal pastes, lacquer, steel, and cloth in her work. All of the components in Shettar’s installations are carefully created and have a deliberately imperfect quality. The hued, rough patinas of the materials emphasize the artisanal nature of her practice, while also acknowledging the lives of the materials themselves. While Shettar’s abstract sculptures are resonant with familiar traditions of Western modernist and minimalist sculpture, it is the interplay of techniques and materials, mostly drawn from local sources, that make them distinctive.” — The Met

Seven ponds and a few raindrops, 2017. Muslin, stainless steel, tamarind, natural dyes, 19 ft. 1 in. x 18 ft. 7 in. x 96 in. (581.7 x 566.4 x 243.8 cm). Courtesy Talwar Gallery, New York/New Delhi.

Indian sculptor Ranjani Shettar’s immersive installation Seven ponds and a few raindrops (2017), a recent gift to The Met from the Tia Collection, marks the beginning of the Tia Collection’s two year commitment to support the acquisition of works by South Asian female artists for The Met’s Department of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Ranjani Shettar: Seven ponds and a few raindrops is organized by Shanay Jhaveri, Assistant Curator of South Asian Art in The Met’s Department of Modern and Contemporary Art.

August 11, 2018

Ecological Consciousness: Artist as Instigator & Sunroom Project Space 2018 at Wave Hill, through August 26, 2018

Photographs by Corrado Serra.

“Ecological Consciousness: Artist as Instigator continues Wave Hill’s efforts to examine the ways that artists engage in ecological projects that present calls to action. The exhibition documents environmental art that explores persistent problems throughout New York City.

Artists are the voice of the community. Often they are one of the first to voice social concerns and the most effective at garnering grass-roots support for important issues. Not surprisingly, as communities’ concerns about persistent environmental issues have escalated, artists have been uniquely positioned to actively respond, collaborating with engineers, designers, landscape architects, ecologists, historians and other professionals to bridge the gap between science, art and activism. Wave Hill stands at the center of this shift, providing the impetus for Wave Hill’s summer exhibition that features projects by artists, collectives, and organizations that have initiated environmental projects.

In the Sun Porch Katie Westmoreland’s presentation of kinetic tapestries responds to the space’s architecture, evoking the patterns cast by sunlight through trees and plants. Her immersive installation utilizes the passing light and shadow patterns as active mediums in her work, calling attention to the sun’s enduring, inspirational qualities.

In the Sunroom Project Space Priyanka Dasgupta and Chad Marshall create an installation that uses traditional landscape architecture, such as a conventional English garden maze, to expose the instability of identity in the United States. Dasgupta and Marshall explore the dichotomy of the sanctuary—its ability to protect as well as restrict.” — Wave Hill

The Sunroom Project Space, organized by Eileen Jeng Lynch, Curator of Visual Arts, and Natika Soward, Curatorial Fellow. The Arts at Wave Hill are overseen by Jennifer McGregor, Senior Director of Arts, Education and Programs.

Ecological Consciousness: Artist as Instigator is organized by Wave Hill’s curatorial team, Jennifer McGregor and Eileen Jeng Lynch.

Ecological Consciousness: Artist as Instigator are projects by artists, collectives, and organizations that have initiated environmental projects: CARBON SPONGE by Brooke Singer, DAYLIGHTING TIBBETTS BROOK PROJECTS organized by City As Living Laboratory (CALL) with SLO Architecture, and Bob Braine, LEVEE PROPOSAL FOR LOUIS VALENTINO PARK, RED HOOK, BROOKLYN by Jean Shin, (NERTM) NEW EARTH RESILIENCY TRAINING MODULE by Tattfoo Tan, NEWTOWN CREEK SAMPLING by Greg Lindquist with Willis Elkins/Newtown Creek Alliance, NYC WATERWAYS, SITE OF ACTVITY, SITE OF ACTION by Eve Mosher and Clarinda Mac Low, NYC URBAN FIELD STATION STEW-MAP and artist in residence program, ONBEHALFOF.LIFE by Environmental Performance Agency (EPA), OUTER SEED SHADOW PROJECTS FOR MARBLE HILL HOUSES AND DYCKMAN HOUSES organized by Juanli Carrión, SWALE by Mary Mattingly, THE FAIRY RING: MYCOREMEDIATION MOTHER PATCH, NEWTOWN CREEK by Jan Mun, THE POINT’S SOUTH BRONX RESILIENCY ARTS FELLOWSHIP PROJECTS by artists Blanka Amezkua, Brandon Ballengée, Lynn Cazabon and Alicia Grullon, WATERWASH BRONX RIVER by Lillian Ball.

August 10, 2018

John Akomfrah: Signs of Empire at New Museum, through September 2, 2018

“The New Museum presents the first American survey exhibition of the work of British artist, film director, and writer John Akomfrah (b. 1957, Accra, Ghana). Since the early 1980s, Akomfrah’s moving image works have offered some of the most rigorous and expansive reflections on the culture of the black diaspora, both in the UK and around the world. Akomfrah’s work initially came to prominence in the early 1980s as part of Black Audio Film Collective, a group of seven artists founded in 1982 in response to the 1981 Brixton riots. The collective produced a number of films notable for their mix of archival and found footage, interviews and realist depictions of contemporary England, and layered sound collages. In works like Handsworth Songs (1986), Akomfrah and Black Audio outlined the political and economic forces leading to social unrest throughout England. Akomfrah and Black Audio’s works were remarkable for their trenchant political inquiries and consistently experimental approach. They were also pioneering in their injection of narratives of black British history and culture into popular media through documentaries made for British television.

Although Akomfrah’s work has had a direct and profound influence on subsequent generations of British artists working across media, the importance of his work has yet to be fully felt in America. The centerpiece of the exhibition at the New Museum is Akomfrah’s celebrated three-screen video installation Vertigo Sea (2015). The work, which first premiered at the 2015 Venice Biennale and makes its New York debut at the New Museum, focuses on the ocean as an environmental, cultural, and historical force, connecting literature and poetry, the history of slavery, and contemporary issues of migration and climate change. The exhibition also includes The Unfinished Conversation (2012), Akomfrah’s complex reflection on the life and ideas of cultural theorist Stuart Hall; Expeditions I – Signs of Empire (1983), the first work produced by Black Audio Film Collective; and Transfigured Night (2013), a two-channel work looking at the relationship between the US and post-colonial African history.” — New Museum

_______________________________________

John Akomfrah, Expeditions One – Signs of Empire, 1983 (stills). Single-channel 35mm color Ektachrome slides transferred to video, sound; 26 min. © Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery

_______________________________________

John Akomfrah, The Unfinished Conversation, 2012 (installation views). Three-channel HD video installation, 7.1 sound, color; 45:48 min. © Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery

_______________________________________

John Akomfrah, Transfigured Night, 2013. (installation views and last image still from video). Two-channel HD video installation, 5.1 sound, color; 26:31 min. © Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery

_______________________________________

John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea, 2015. (installation views and last image still from video). Three-channel HD video installation, 7.1 sound, color; 48:30 min. © Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery

_______________________________________

The exhibition is curated by Gary Carrion-Murayari, Kraus Family Curator, and Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director. It is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog featuring essays by Tina Campt, T.J. Demos, Okwui Enwezor, Aram Moshayedi, Diana Nawi, and Zoe Whitley. 

Images courtesy New Museum. 

August 9, 2018

Vik Muniz: Photography and the Rebirth of Wonder at The Chrysler Museum of Art, through October 14, 2018

“The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia unveils a major retrospective of photographs by celebrated contemporary artist Vik Muniz. Vik Muniz: Photography and the Rebirth of Wonder explores the full breadth of the imaginative artist’s career with more than 100 photographs, including many of Muniz’s most recent works. 

Born in 1961 in São Paulo, Brazil, Muniz is widely recognized as one of the most innovative and creative artists working today. He creates what he calls “photographic delusions” that playfully investigate visual memory and human perception. Muniz’s works begin as sculptural assemblages made from an array of unconventional materials like chocolate syrup, tomato sauce, magazine clippings, dust, trash and diamonds. He then records these creations in sharp detail with a camera. The resulting photographic images often resemble familiar scenes from pop culture or masterpieces from the history of art while drawing attention to our own process of decoding visual information. His recent work utilizes electron microscopes, lasers and manipulated microorganisms to unveil both the familiar and the strange in spaces that are typically inaccessible to the human eye.” — Chrysler Museum of Art 

“Muniz has devoted his creative energies to playfully questioning what our eyes take for granted,” said Seth Feman, Ph.D, Curator of Exhibitions and Curator of Photography at the Chrysler. “The inviting and accessible works meditate on human perception and optics, helping us think about how we see, how we remember and how we’ve come to trust our eyes.”

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Action Photo after Hans Namuth, from the series Pictures of Chocolate, 1998. Cibachrome print, 61 x 49.2 x 1.9 inches © Vik Muniz and the estate of Hans Namuth, VAGA

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Marlene Dietrich, from the series Pictures of Diamonds, 2004. Digital C print, 65.2 x 51.6 x 1.9 inches © Vik Muniz/Galerie Xippas, Paris

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Mahana No Atua (Day of the Gods), after Gauguin, from the series Pictures of Pigment, 2005. Chromogenic print, exhibition,  74.6 x 95.6 x 2.3 inches © Vik Muniz

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Valentine, The Fastest, from the series Sugar Children, 1996. Gelatin silver print, 22 x 19.3 x 1 inches © Vik Muniz

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Jerusalem, from the series Postcards from Nowhere, 2015. Digital C print, 74.6 x 111 x 2.3 inches © Vik Muniz

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Double Mona Lisa (Peanut butter and Jelly), from the series After Warhol, 1999. Digital C Print,  49.6 x 61.4 x 1.9 inches © Vik Muniz/Galerie Xippas, Paris

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). A Bar at the Folies-Bergère after Edouard Manet, from the series Pictures of Magazines 2, 2012. Digital C print,  71 x 98.1 x 2 inches © Vik Muniz/Ben Brown Fine Arts, London

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Toy Soldier, from the series Monads, 2003. Digital chromogenic print,  92 x 72 inches © Vik Muniz/Galerie Xippas, Paris

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Marat (Sebastião,) from the series Pictures of Garbage, 2008-11. Digital chromogenic print, 30 x 24 inches © Vik Muniz/Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Vik Muniz (Brazilian, b. 1961). Sandcastle #10, from the series Sandcastles, 2014. Digital chromogenic print, 71 x 86.9 inches © Vik Muniz/Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Vik Muniz: Photography and the Rebirth of Wonder is co-organized by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis/New York City/Paris/Lausanne, and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. It is curated by Arthur Ollman of the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography.

Images courtesy Chrysler Museum of Art.