Celebration Will Include Multiple Concerts and Parties, One-of-a-kind Tours, The Auction at Graceland and Events With Priscilla Presley, Jerry Schilling and Elvis’ TCB Band
Music fans from around the world will travel to Elvis Presley’s Graceland® in January to celebrate the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s™ 85th birthday. Numerous events are scheduled for January 8-11, 2020, including the annual Elvis Birthday Proclamation Ceremony on January 8, The Auction at Graceland, an Elvis Birthday Bash and Evening Tour, a Birthday Celebration Concert featuring Terry Mike Jeffrey and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, plus the fan-favorite concert Elvis: Live in Concert featuring TCB Band members James Burton, Glen Hardin and Ronnie Tutt, Priscilla Presley and Jerry Schilling. Many of the birthday celebration events will be held at The Guest House at Graceland™, the AAA Four Diamond-rated resort hotel located just steps from Graceland. For a complete day-by-day schedule and to purchase tickets visit Graceland.com.
Elvis Presley Graceland logo
The
highlights of the four days of celebrations will be two concerts at
the Soundstage at Graceland:
On
Friday, January 10, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra brings
their annual Elvis Pops Concert to Graceland. Musician and
singer Terry Mike Jeffrey and his band join the orchestra for
a special birthday salute featuring music from all facets of Elvis’
career. With performances featuring his greatest hits, movie songs
and love ballads that will take you from Memphis to Las Vegas to
Hawaii all in one evening.
Lozano-Hemmer’s First Major Survey in the U.S., Unstable Presence Features Large-Scale Participatory Installations and Immersive Environments
Auerbach’s First Museum Survey, S v Z Traverses the Boundaries Between Art, Design, Science and Craft
Also Opening at SFMOMA, Select Video Projections from Theaster Gates and Cauleen Smith Shown Together for the First Time
The
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will present two
major exhibitions celebrating the mixed media work of contemporary
artists Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Tauba Auerbach this
upcoming spring. The artist’s first major survey exhibition in the
U.S., Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence (April
25–November 1, 2020) will explore our presence in fundamentally
turbulent environments through a focused selection of 16 engaging
installations on the museum’s seventh floor. Simultaneously on the
museum’s fourth floor, Auerbach’s first museum survey, Tauba
Auerbach — S v Z (April 25–September 7, 2020),
will highlight her prolific and varied output over the last 16 years.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art logo
Also
on view this spring will be select video projections from renowned
interdisciplinary artists Cauleen Smith and Theaster Gates
in Future Histories (April 25–November 1, 2020).
Rafael
Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence, April 25–November 1,
2020, Floor 7
Air
and water, heartbeats and voices, text and light — these are the
materials of media artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Over the past
few decades, the Mexico City–born, Montreal-based artist has earned
international recognition for large-scale participatory installations
that frequently incorporate technology and the architecture of public
spaces. On view in the U.S. exclusively at SFMOMA, Rafael
Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence brings together recent
sculptural installations and immersive environments realized on
microscopic and macroscopic scales. These works engage visitors’
sense of play, and anxiety, as they experience the implications of
technology and behaviors of participation in social and political
contexts.
“Unstable
Presence refers to the dynamic, poetic, but also disturbing
turbulence that characterizes social and technical interrelations,”
said Rudolf Frieling, curator of media arts at SFMOMA. “Materializing
on various scales, from the personal to the geopolitical, the
instability of these layers of presence is powerfully echoed in the
atmospheric but also sculptural installations.”
Rafael
Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence additionally examines the
concept of “co-presence” by highlighting how our physical
presence and the natural and technological spaces we inhabit form a
continuous stream of interaction. Lozano-Hemmer noted, “Presence
is often associated with existence, continuity in time or material
reality. The ‘unstable’ in the exhibition’s title refers to
interaction, improvisation and performance. The instability brought
by participation allows constant reinterpretation of the work, where
many outcomes are co-present.”
The
exhibition focuses on three major themes in Lozano-Hemmer’s work:
observation and surveillance; text-based poetic work;
and the instability of systems. Highlights of the presentation
include the following installations, the majority of which encourage
visitor participation:
Airborne
Newscast (2013) projects live news feeds from prominent
international news outlets, such as Reuters, Agencia EFE, Notimex,
AlterNet and AP. When visitors enter the space, their shadows disrupt
the projections and dissolve the projected words into smoke-like
patterns, creating an unstable atmospheric effect.
Call
on Water (2016) is a fountain from which words emerge as
plumes of vapor, produced by hundreds of computer-controlled
ultrasonic atomizers. Fragment by fragment, poems by the celebrated
Mexican writer Octavio Paz briefly materialize in the mist before
dissipating in turbulence.
Pulse
Spiral (2008) consists of hundreds of incandescent
lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling in a three-dimensional spiral.
This participatory installation records and responds to the heart
rates of visitors holding sensors, transforming their heartbeats into
mesmerizing flashes of light.
Sphere
Packing: Bach (2018), the largest in Lozano-Hemmer’s
Sphere Packing series, is a three-meter spherical frame
supporting 1,128 loudspeakers, each simultaneously playing a
different composition by Johan Sebastian Bach. Visitors can enter the
sphere and be surrounded by the cacophonous crescendo of Bach’s
entire musical output.
Vicious
Circular Breathing (2013) is a large sculptural
installation featuring brown paper bags that inflate and deflate at
human breathing rates; a set of motorized bellows and valves that
control the bags; and a sealed glass room with a decompression
chamber. Visitors are invited to enter the glass room to breathe the
air that was previously breathed by earlier participants. The piece
includes warnings about the risks of asphyxiation, contagion and
panic, offering a statement on the limits of the planet’s resources
as well as a commentary on participation, which in this case makes
the air more toxic for future visitors.
Voz
Alta [Out Loud] (2008)commemorates the 40th anniversary of the massacre of
hundreds of students in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, on October 2, 1968.
The original site-specific “anti-monument” is presented in the
gallery as a functional prototype: participants are invited to step
up to a megaphone and speak freely, their speech translated into
light flashes via a miniature searchlight. An FM radio transmitter
relays the sounds to which the light corresponds, and an archival
recording of the 2008 memorial plays after a participant has finished
speaking. In this way, the memory of the tragedy in Tlatelolco is
mixed with live participation.
Zoom
Pavilion (2015) is an interactive installation created in
collaboration with artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. Consisting of
projections fed by computerized surveillance footage, the work uses
face recognition and other tracking algorithms to detect the presence
of participants and record their spatial relationships. Independent
cameras zoom in to amplify images with up to 35x magnification. The
zooming sequences become disorienting as they change the image
landscape from easily recognizable wide shots of the crowd to
abstract close-ups.
Rafael
Lozano-Hemmer was born in Mexico City in 1967, and lives and
works in Montreal. He was the first artist to represent Mexico at the
Venice Biennale, with an exhibition at the Palazzo Van Axel
in 2007. He has also shown at biennials and triennials in Cuenca,
Havana, Istanbul, Kōchi, Liverpool, Melbourne, Montreal, Moscow, New
Orleans, New York, Seoul, Seville, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and
Wuzhen. Lozano-Hemmer’s works have been featured in solo
exhibitions and performances in numerous institutions, including the
Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City
(2015); SFMOMA (2012); the Museum of Contemporary Art,
Sydney (2011); the Manchester Art Gallery (2010); the
Guggenheim Museum, New York (2009); and the Barbican
Centre, London (2008).
Rafael
Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence is accompanied by a
catalogue featuring full-color illustrations of works in the
exhibition and contributions covering a range of topical approaches.
It includes a curatorial introduction and four essays from Olivier
Asselin, Sean Cubitt, Tatiana Flores and Gloria Sutton that
explore the poetic and political dimensions of the artist’s work,
along with in-depth examinations of four major works — Zoom
Pavilion, Vicious Circular Breathing, Voz Alta and Pulse Room.
Edited by Rudolf Frieling and François LeTourneux, the
catalogue is published by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
in association with Delmonico Books/Prestel.
Rafael
Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence is co-organized by the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Musée d’art contemporain
de Montréal. The exhibition is co-curated by Lesley
Johnstone, curator and head of exhibitions and education,
François LeTourneux, associate curator at the MAC and Rudolf
Frieling, curator of media arts at SFMOMA.
Generous
support for Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence is
provided by Debbie and Andy Rachleff and
Carlie Wilmans.
Exhibition About African American Movie Posters On View Through Nov. 1, 2020
United States Student Association Poster for No Vietnamese Ever Called Me Nigger 1968. lithographic ink on paper H x W: 35 x 22 in. (88.9 x 55.9 cm) Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
“Now
Showing: Posters from African American Movies” opened at
the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American
History and Culture, Nov. 22. The temporary exhibition
will be on display until November 2020 and showcases how
movie poster design has been used to frame ideas, create moods and
stoke interest in films and characters. More than 40 objects and
graphics celebrating black films, filmmakers and actors from the
museum’s expansive poster collection will be on display in the
Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts
(CAAMA) gallery.
Poster for The Black Moses of Soul, Isaac Hayes Special 1973. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Leith Adams
“Now
Showing” is the first exhibition in the National Museum of
African American History and Culture to feature augmented reality
(AR). Through AR, visitors will have the unique opportunity to have
an interactive experience with objects inside the gallery by using
their mobile devices. Once inside the exhibition, visitors will go to
hi.si.edu on their mobile web
browser from their smart device and view exclusive content on various
objects inside the exhibition.
Claire Trevor, 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. H x W (image): 38 1/4 × 25 1/2 in. (97.2 × 64.8 cm), H x W (sheet): 41 1/16 × 27 1/16 in. (104.3 × 68.7 cm) Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Many
of the items featured in “Now Showing” are from the Larry
Richards Collection, a poster collection acquired by the museum
in 2013 that includes more than 700 objects. This exhibition features
original posters, lobby cards and select ephemera highlighting more
than 70 years of African American image making.
Poster for Pinky, 1949 ink on paper (fiber product), H x W (image): 39 × 25 1/2 in. (99.1 × 64.8 cm), H x W (sheet): 40 15/16 × 27 1/16 in. (104 × 68.7 cm) Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
The
exhibition is divided into four sections: Film Pioneers, The
Problem of the Color Line, A Star Is Born and Black
Power & “Blaxploitation”. Each thematic category
highlights the role African American films have played on the
perception of African American culture and society as a whole.
All
are welcome to kick off the holiday season with the much-anticipated
Tree Lighting against the skyline at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art on Wednesday, November 27. Enjoy free live
music, complimentary candy canes and warm beverages on the East
Terrace starting at 5:00 p.m. With the official countdown set for
5:50 p.m., 12,000 LED lights will illuminate the stately 55-foot-tall
white fir on the terrace.
The tree aglow on the museum’s East Terrace with the city skyline in the distance. Photo by Tim Tiebout, courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019.
The
Tree Lighting once again headlines the museum’s holiday
program, which continues through the close of 2019 with events
ranging from holiday card making, caroling through the galleries, and
celebratory dining to a Feliz Navidad Fiesta and a Festival
of Lights.
“It
promises to be a spectacular Tree Lighting, and we invite everyone to
join us here at the museum, where admission—following the
countdown—will be Pay-What-You-Wish until 8:45 p.m., as it is every
Wednesday evening,” said Timothy Rub, the museum’s
George D. Widener Director and CEO, who will officiate with
the Honorable Jim Kenney, Mayor of Philadelphia. “This
event brings out so many families and friends – last year’s Tree
Lighting drew a record 3300 well-wishers—and we invite everyone to
join us for what promises to be a festive evening full of community
spirit.”
The tree aglow on the museum’s East Terrace with the city skyline in the distance. Photo by Tim Tiebout, courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019.
Mayor
Kenney said, “This Tree Lighting ceremony has become a
Philadelphia tradition that attracts so many people to our historic
museum every year. It looks spectacular, high above the Ben Franklin
Parkway. From the look on kids’ faces, it has to be one of the
happiest occasions in our city that every Philadelphian can enjoy the
day before the iconic Thanksgiving Day Parade. I look forward to
taking part in this year’s festivities.”
“We’ve
been rehearsing our classics like Let It Snow and Jingle Bells but
also some of the lesser known Christmas songs, by Louis Armstrong and
Ella Fitzgerald,” said Chelsea Reed of Chelsea Reed
and the Fairweather Nine. “I’m so excited to share all of
these with the people of Philadelphia!”
Chelsea Reed and the Fair Weather Nine will perform on the museum’s East Terrace during the Tree Lighting Celebration, November 27, 2019. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Inside
the museum, right after the Tree Lighting, visitors will be able to
stroll through the galleries and public spaces adorned with seasonal
decorations and enjoy festive foods and beverages. “Sister
Cities Girlchoir is looking forward to performing inside the museum,”
said founder Alysia Lee. “There’s no better way to top off
Philadelphia’s Tree Lighting than to get warm and cozy in the Great
Stair Hall, where the girls will bring their unique blend of songs of
empowerment, celebration, and meditation as they perform with such
grace under the majestic gilded statue of the Roman goddess Diana.”
Sister Cities Girlchoir will perform in the museum’s Great Stair Hall during the Tree Lighting Celebration, November 27, 2019. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Down
at the street level next to Kelly Drive, the newly reopened
North Entrance, leading to the celebrated Vaulted Walkway,
is already decorated with evergreens for the holidays. Visitors may
enter there any time during museum hours and begin their holiday
shopping, too, in the new Main Store, access to which paid
admission is not required. On November 27, the Store will offer a 20
percent discount from 5 p.m. until 8:45 p.m.
(The
museum’s East Entrance remains open during public hours and the
West Entrance is now closed until fall 2020.)
A view at sundown of the tree, facing the museum’s East facade. Photo by Tim Tiebout, courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019.
Each
year, the holiday tree provides a magnificent spectacle overlooking
the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Planning for its placement
requires exceptional coordination. The Philly-bound evergreen makes a
300-mile trip, wheeling in from Hornell, New York, on a flatbed
truck. The 7500-pound tree is craned upright upon a platform; it is
then unwrapped, branching out to a 25 foot-wide-spread. Next, it is
adorned with thousands of lights, each one at .144watts, all powered
by (2) 20amp circuits. High on the apex of the tree, a star is
placed, measuring 6 feet in diameter and containing 175 lights
itself.
Visitors and the tree aglow on the museum’s East Terrace during the Tree Lighting Celebration, 2018. Photo courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019.
Acquiring
and installing the tree and generating the lighting would not be
possible without dedicated support. Seasonal decor is generously
provided by IBEW, Local 98, Dougherty Electric, Inc., PMC Property
Group, and the Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum
of Art. Holidays at the Museum is sponsored by LF
Driscoll, with additional support from Dan Lepore & Sons
Company, The Berlin Steel Construction Company, JPC Group,
Inc., Thomas Company, Tracey Mechanical, Inc., ARC,
D.M. Sabia & Company, Inc., Colonial Electric Supply,
and Crescent Designed Metals.
Below
Is The Full Schedule Of Holiday Events At The Museum To Close Out
2019:
