MoMA Temporarily Closes Museums and Stores in New York
MoMA announced today that it will close The Museum of Modern Art on 53rd Street, MoMA PS1 in Queens, and the MoMA Design Stores on 53rd Street and in Soho, effective immediately and through March 30. MoMA will continue to monitor developments with COVID-19 and regularly reassess this temporary closure.
Glenn D. Lowry, The David Rockefeller Director of The Museum of Modern Art, said: “Nothing is more important to MoMA than the health and safety of our community. We take seriously our responsibility as a civic institution to serve the public good. With that in mind, as it is more and more challenging to predict the impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, we have decided to temporarily close MoMA.”
MoMA has been prepared for this possibility for several weeks and made the decision in ongoing consultation with public health experts, city and state officials, peer institutions, and the Boards of The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1. There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among MoMA employees. Plans are in place to continue to support employees and MoMA’s better than best practice cleaning and sanitization protocols.
MoMA plans to re-open at the first opportunity that ensures the health and safety of all visitors and employees.
All Events at Carnegie Hall from Friday, March 13 through Tuesday, March 31, 2020 are Cancelled
All March events cancelled in effort to reduce spread of COVID-19
With the health and safety of its public, artists, and staff as its foremost priority, Carnegie Hall today announced that it will be closed for all public events and programming through the end of March, effective midnight tonight, in an effort to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).
All events and programming at Carnegie Hall from Friday, March 13 through Tuesday, March 31, 2020 have been cancelled. For a list of performances at Carnegie Hall that are affected, please see the attached list or click here. Carnegie Hall events on Thursday evening, March 12 will take place as scheduled.
Upcoming education programming presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute—whether taking place at Carnegie Hall or in off-site locations—is suspended through March 31. All free Carnegie Hall Citywide performances in venues throughout New York City are cancelled through March 31.
All other scheduled concerts and programming starting on April 1, 2020 and beyond remain on the schedule pending the reopening of Carnegie Hall. The general public is encouraged to check carnegiehall.org/events for the most up-to-date programming information.
Patrons who purchased tickets by credit card from Carnegie Hall for a performance that has been canceled will receive automatic refunds; those who purchased by cash at the Box Office may email a scan or photo of the tickets to feedback@carnegiehall.org, along with complete contact details (name, mailing address, and phone number), through June 30, 2020, for a refund. Those who purchased tickets directly from other concert presenters should contact that presenter for refund information.
Patrons who have any further questions should contact CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or email feedback@carnegiehall.org. Please note that email and call volume may be high with limited in-house staff, and tickets may be refunded on a delayed schedule. We thank you for your patience as we navigate this evolving situation together.
Asian Art Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Announce Temporary Closure Effective March 14, 2020
The Asian Art Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) collaboratively announce a temporary closure to the public effective at 5 pm PST on Friday, March 13. With their united focus on the health and safety of their visitors and staff members, the museums made this decision to align with local and federal guidelines and social distancing recommendations for the containment of the coronavirus.
The Asian Art Museum and SFMOMA will tentatively reopen to the public on Saturday, March 28, 2020, and the FAMSF museums will reopen on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. The museums will individually evaluate whether the closure timeframe needs to be extended.
ASIAN ART MUSEUM
The closure of the Asian Art Museum includes the museum, its café (Sunday at the Museum) and its store. More information can be found at asianart.org.
FINE ARTS MUSEUMS (FAMSF)
Both the de Young and the Legion of Honor, including museum cafes and stores, will be closed. Please find the most up-to-date information at deyoungmuseum.org/coronavirus-response.
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (SFMOMA)
SFMOMA’s closure includes the museum, its restaurants (In Situ, Cafe 5 and Sightglass coffee bars), stores (museum and SFO store) and the Artists Gallery at Fort Mason. For the most up-to-date information including information on rescheduling a visit, go to sfmoma.org/coronavirus-update.
Historian and Narrator John Monsky Captures the Dramatic Final Months of World War II With Multimedia Production Featuring 35-Piece Orchestra and Leading Broadway Artists, Historic Video, Original American Flags From Normandy Beach and Beyond, and Images from the Archives of Legendary Photojournalists
Historian and narrator John Monskybrings his groundbreaking American History Unbound series back to Zankel Hall on Saturday, June 6 and Tuesday, June 9 with The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day—an exciting multimedia production that tells the powerful story of the American landing on the Normandy beaches and subsequent 11 months of battle that finally secured victory in Europe.
On June 5, 1944, on the eve of D-Day, Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower told American forces, “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” While D-Day marked a turning point and pathway to victory, the landings and eleven months of battle that followed would be among the most brutal for the American troops and Allied forces.
War photojournalist Lee Miller with American soldiers during World War II (photo taken by David Scherman)
This immersive concert experience, presented with the New-York Historical Society in the 75th anniversary year of VE Day, recounts this period through striking photography from the archives of American photojournalist Lee Miller, who, reporting for Vogue magazine, was among the 127 accredited female journalists covering the war, as well as letters home from a young American intelligence officer who landed at Normandy and fought with the army through VE day. Along the way, they connected with legendary American writer Ernest Hemingway and photojournalist Robert Capa. The paths of these four remarkable figures intersect and intertwine as they served as the “eyes for the world” from D-Day to eventual victory.
The program features the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by music supervisor Ian Weinberger (Hamilton), joined by leading Broadway vocalists including Nick Cordero (Waitress, A Bronx Tale), Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls), Tony LePage (Come From Away), and Bryonha Parham (After Midnight) performing evocative music of the era—from La Vie en Rose and Woody Guthrie’s What Are We Waiting On to signature songs of legendary bandleader Glenn Miller who volunteered for the Army at the height of his career—and selections from the film soundtracks of Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. Tickets for the June 6 and 9 performances are on sale to the general public now.
The American History Unbound series, exploring watershed moments in American history, combines live music performed by celebrated Broadway actors and a full orchestra, incorporating film, photography, historic flags and material culture from Monsky’s personal collection. Narrated by Monsky with a script punctuated with his own memories and observations, each production includes powerful examinations of singular and pivotal events—from the Revolutionary War and Civil War to D-Day—turning points in history that changed America.
Decades ago, Monsky’s mother bought her 12-year-old son his first “flag,” a red kerchief (an artifact from Theodore Roosevelt’s unsuccessful 1912 presidential bid), to appease his boredom while on a routine shopping outing. Today, his collection of flags and textiles — tangible artifacts that connect us to our history — has become one of the finest in the country. As his collection grew, so did annual Flag Day presentations held in Monsky’s apartment. As the events grew larger in scope—adding bands and Broadway singers to accent his talks—they eventually required portal-widening-living room-construction to accommodate friends and family, all riveted by Monsky’s storytelling. Sought-after invitations to these informal gatherings attracted the attention of The New Yorker in 2012, when Monsky took a second look at the War of 1812, with a presentation that included the commissioning pennant from the great wooden frigate, the USS Constitution. Louise Mirrer, the President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society, where Monsky is a trustee, recalled, “I attended the Flag Day celebrations and was absolutely dazzled. One of those years after viewing…a really exceptional explication of history, I said to John, ‘you know, you should do that in our auditorium.’” She has since called his D-Day production “the most moving event ever presented on the Society’s stage.”
Monsky has been creating and performing his American History Unbound productions for over a decade and was recently honored by the New-York Historical Society. After two previous sold-out productions—The Vietnam War: At Home and Abroad (2018) and We Chose To Go To The Moon (2019)—The Eyes of the World is the third installment of American History Unbound to be presented at Carnegie Hall.
“John has a passion for combining storytelling, music, visuals, and film in unique and creative ways that bring history to life and that connect emotionally with his audiences,” said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall. “We look forward to this next edition which will take us through some of the most important moments of World War II, traveling on a journey that is sure to be powerful as well as illuminating.”
Like Monsky’s previous productions, The Eyes of the World includes tangible historic objects woven into the storytelling narrative, some of which have been in storage and not seen by the public for more than 75 years. His presentation includes the flag famously placed by Rudder’s Rangers on the rocks of Pointe du Hoc to mark the command post; a rarely-seen divisional color of the US 29th Infantry Division, which suffered tremendous losses on the beaches of Normandy; the flag from landing craft LCI 94, which picked up photojournalist Robert Capa from Omaha Beach on D-Day; community “service banners” hung in schools and churches across America, with blue stars indicating the number of their “boys” in service, plus more.
“I did not start out looking for the figures we follow in this production—Hemingway, Capa, Miller, and a young intelligence officer who landed on D-Day,” said John Monsky. “They revealed themselves as we researched a single flag flown on a Higgins boat and the boys it carried to the beaches. Every twist and turn surprised us as the story unfolded, with its conclusion making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, as Lee Miller and others come together in some of the War’s most dark and haunting places.”
“We are grateful for the contributions of historian and author Alex Kershaw, the staff of the American Battle Monuments Commission and The National World War II Museum, as well as Katie Couric and John Molner for their encouragement and passion to tell the stories of American history. It’s also been an extraordinary privilege to work with Lee Miller’s family—her son Antony Penrose and granddaughter Ami Bouhassane—to expose her work to the wider audience it deserves.”
The final phase of competition is the public Grand Finals concert on the Met stage, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by Bertrand de Billy, on Sunday, March 1
Winners will receive individual cash prizes of $20,000 and invaluable exposure in the opera world
Finals concert to be broadcast live on the Met’s website and SiriusXM
Following February 24th’s semi-final competition, nine young singers have advanced to the final round of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2020 National Council Auditions. In the public concert, finalists perform on the Met stage Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m., for an audience of judges, agents, industry leaders, and the general public (in the auditorium and live on the radio). The finalists, chosen by a panel of opera administrators from the Met and other companies, each perform two arias with the Met Orchestra conducted by Bertrand de Billy. Prize money will increase for the first time in 20 years, with the winners receiving individual cash prizes of $20,000 (previously $15,000), and the prestigious and potentially career-launching title of National Council Auditions Winner. The remaining finalists receive $10,000 (previously $7,500).
The concert will be hosted by soprano Lisette Oropesa, a 2005 National Council Auditions winner, and will also feature a performance by tenor Javier Camarena, while the judges deliberate.
The concert will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 75, and streamed live on the Met’s web site, www.metopera.org.
The 2020 finalists, the regions they represent in the competition, and their hometowns are:
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to announce the 2020-21 recipients of VMFA fellowships. Twenty-six students and professional artists were selected from more than 500 applicants to receive a total of $146,000 towards professional advancements in the arts. The VMFA Fellowship Program has awarded more than $5.8 million to over 1,395 artists since 1940. Recipients must be Virginia residents and may use the award as desired, including for education and studio investments. Each year, professional curators and working artists serve as jurors to select fellowship recipients.
“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Program is proud to support student and professional artists working across the Commonwealth,” said Alex Nyerges, VMFA director and CEO. “We offer one of the largest fellowship programs of its kind in the United States and recognize this effort as a core part of our mission.”
Abigail Lucien, Sculpture, Richmond
Fellowship Recipients
VMFA awarded ten professional fellowships of $8,000 each this year. Professional fellowship recipients are:
Emma Gould, Photography, RichmondMargaret Meehan, Sculpture, Richmond
Paul Finch, New & Emerging Media, Richmond;
Emma Gould, Photography, Richmond;
Sterling Hundley, Drawing, Chesterfield;
Sue Johnson, Mixed Media, Richmond;
Abigail Lucien, Sculpture, Richmond;
Margaret Meehan, Sculpture, Richmond;
David Riley, Film/Video, Richmond;
Dash Shaw, Drawing, Richmond;
Jon-Philip Sheridan, New & Emerging Media, Richmond; and
Opening Night features a new Aida, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, and Piotr Beczała, in a new staging by Michael Mayer.
Maestro Nézet-Séguin, in his third season as Music Director, will conduct six operas, including new stagings of Aida, Don Giovanni, and Dead Man Walking, as well as three classic revivals and two Met Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall.
The six operas conducted by Maestro Nézet-Séguin will all be featured in The Met: Live in HD series—the most transmissions ever led by a single conductor in an HD season.
Renowned directors Barrie Kosky (The Fiery Angel), Ivo van Hove (Don Giovanni and Dead Man Walking), and Simon McBurney (Die Zauberflöte) make notable Met debuts with new productions.
For the first time in recent decades, the Met season will extend into June and will include no performances in February.
There will be more weekend opera than ever before, with 22 Sunday matinee performances, plus onstage post-performance discussions with the stars of each Sunday matinee.
Notable debuts include conductors Hartmut Haenchen, Jakub Hrůša, Giacomo Sagripanti, Speranza Scappucci, and Lorenzo Viotti and singers Varduhi Abrahamyan, Benjamin Bernheim, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Lucia Lucas, Thomas Oliemans, Svetlana Sozdateleva, and Okka von der Damerau.
Other notable conducting engagements include Harry Bicket (Giulio Cesare), Gustavo Dudamel (Die Zauberflöte), and Simone Young (Billy Budd), among others.
The 2020–21 season will be General Manager Peter Gelb’s 15th as the Met’s General Manager.
The Metropolitan Opera announced its 2020–21 season, the first in which Yannick Nézet-Séguin assumes his full breadth of musical duties as the company’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducting six productions. His schedule includes the Met premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, the first contemporary opera conducted by the maestro on the Met stage, as part of his ongoing commitment to opera of our time at the Met, which will expand in the seasons to come.
The season—which includes five new productions and 18 revivals—kicks off on September 21 with the first new staging of Verdi’s Aida in more than 30 years, directed by Michael Mayer, conducted by Nézet-Séguin, and starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, and Piotr Beczała. Australian director Barrie Kosky makes his company debut with the Met-premiere production of Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel, with Michail Jurowski leading an extraordinary cast in his Met debut. Two Mozart operas will also be seen in new stagings: an acclaimed production of Die Zauberflöte directed by Simon McBurney and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, and a sophisticated new take on Don Giovanni,Ivo van Hove’s highly anticipated Met-debut production, conducted by Nézet-Séguin and starring Peter Mattei, Gerald Finley, Ailyn Pérez, and Isabel Leonard in the leading roles. And in April, Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met premiere of Jake Heggie’s 21st-century masterpiece Dead Man Walking, with a new staging by van Hove featuring Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Latonia Moore, and Etienne Dupuis.
Following the successful addition of 16 new Sunday matinee performances last season, the Met will offer even more weekend options in 2020–21, with 22 Sunday matinee performances. Each Sunday matinee will be followed by an onstage post-performance discussion with the stars.
For the first time, the Met season will include no performances in February, with the company instead extending its performance calendar into the month of June.
In his third season as Music Director, in addition to the three new stagings, Nézet-Séguin conducts revivals of Fidelio, Roméo et Juliette, and Die Frau ohne Schatten, as well as two of three Met Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall in June. (Semyon Bychkov will conduct the first concert in the Carnegie Hall series, on June 10.)
“This is the season in which the Yannick era hits its stride,” said General Manager Peter Gelb. “In conducting six operas, he will be present throughout the entire season, raising the artistic bar for the orchestra, the chorus, and the entire company.”
“The artistic excellence we achieve each season is due to the invaluable contributions in the pit and on stage by the great Met Orchestra and Chorus,” Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin said. “This is an exciting time for opera, and I’m thrilled to be sharing my passion for it with the Met’s discerning and loyal audience, while deepening my relationship with this great institution. As we look forward to future seasons, we will not only continue to expand our repertoire with new commissions by living composers but will also be adding to our artistic ranks with more women on the podium and a greater emphasis on artistic diversity.”
Dozens of the world’s leading opera stars bring their artistry to 18 repertory revivals throughout the season, including Marcelo Álvarez, Jamie Barton, Piotr Beczała, Angel Blue, Stephanie Blythe, J’Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, Javier Camarena, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Stephen Costello, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Gerald Finley, Angela Gheorghiu, Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Greer Grimsley, Günther Groissböck, Ekaterina Gubanova, Anita Hartig, Evelyn Herlitzius, Quinn Kelsey, Tomasz Konieczny, Isabel Leonard, Peter Mattei, Angela Meade, Latonia Moore, Erin Morley, Anna Netrebko, Lisette Oropesa, Eric Owens, Ailyn Pérez, Susanna Phillips, Matthew Polenzani, Anita Rachvelishvili, Brenda Rae, Golda Schultz, Nadine Sierra, Stuart Skelton, Nina Stemme, Krassimira Stoyanova, Elza van den Heever, Christian Van Horn, Klaus Florian Vogt, Michael Volle, Pretty Yende, and Sonya Yoncheva. They perform alongside a number of significant newcomers to the Met stage, including Benjamin Bernheim, Okka von der Damerau, and Varduhi Abrahamyan. This is also a remarkable season for new conductors, with Hartmut Haenchen, Jakub Hrůša, Michail Jurowski, Nimrod David Pfeffer, Giacomo Sagripanti, Speranza Scappucci, Lorenzo Viotti, and Kensho Watanabe all appearing for the first time on the podium.
New Productions
OPENING NIGHT: Aida — Giuseppe Verdi
A set model by Christine Jones for the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Verdi’s “Aida.”
Opening: September 21, 2020
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Production: Michael Mayer
Set Designer: Christine Jones
Costume Designer: Susan Hilferty
Lighting Designer: Kevin Adams
Projection Designer: 59 Productions
Choreographer: Oleg Glushkov
Live in HD: October 10, 2020
Verdi’s opera receives its first new staging at the Met in more than three decades, with a season-opening premiere production directed by Michael Mayer, whose dazzling vision of ancient Egypt comes alive with intricate projections and eye-catching animations. Anna Netrebko and Anita Rachvelishvili portray archrivals Aida and Amneris on Opening Night—reprising their acclaimed partnership in the same roles from the 2018–19 season—and Piotr Beczała completes the triumvirate as Radamès. Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a benchmark cast that also includes Ludovic Tézier as Aida’s father, Amonasro, and Krzysztof Bączyk in his Met debut as the King of Egypt. A co-production with the Bolshoi Theatre, this Aida also features Latonia Moore and Hibla Gerzmava in later performances of the title role, as well as Ekaterina Semenchuk and Marcelo Álvarez as Amneris and Radamès.
MET PREMIERE: The Fiery Angel — Sergei Prokofiev
Evgeny Nikitin as Ruprecht and Svetlana Sozdateleva as Renata in Prokofiev’s “The Fiery Angel.” Photo: Alfons Altman / Munich’s Bavarian State Opera
Opening: November 12, 2020
Conductor: Michail Jurowski
Production: Barrie Kosky
Set Designer: Rebecca Ringst
Costume Designer: Klaus Bruns
Lighting Designer: Joachim Klein
Choreographer: Otto Pichler
Australian director Barrie Kosky, a bright and bold force in the opera world, makes his long-awaited company debut with the Met premiere production of Prokofiev’s devilish masterwork, conducted by Michail Jurowski, also in his Met debut. Portraying the vagabond knight Ruprecht, Evgeny Nikitin stars opposite Svetlana Sozdateleva, who makes her Met debut in the role of Renata, the pious young woman obsessed with a mysterious angelic lover. Kosky’s visually stunning production was hailed by the Financial Times as “a gripping evening” when it premiered in Munich in 2015.
Mack Lecture Series April 8–29, 7 pm$15 ($12 Walker members, students, and seniors)Walker Cinema
Hear directly from explorers of our culture and contemporary moment during the Mack Lecture Series. Throughout the month of April, artists, writers, and other great thinkers at the forefront of diverse fields share their vision on topics ranging from artificial intelligence in performance art to gender politics and gonzo journalism.
Annie Dorsen’s Hello Hi There, 2010 Photo: W. Silveri/Steirischer Herbst
Simon Adler, 2018. Photo courtesy of Simon Adler.Catherine Havasi, 2019. Photo courtesy of Catherine Havasi.Annie Dorsen, 2019. Courtesy of John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Writer-director Annie Dorsen tries “to make perceptible how ideas change over time: where they come from, how they influence and are influenced by politics and culture, and how they take root in the body, physically and emotionally.” For this conversation, she explores the intersection of algorithms and live performance with artificial intelligence researcher and computational linguist Catherine Havasi, moderated by Simon Adler, a producer for WNYC’s Radiolab.
Annie Dorsen’s performance work Yesterday Tomorrow, takes place in the Walker’s McGuire Theater March 27–28.
Genderqueer political activist, visual artist, and musician JD Samson is perhaps best known as leader of the band MEN and one-third of the electronic-feminist-punk band Le Tigre. As a self-defined “gender outlaw,” she will investigate the precarious masculinity of the butch/masculine-of-center body, play with traditional concepts of ownership and destruction, and break down the charged heteronormative history of queer sex dynamics.
“If I say ‘thank you for coming,’ it implies that you are already there.” —Faye Driscoll
Faye Driscoll: Thank You For Coming: Space. Photo: Gemma Galina
One of dance/performance’s most astonishing experimental voices, Faye Driscoll wraps up her Walker-supported trilogy—Thank You For Coming—with a moving requiem on art, the body, loss, and human connectivity. Space builds on and diverges from Driscoll’s earlier works, beloved by audiences across the country, with “an exhilaratingly personal culmination of the series” (Artforum). The intimate new performance piece, presented within an immersive installation on the McGuire stage, is informed by art-historical imagery and emerges as a collaborative creation between the artist, her astute design collaborators, and the audience. Contains mature content.
Through an alchemy of bodies and voices, objects and live sound, choreographer Faye Driscoll (US, b. 1975) conjures worlds that are, like ourselves, alive and forever changeable. The artist poses performance as one of the last secular social spaces, where the vulnerability, necessity, and complexities of our everyday relationships are heightened and made palpable. Driscoll’s projects draw on our shared power to question and shape the structures that govern our behavior. Characterizing her work as “dances that are mistaken for plays,” she creates sets designed to break apart; musical scores made from the performers’ stomps and vocalizations; and props that are worn, used, and reused.
Faye Driscoll. Courtesy the artist.
Faye Driscoll is a Bessie Award-winning performance maker who has been hailed as a “startlingly original talent” (Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times) and “a postmillenium postmodern wild woman” (Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice). Her work has been presented nationally at the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Walker Art Center, The Institute for Contemporary Art/Boston, MCA/Chicago and BAM/Brooklyn Academy of Music and internationally at La Biennale di Venezia, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Melbourne Festival, Belfast International Arts Festival, Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens and Centro de Arte Experimental (Universidad Nacional de San Martín) in Buenos Aires. Driscoll has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Creative Capital award, a NEFA National Dance Project Award,MAP Fund Grant, a French-US Exchange in Dance Grant, Jerome Foundation Grant, a Foundation for Contemporary Art Grant, a Doris Duke Artist Award, and a US Artists Doris Duke Fellowship and she is the recipient of the 2018 Jacob’s PIllow Dance Award. She recently choreographed for Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men on Broadway and for Madeline’s Madeline, a film by Josephine Decker.
February, March Public Programming Begins With Discussion on Interim Director Spencer Crew’s Latest Book “Thurgood Marshall: A Life in American History”
“Proud Shoes: The Story Of An American Family” Exhibition Opens In Family History Center
A discussion with Spencer Crew, interim director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, on his new book Thurgood Marshall: A Life in American Historywill lead the winter programming at the museum. Crew will join in conversation with Paul Finkelman, president of Gratz College about the newly released biography, detailing the life of America’s first black Supreme Court justice and his cultural and historic significance. Several programs will celebrate Black History Month and Women’s History Month, including a musical performance and discussion on African American women in jazz, an interactive program on food accessibility and a discussion about African American women’s contributions in World War I at home and abroad. All programs held in the museum’s Oprah Winfrey Theater will stream live on the museum’s Ustream channel at ustream.tv
Historically Speaking: Thurgood Marshall—A Conversation Between Spencer Crew and Paul Finkelman
Spencer Crew, interim director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, will discuss his recently published biography of America’s first black Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, with moderator Paul Finkelman, president of Gratz college and a specialist on American constitutional and legal history. Crew’s latest publication, Thurgood Marshall: A Life in American History, chronicles the justice’s legendary career as a civil rights litigator and founder of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. A book sale and signing will follow the discussion, courtesy of Smithsonian Enterprises. Admission is free; however, registration is required at https://nmaahc.si.edu/events/upcoming.
Special Guests Brittany Howard, Manu Dibango, Baaba Maal, and Yemi Alade Announced for Daughter of Independence Concert in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage on Saturday, March 14
Celebratory Program Marks Kidjo’s 60th Birthday an the Anniversary of Independence for Benin and 16 other West African Nations
On the heels of winning her fourth Grammy Award, Angélique Kidjo concludes her Perspectives series with Daughter of Independence on Saturday, March 14 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/ Perelman Stage. The concert marks both her 60th birthday and the anniversary of independence of her native Benin in addition to sixteen other West African nations. For this momentous occasion, Kidjo is joined by Grammy Award-winning vocalist Brittany Howard (of Alabama Shakes), legendary Cameroonian singer Manu Dibango, Senegalese singer and guitarist Baaba Maal, and Nigerian Afropop singer-songwriter Yemi Alade, to celebrate her remarkable musical career. Major support for the Angélique Kidjo Perspectives series has been provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation.
Angélique Kidjo Concludes her Perspective Series at Carnegie Hall with Special Guests Brittany Howard, Manu Dibango, Baaba Maal, and Yemi Alade. Photos courtesy of Carnegie Hall
“When I look back at 60 years of independence for my country, I feel that my life and career have been shaped in many ways by the postcolonial history of West Africa: I consider myself a true daughter of African independence,” says Kidjo. “I hope the audience leaves the March performance understanding that it doesn’t matter where you come from; it doesn’t matter your skin color or which language you speak. Music reduces it all to the fundamental element that speaks to us all as human beings.”
Program Information
Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 8:00 PM
Angélique Kidjo, Daughter Of Independence, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
With special guests
Brittany Howard
Manu Dibango
Baaba Maal
Yemi Alade
Tickets: $34–$90
About the Artists
Angélique Kidjo’s performances over the past two decades have thrilled audiences and left an indelible mark on the history of Carnegie Hall. In 2014, she closed Carnegie Hall’s UBUNTU festival with a tribute to singer Miriam Makeba that inspired concertgoers—including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu—to rise to their feet and sing along. In 2017, Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne joined Kidjo on stage for her cover of the band’s hit “Once in a Lifetime” before she led a conga line that made its way throughout Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. The upcoming series is sure to give audiences more unforgettable moments with performances featuring outstanding guest artists joining together to celebrate one of music’s most vibrant voices.
Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today. A creative force with 14 albums to her name, Time magazine has called her “Africa’s premier diva.” The BBC has included her in its list of the continents’ 50 most iconic figures, and, in 2011, The Guardian listed her as one of their Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World. Forbes magazine has ranked Angélique as the first woman in their list of the Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa. She is the recipient of the prestigious 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and the 2016 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award.
INDIgenesis: GEN 3, A Showcase of Indigenous Filmmakers and Storytellers, March 19–28
Presented over two weeks, the series INDIgenesis: GEN 3, guest curated by Missy Whiteman (Northern Arapaho and Kickapoo Nations), opens with an evening of expanded cinema and includes several shorts programs in the Walker Cinema and Bentson Mediatheque, an afternoon of virtual reality, and a closing-night feature film.
The ongoing showcase of works by Native filmmakers and artists is rooted in Indigenous principles that consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. GEN 3 connects perspectives and stories from the past, present, and future to convey Indigenous truths, teachings, and values.
“Indigenous artists use the creative process of filmmaking for revitalization and narrative sovereignty,” says Whiteman. “Our stories tell us where we came from, re-create our truths, affirm our languages and culture, and inspire us to imagine our Indigenous future. We come from the stars. How far will we take this medium?”
Throughout the program, join conversations with artists and community members centered on themes of Indigenous Futurism, revitalization, and artistic creation.
Opening Night: Remembering the Future Expanded Cinema Screening/Performance Thursday, March 19, 7:30 pm Free, Walker Cinema
Missy Whiteman’s The Coyote Way: Going Back Home, 2016. Photo courtesy the filmmaker.
Combining film, a live score, hoop dancing, hip-hop, and spoken word, a collective of Indigenous artists led by curator Missy Whiteman creates an immersive environment that transcends time and place. Guided by ancestral knowledge systems, traditional stories, and contemporary forms of expression, the expanded cinema program features performances by DJ AO (Hopi/Mdewakatonwan Dakota), Sacramento Knoxx (Ojibwe/Chicano), Lumhe “Micco” Sampson (Mvskoke Creek/Seneca), and Michael Wilson (Ojibwe). Archival found footage and Whiteman’s sci-fi docu-narrative The Coyote Way: Going Back Home(2016), filmed in the community of Little Earth in South Minneapolis, illuminate the space.
Missy Whiteman’s The Coyote Way: Going Back Home, 2016. Photo courtesy the filmmaker.
Indigenous Lens: Our RealityShort films by multiple directors Friday, March 20, 7 pm, $10 ($8 Walker members, students, and seniors), Walker Cinema
This evening of short films showcases a collection of contemporary stories about what it means to be Indigenous today, portraying identity and adaptability in a colonialist system. The program spans a spectrum of themes, including two-spirit transgender love, coming of age, reflections on friends and fathers, “indigenizing” pop art, and creative investigations into acts of repatriation. Digital video, 85 mins
Copresented with Hud Oberly (Comanche/Osage/Caddo), Indigenous Program at Sundance Institute (in attendance).
Lore Directed by Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians)
Images of friends and landscapes are fragmented and reassembled as a voice tells stories, composing elements of nostalgia in terms of lore. 2019, 10 min. View excerpt.
Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil, Jackson Polys, and Bailey Sweitzer’s Culture Capture: Terminal Adddition, 2019. Photo courtesy the filmmakers.
Culture Capture: Terminal Adddition Directed by New Red Order: Adam Khalil (Ojibway), Zack Khalil (Ojibway), Jackson Polys (Tlingit), Bayley Sweitzer
The latest video by the public secret society known as the New Red Order is an incendiary indictment of the norms of European settler colonialism. Examining institutionalized racism through a mix of 3D photographic scans and vivid dramatizations, this work questions the contemporary act of disposing historical artifacts as quick fixes, proposing the political potential of adding rather than removing. 2019, 7 min. View excerpt.
Shane McSauby’s Mino Bimaadiziwin, 2017. Photo courtesy the filmmaker.
Mino Bimaadiziwin Directed by Shane McSauby (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians)
A trans Anishinaabe man meets a young Anishinaabe woman who pushes him to reconnect with their culture. 2017, 10 min. View excerpt.
The Moon and the Night Directed by Erin Lau (Kanaka Maoli)
Erin Lau’s The Moon and the Night, 2017. Photo courtesy the filmmaker.
Set in rural Hawaii, a Native Hawaiian teenage girl must confront her father after he enters her beloved pet in a dogfight. 2018, 19 min. View excerpt.
Erin Lau’s The Moon and the Night, 2017. Photo courtesy the filmmaker.Erin Lau. Photo courtesy the filmmaker. Photo By: Antonio Agosto
Shinaab II Directed by Lyle Michell Corbine, Jr. (Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians)
A young man seeks to honor the memory of his late father in a film that looks at Ojibwe ideas surrounding death and mourning. 2019, 6 min.
Daniel Flores’ Viva Diva, 2019. Image courtesy the artist.
Viva Diva Directed by Daniel Flores (Yaqui)
This road trip movie follows Rozene and Diva as they make their way down to Guadalajara for their gender affirmation surgeries. 2017, 15 min. View excerpt.
Daniel Flores. Image courtesy the artist.
Dig It If You Can Directed by Kyle Bell (Creek-Thlopthlocco Tribal Town)
An insightful portrait of the self-taught artist and designer Steven Paul Judd (Kiowa), whose satirical manipulations of pop culture for an Indigenous audience are gaining a passionate, mass following as he realizes his youthful dreams. 2016, 18 min. View excerpt.
Open 365 days a year, the VMFA shares its growing collection of African American art all year long. During Black History Month 2020, it’s great time to visit the collection and join the ongoing celebration of African American art, history, and culture.
Boy and H, Harlem, 1961, Louis Draper (American, 1935–2002), gelatin silver print, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment. Courtesy of the Louis H. Draper Preservation Trust, Nell D. Winston, trustee.
TALK Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop Dr. Sarah Eckhardt, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, VMFA, in conversation with Nell Draper-Winston Thu, Jan 30 | 6:30–7:30 pm, $8 (VMFA members $5), Leslie Cheek Theater
VMFA’s Dr. Sarah Eckhardt, curator of Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop, will provide an overview of the exhibition, which features photography by members of the Kamoinge Workshop, an artist collective founded in New York City in 1963. Nell Draper-Winston, sister of photographer Louis Draper, will join Dr. Eckhardt in conversation to discuss her brother’s photographs and his roots in Richmond.
Celebrate African and African American Family Day: Mali
OPEN STUDIO PLUS PERFORMANCE Grandma’s Hands Sun, Feb 2 | 1–4 pm, Free, no tickets required. Art Education Center. Performances in the Atrium 2 pm & 3 pm
Join others as they encounter generational lessons from two sisters with remarkable stories to share from the perspective of the African American South. Through song, stories, and signed poetry, we will learn how women have made an impact on culture through practices passed down from family matriarchs.
RVA Community Makers Art Activity Sun, Feb 2 | 1–4 pm, Free, no tickets required. Art Education Center
During Open Studio Plus Performance, celebrate family with Richmond artist Hamilton Glass and local African American photographers.
Take your digital family portraits onsite at VMFA to become part of a mixed-media public art collaboration. Glass will guide attendees in hands-on participation. You can also capture fun memories in the Family Portrait Photo Booth.
Extending the meaning of family to community, the project also brings together six local photographers—Regina Boone, Courtney Jones, Brian Palmer, Sandra Sellars, Ayasha Sledge, and James Wallace— who will create portraits of six selected community leaders.
FIRST FRIDAY Spirituals, Fri, Feb 7 | 6–8 pm, Free, no tickets required. Atrium
Welcome sopranos Lisa Edwards Burrs and Olletta Cheatham to the First Friday series with an evening of Spirituals. Lisa and Olletta will sing many powerful songs of the genre and explore their resonating impact on history.
DANCE PARTY VMFA After Hours: VMFA Is for Lovers Sat, Feb 15 | 7–11:30 pm, $45/person ($35 VMFA members). Museum wide
Join host Kelli Lemon for a night of art, music, dancing, and love after dark. Catch DJ Lonnie B on the spin in the Marble Hall. Enjoy Legacy Band performing live music in the Atrium. Experience the exhibitions Edward Hopper and the American Hotel and Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop.
All galleries will be open during this event to give you access to our diverse collections of art from around the world.
LIVE JAZZ, Dominion Energy Jazz Café: Jazz Around the Museum. Thu, Feb 13 | 6–9 pm, Free, no tickets required. Marble Hall
Back by popular demand! Who says a Jazz band can’t party, get down, and get funky? Led by saxophonist Robert “Bo” Bohannon, Klaxton Brown combines the old with the new, and will rock you steady all night long. Prepare to get Klaxtonized!
McElroy and Orfeh Perform Alongside Previously Announced Special Guests Jane Krakowski and Lillias White
Loretta Devine Will No Longer Appear Due to Scheduling Conflict
On Saturday, February 1 at 8:00 p.m. Tony Award nominees Michael McElroyand Orfehjoin Tituss Burgessin his Carnegie Hall debut in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage with a tribute concert to the music of Stephen Sondheim. Titled Take Me to the World, previously announced guest artists include Tony Award winners Jane Krakowskiand Lillias White. Due to scheduling conflicts, Loretta Devine will no longer appear on the program. Directed by Gabriel Vega Weissmanwith music direction by Charlie Rosen, the program focuses on the music of Sondheim and its singular impact on Burgess’s life and artistic trajectory.
Emmy and Screen Actors Guild nominated actor, musician, and writer Tituss Burgess is quickly emerging as one of the entertainment industry’s most versatile and dynamic performers, with his work in television and theater generating both critical and commercial acclaim.
Most notably, Burgess stars as Titus Andromedon in the Emmy-nominated comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, opposite Ellie Kemper, Jane Krakowski, and Carol Kane. The show follows a young woman named Kimmy Schmidt as she adjusts to life in New York City after living in a doomsday cult for 15 years. Burgess’s character becomes a friend, roommate, and mentor to Kimmy while he pursues his dreams of Broadway superstardom and becomes a viral sensation on YouTube. Tina Fey created Burgess’s outrageous character specifically for him. For the actor’s extraordinary performance on the series, Burgess has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series and two Critics’ Choice TV Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He was also awarded Best Actor at the 2015 Webby Awards and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy at the 2015 Gold Derby TV Awards.
The actor was first introduced to television audiences in Tina Fey’s Emmy-winning NBC series 30 Rock, where he played the scene-stealing ‘D’Fwan,’ a vivacious hairdresser and the sidekick of Angie Jordan (Sherri Shepherd). Burgess quickly became a breakout star in the series’ fifth and sixth seasons. His other television credits include A Gifted Man, Blue Bloods, and Royal Pains. On the big screen, Burgess recently lent his voice to two major studio films: The Angry Birds Movie and Smurfs: The Lost Village – and appeared in this year’s Dolemite is My Name alongside Eddie Murphy
A veteran of the stage, Burgess made his Broadway debut in 2005 as Eddie in Good Vibrations. Since, he has held many memorable roles on the Broadway stage including Hal Miller in Jersey Boys, Sebastian the Crab in The Little Mermaid, and Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 2009 revival of Guys and Dolls. Burgess has also performed in regional theater productions such as The Wiz and Jesus Christ Superstar.
The Walker Arts Center continues to flesh out what is considerably a very dynamic exhibition schedule for the next two years. Additions to the Walker Art Center’s 2020–2021 exhibition schedule include two new solo exhibitions by female artists, Faye Driscoll: Thank You for Coming(February 27–June 14, 2020) and Candice Lin(April 17–August 29, 2021) as well as a Walker collection show of women artists, Don’t let this be easy(July 16–March 14, 2021). For her first solo museum exhibition, Faye Driscoll incorporates a guided audio soundtrack, moving image works, and props to look back across the entirety of her trilogy of performances Thank You For Coming—Attendance(2014), Play(2016), and Space(2019)—works that were presented and co-commissioned by the Walker and subsequently toured around the world over the past six years. Another newly added exhibition, Candice Lin, is the first US museum solo show by the artist, co-organized by the Walker Art Center and the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts (CCVA). Lin is creating a site-specific installation that responds to the space of the gallery at each institution, allowing the shape of the work to evolve over the course of its presentation.
The Walker-organized exhibition Don’t let this be easy highlights the diverse and experimental practices of women artists spanning some 50 years through a selection of paintings, sculptures, moving image works, artists’ books, and materials from the archives.
The initiative is presented in conjunction with the Feminist Art Coalition (FAC), a nationwide effort involving more than 60 museums committed to social justice and structural change.
Other upcoming exhibitions include An Art Of Changes: Jasper Johns Prints, 1960–2018 (February 16–September 20, 2020), a survey of six decades of Johns’ work in printmaking drawn from the Walker’s complete collection of the artists’ prints including intaglio, lithography, woodcut, linoleum cut, screenprinting, lead relief, and blind embossing; The Paradox of Stillness: Art, Object, and Performance (formerly titiled Still and Yet) (April 18–July 26, 2020), is an exhibition that rethinks the history of performance featuring artists whose works include performative elements but also embrace acts, objects, and gestures that refer more to the inert qualities of traditional painting or sculpture than to true staged action.
Additional exhibitions include Michaela Eichwald’s (June 13–November 8, 2020) first US solo museum presentation, bringing together painting, sculpture, and collage from across the past 10 years of her practice; Designs for Different Futures (September 12, 2020 – January 3, 2021)—a collaborative group show co-organized by the Walker Art Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago—brings together about 80 dynamic works that address the challenges and opportunities that humans may encounter in the years, decades, and centuries to come; Rayyane Tabet(December 10, 2020– April 18, 2021), a solo show by the Beirut-based multidisciplinary artist featuring a new installation for the Walker that begins with a time capsule discovered on the site of what was once an IBM manufacturing facility in Rochester, Minnesota.
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
AN ART OF CHANGES: JASPER JOHNS PRINTS, 1960–2018, February 16–September 20, 2020
When Jasper Johns’s paintings of flags and targets debuted in 1958, they brought him instant acclaim and established him as a critical link between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. In the ensuing 60 years, Johns (US, b. 1930) has continued to astonish viewers with the beauty and complexity of his paintings, drawings, sculpture, and prints. Today, he is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest American artists.
Artist: Jasper Johns Title: Figure 7 from the Color Numeral Series Date: 1969 Medium: lithograph on paper Accession number: 1985.319 Credit Line: Gift of Kenneth Tyler, 1985. Repro Rights: VAGA; Art copyright Jasper Johns / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.Artist: Jasper Johns Title: Target Date: 1960 Medium: lithograph on paper Accession number: 1988.181 Credit Line: Gift of Judy and Kenneth Dayton, 1988. Repro Rights: VAGA; Art copyright Jasper Johns / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
In celebration of the artist’s 90th birthday, An Art of Changes surveys six decades of Johns’s work in printmaking, highlighting his experiments with familiar, abstract, and personal imagery that play with memory and visual perception in endlessly original ways. The exhibition features some 90 works in intaglio, lithography, woodcut, linoleum cut, screenprinting, and lead relief—all drawn from the Walker’s comprehensive collection of the artist’s prints.
Organized in four thematic sections, the show follows Johns through the years as he revises and recycles key motifs over time, including the American flag, numerals, and the English alphabet, which he describes as “things the mind already knows.” Some works explore artists’ tools, materials, and techniques. Others explore signature aspects of the artist’s distinctive mark-making, including flagstones and hatch marks, while later pieces teem with autobiographical imagery. To underscore Johns’s fascination with the changes that occur when an image is reworked in another medium, the prints will be augmented by a small selection of paintings and sculptures.
Curator: Joan Rothfuss, guest curator, Visual Arts.
Exhibition Tour Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh: October 12, 2019–January 20, 2020 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis: February 16–September 20, 2020 Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan: October 24, 2020–January 24, 2021 Tampa Art Museum, Florida: April 28–September 6, 2021
From January 15 to February 17, 2020, the Whitney’s eighth floor gallery will be the site of fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad. The exhibition is comprised of an untitled work by Darren Bader from the Whitney’s permanent collection—acquired in 2015 and never before presented at the Museum—featuring a selection of fruits and vegetables presented as sculptures on pedestals. Through this organizing principle, Bader calls attention to the formal properties of the objects’ colors, shapes, lines, and textures.
At scheduled times throughout the week—Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays from 3–6 pm, and Fridays from 7:30–10 pm—museum staff will remove the ripened fruits and vegetables from the pedestals. Rather than disposing of the produce, Bader has instructed that a fruit and vegetable salad should be created. While the gallery sits empty, the washing, slicing, dicing, and chopping of the produce in the Museum’s Studio Cafe kitchen will be captured on video and projected in the gallery for visitors to observe. The fruit and vegetable salad will then be served in the gallery and visitors will be invited to eat it. Museum staff will refresh the artwork with a new selection of produce, and the process will repeat.
Scott Rothkopf, Senior Deputy Director and Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator, remarked, “Rigorous, funny, and strangely uncanny, Bader’s work tests not only what an artwork can be but also what a museum can collect and how we display it. We’re thrilled to show this recent acquisition for the first time, though we recognize it might not taste as good as it looks.“
The Whitney Museum of American Art
In fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad, Bader creates a visual and participatory experience from everyday objects that continues the artist’s ongoing examination of readymade art, as well as his investigation of art as concept, language, and commodity.
“fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad is an opportunity to be nimble in showcasing a work from the Whitney’s collection, and to collaborate with an artist the Museum first showed in the 2014 Biennial. This work’s absurdist yet sincere premise is particularly apropos in our current climate, and I hope viewers will engage through close looking, questioning, and salad-consumption,” said Christie Mitchell, senior curatorial assistant.
Darren Bader (b. 1978, Bridgeport, CT) lives and works in New York. Solo shows of his work held in institutions include (@mined_oud), Madre, Naples, (2017-2018); Meaning and Difference, The Power Station, Dallas (2017); Reading Writing Arithmetic, Radio Athènes–Athens (2015); Where Is a Bicycle’s Vagina (and Other Inquiries) or Around the Samovar, 1857, Oslo (2012); Images, MoMA-PS1, New York (2012). Awarded the Calder Prize in 2013, Bader has taken part in numerous group exhibitions and biennials including the following: 13éme Biennale de Lyon. La vie moderne, Lyon (2015); Under the Clouds: From Paranoia to the Digital Sublime, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto (2015); 2014 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2014); Antigrazioso, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2013); Something About a Tree, FLAG Foundation, New York (2013); Empire State, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (2013); Oh, you mean cellophane and all that crap, The Calder Foundation, New York (2012); Greater New York, MoMA-PS1, New York (2010); To Illustrate and Multiply: An Open Book, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2008).
This exhibition is organized by Christie Mitchell, senior curatorial assistant.
The Whitney Museum of American Art is located at 99 Gansevoort Street between Washington and West Streets, New York City. Museum hours are: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10:30 am to 6 pm; Friday from 10:30 am to 10 pm. Closed Tuesday except in July and August. Adults: $25. Full-time students, visitors 65 & over, and visitors with disabilities: $18. Visitors 18 years & under and Whitney members: FREE. Admission is pay-what-you-wish on Fridays, 7–10 pm. For general information, please call (212) 570-3600 or visit whitney.org.
Performance Marks Terfel’s First Recital at Carnegie Hall in Ten Years
On Sunday, February 9 at 2:00 p.m., beloved Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel returns to Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage for a recital featuring works by Ireland, Quilter, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, selections from Vaughan Williams’s Songs of Travel as well as additional selections to be announced from the stage. He is joined by pianist Natalia Katyukova. This concert marks his first recital at Carnegie Hall in ten years; for his complete performance history please click here. The full program is listed below.
Program Information
Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 2:00 p.m., Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Sir Bryn Terfel, Bass-Baritone/Natalia Katyukova, Piano
JOHN IRELAND “Sea Fever”
JOHN IRELAND “Vagabond”
JOHN IRELAND “The Bells of San Marie”
ROGER QUILTER “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal,” Op. 3, No. 2
ROGER QUILTER “Weep You No More, Sad Fountains,” Op. 12, No. 1
ROGER QUILTER “Go, Lovely Rose,” Op. 24, No. 3
ROGER QUILTER “Fair House of Joy,” Op. 12, No. 7
JOHANNES BRAHMS Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121
Denn es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh
Ich wandte mich, und sahe an
O Tod, wie bitter bist du
Wenn ich mit Menschen- und mit Engelszungen redete
ROBERT SCHUMANN “Belsatzar,” Op. 57
FRANZ SCHUBERT “Trinklied,” D. 888
FRANZ SCHUBERT “Ständchen,” D. 889
FRANZ SCHUBERT “An Sylvia,” D. 891
ROGER QUILTER Three Shakespeare Songs, Op. 6
Come away, death
O mistress mine
Blow, blow, thou winter wind
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Selections from Songs of Travel
The Vagabond
Whither Must I Wander
Bright Is the Ring of Words
I Have Trod the Upward and the Downward Slope
Additional selections to be announced from the stage
Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel has established an extraordinary career, performing regularly on the prestigious concert stages and opera houses of the world.
Photo of Sir Bryn Terfel by Mitch Jenkins / DG, Natalia Katyukova by Kristin Hoebermann
After winning the Song Prize at the 1989 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Sir Bryn made his professional operatic debut in 1990 as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the Welsh National Opera. He made his international operatic debut in 1991 as Speaker in Die Zauberflöte at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels and made his American debut in the same year as Figaro with the Santa Fe Opera. Other roles performed during his career include Méphistophélès in Faust; both the title role and Leporello in Don Giovanni; Jochanaan in Salome; Scarpia in Tosca; the title role in Gianni Schicchi; Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress; Wolfram in Tannhäuser; Balstrode in Peter Grimes; Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Sir Bryn marked his 50th birthday and twenty-five years in the profession with a special gala concert at the Royal Albert Hall, presented by Hollywood star Michael Sheen. The celebrations continued at Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre, where he sang Scarpia in a special concert performance of Tosca with the Welsh National Opera.
Recent performances include Holländer in Der fliegende Holländer for the Zürich Opera; Falstaff at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the world premiere of an original show by Robat Arwyn and Mererid Hopwood—Hwn Yw Fy Mrawd—chronicling the life of the film star and singer Paul Robeson at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff as part of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
New Museum Openings Enhance Month Of Significant Discounts At More Than 40 Museums
Every February, savvy travelers look to Seattle, also known as the Emerald City, where big savings can stack up for arts and culture lovers of all ages with Seattle Museum Month. From Feb. 1-29, 2020, travelers who stay at any one of nearly 60 participating downtown Seattle hotels receive 50 percent off admission prices to more than 40 museums and cultural institutions. February also historically offers lower rates for airfare to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and special hotel packages to entice winter travelers. To see the full list of participating museums and hotels, visit the Seattle Museum Month website at www.seattlemuseummonth.com.
Seattle Museum Month is produced by Visit Seattleand funded by the Seattle Tourism Improvement Area (STIA), a dedicated marketing fund assessed from guests at 73 downtown Seattle hotels. The program was created to encourage travelers to visit Seattle in February and celebrate the remarkable collection of unique museums in the region.
(PRNewsfoto/Visit Seattle)
“Seattle has a richly diverse and world-renowned collection of museums that draw people to our city year-round, but Seattle Museum Month offers unparalleled discounts for our visitors,” Visit Seattle Senior Director of Cultural Tourism Tracey Wickersham said. “Engaging hands-on experiences with history-making computers, vintage pinball machines, and experiential music galleries where you can look, listen and re-create some of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest moments mean our museums entertain as well as educate. You’ll find mind-blowing gardens made of glass and ancient artifacts that explore all facets of life on earth, and art from around the globe. A trip to Seattle for Museum Month will make memories that last a lifetime.”
Seattle Museum Month celebrates with a host of museum openings that give travelers the opportunity to explore Seattle’s cultural legacy.
Photo by: Dennis Miller. Caption: Savvy travelers look to the Emerald City for deep discounts on arts and cultural attractions all February with Seattle Museum Month. Travelers who stay at any one of nearly 60 participating downtown Seattle hotels receive 50 percent off admission prices to more than 40 museums and cultural institutions. The newly reopened Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture is among those participating this year.
The Seattle Art Museum hosts the grand re-opening of the Seattle Asian Art Museum February 8 and 9. After a two-year renovation and expansion, the museum reopens with a reimagined collection installation that breaks boundaries with a thematic, rather than geographic or chronological, exploration of art from the world’s largest continent. Set in Seattle’s picturesque Volunteer Park, the historic Art Deco-era museum underwent a $56 million renovation and expansion to more fully display one of the largest collections of Asian art in the nation. Visitors wishing to attend the historic re-opening weekend on February 8 and 9 can reserve free timed tickets online. Beginning Feb. 12, Museum Month passes will be accepted.
Photo courtesy of Visit Seattle. Caption: Every February, savvy travelers look to the Emerald City where big savings can stack up for arts and culture lovers of all ages with Seattle Museum Month. February also historically offers lower rates for airfare to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and special hotel packages to entice winter travelers. To see the full list of participating museums and hotels, visit the Seattle Museum Month website at www.seattlemuseummonth.com. (PRNewsfoto/Visit Seattle)
With 16 million objects in its collections and infinite stories to tell, the recently re-openedBurke Museum of Natural History and Culture– the oldest museum in Washington state – welcomes visitors to an entirely new experience. Locally known as The Burke, the museum is located at the north end of The University of Washington Seattle campus and re-opened in October 2019. The new building designed by Olson Kundig creates unprecedented opportunities for visitors to see university faculty, researchers and students uncovering dinosaur skeletons, analyzing insects and collaborating with Native communities every day.
Enjoy renowned favorites as well like Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), The Museum of Flight, Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) and explore other regional museums, like LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, USS Turner Joy Museum Ship in Bremerton or the Bellevue Arts Museum in downtown Bellevue.
Seattle Museum Month discounts are only valid for guests staying at one of the participating hotels, up to four people, during hotel stay dates. Visitors must present an official Seattle Museum Month guest pass at participating museums to redeem the discounts.
Program Features Tina Satter / Half Straddle; Miguel Gutierrez; Ligia Lewis, and Back to Back Theatre
OUT THERE IS BACK WITH 20/20 VISION. Through a range of theatrical aesthetics, this year’s slate of international artists engage us with revelatory works by turns playful and dark, political and personal, gothic and supernatural. They interrogate labels and preconceptions, the artificial and the organic. This year, two artists new to the Walker and two returning favorites push back and look forward, reframe and reposition. Their concerns are ours: identity, race, sexuality, and the meaning of intelligence.
“Is This A Room is a beautiful work—impassioned yet made with a cool hand; straight-faced yet often funny. It is also devastating because damn, the real world is a hell of a writer.” —Artforum
After the FBI interrogated Reality Winner, a 25-year-old former Air Force linguist, the transcript of the encounter ignited director Tina Satter’s theatrical imagination. Satter’s company Half Straddle replicates, word by word, the verbal dance between the whip-smart Winner and reality-twisting agents, demonstrating how military interrogation tactics, toxic masculinity, and systemic marginalization resulted in her conviction for espionage. Funny and suspenseful, engaging and enraging, the production re-creates one afternoon spent in a bizarre and secret world—the turning point of a personal life wrenched irrevocably into the political. Program length: 70 minutes.
Tina Satter is an American writer and director for theater and film who was a recipient of a 2016 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award, a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Impact Award, and was named an Off-Off Broadway Innovator to Watch by Time Out New York. With Half Straddle, she has written and directed ten original full-length plays, and re-imagined them for a range of spaces as they have toured to numerous theaters and festivals in the U.S. and internationally.
Meet the Artists
Thursday, January 9: Post-show reception with the artists in Cityview Bar
Friday, January 10: Post-show Q&A with the artists onstage.
Out There: Miguel Gutierrez, This Bridge Called My Ass. Photo: Ian Douglas
January 16–17, 8pm, January 18 4pm & 8pm, Walker Commission
“A dense, audacious and wickedly funny work that…contains multitudes and unflinchingly bears their weight.”—New York Times
Movement artist Miguel Gutierrez‘s second Walker commission provocatively investigates identity politics, Latinx clichés, and Western concepts of form, drawing from (in part) the influences of the groundbreaking 1981 feminist anthology This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. Gutierrez and five diverse Latinx performers amplify stereotypes to move past respectability politics within an unstable environment of bodies, light, sound, and text (in Spanish, with surtitles). The chaotic, playfully erotic production concludes with an over-the-top version of an absurdist telenovela. Contains nudity and sexual content. Program length: 90 minutes.
Miguel Gutierrez is a choreographer, composer, performer, singer, writer, educator and advocate who has lived in New York for over twenty years. He is fascinated by the time-based nature of performance and how it creates an ideal frame for phenomenological questions around presence and meaning-making. His work proposes an immersive state, for performer and audience alike, where attention itself becomes an elastic material. He believes in an approach to art making that is fierce, fragile, empathetic, political, and irreverent.
Meet the Artists
Thursday, January 16: Post-show reception with the artists in Cityview Bar
Friday, January 17: Post-show Q&A with the artists onstage
New dance commissions by Ephrat Asherie and Omari Wiles
Theatrical first looks at Company, West Side Story, and Ocean Filibuster
Opera sneak peek with Lincoln Center Theater’s Intimate Apparel, The Metropolitan Opera’s Agrippina, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s Awakenings
Dance previews featuring BalletX and Pennsylvania Ballet
Works & Process at the Guggenheim is pleased to announce its spring 2020 season. Since 1984, the performing arts series has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to leading creators. The intimate Frank Lloyd Wright –designed Peter B. Lewis Theater is the venue for these seventy-minute programs that explore the creative process through stimulating discussions and riveting performance highlights. One-of-a-kind productions created for the Guggenheim’s rotunda offer a unique experience of the landmark museum. Additional information is available at worksandprocess.org.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York logo
Audience members are invited to artist receptions in the rotunda following most evening programs. Prior to performances, The Wright restaurant is open with a cash bar from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
Works & Process lead funding is provided by the Ford Foundation, Florence Gould Foundation, the Christian Humann Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Evelyn Sharp Foundation, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Spring 2020 Season
OPENING NIGHT CABARET
Anthony Roth Costanzo, January 6, 2020, 7:30 pm
Before he was an opera singer, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (Akhnaten and Glass Handel) was a Broadway baby moving from community theater to national tours, and eventually to the Great White Way. Now, Costanzo is looking back to go forward. For one night only, in the New York premiere of his cabaret, he revisits his childhood, drawing on the leading ladies, crooners, and icons that helped form him. And, in a twist, he finds just enough low to balance out his highs. Developed with the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, on the occasion of Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O19. Directed by John Jarboe. Musical arrangements by Heath Allen. Scenic design by Machine Dazzle.
Opening Night Chairs: Joanna Fisher, Bart Friedman, Andrew J. Martin-Weber, and Anh-Tuyet Nguyen
6:30 pm Reception in Rotunda
7:30 pm Performance in the Peter B. Lewis Theater
9 pm Dinner at The Wright
$500 Prime Seating and Artist Dinner
$250 Orchestra
$150 Dress Circle
$75 Side View
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of eleven and has since appeared in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway. He has produced operas, installations, concerts, and performance series internationally. Recently, he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera performing the title role in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, and has performed with many of the world’s other leading opera houses, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, English National Opera, and Teatro Real in Madrid. In concert he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic, and at Carnegie Hall, the Elbphilharmonie, and the Kennedy Center. His first album, ARC, was nominated for a Grammy and he received Musical America’s 2019 Vocalist of the Year award.
DANCE COMMISSION PREVIEW
Les Ballet Afrik and Ephrat Asherie Dance, Jan 13 and 14, 2020, 7:30 pm
In 2020, Works & Process commissions and premieres two works by Les Ballet Afrik and Ephrat Asherie Dance.
Having received the honorary status of Legend after 10 years of competing in the Vogue Ballroom scene and performing across the globe, choreographer Omari Wiles brings the ballroom to the Peter B. Lewis Theater at the Guggenheim. With excerpts of New York is Burning, performed by Les Ballet Afrik and guest artists, Wiles presents his signature “AfrikFusion” style, which fuses traditional African dances and Afrobeat styles with House dance and Vogue.
Excerpts from Ephrat Asherie’s UnderScored (working title) are performed by EAD company members with guest artists from New York City’s underground dance scene. Beginning with the legendary parties at The Loft and the Paradise Garage, UnderScored is inspired by intergenerational club-life memories and explores the ever-changing physical landscape of New York City’s underground House dance community.
One-Night-Only Program Will Include Two Merce Cunningham Centennial Solos and Special Performance to Memorialize Opera Great Jessye Norman
Celebration Launches Ailey’s Holiday Season at New York City Center, December 4 – January 5
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will launch a five-week holiday season on December 4 with a star-studded gala benefit performance at New York City Center and party at the New York Hilton Midtown Grand Ballroom. The special evening celebrates philanthropist Elaine Wynn and the Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation. Wynn’s generous contributions have supported the creation of new works as well as the Elaine Wynn & Family Education Wing, which in 2017 added three floors – featuring four dance studios and two classrooms – to The Joan Weill Center for Dance, New York’s largest building dedicated to dance.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater logo
The one-night only performance at 7pm will feature two Merce Cunningham Centennial Solos that were part of this year’s 100th anniversary celebration of his birth – marking the first time this landmark choreographer’s work will be seen on the Ailey stage – as well as a special excerpt of Artistic Director Robert Battle’s Channels to honor and memorialize opera great Jessye Norman, set to her recorded performance of a Johannes Brahms lied – a 19th -century German art song. Following the inspiring finale of Revelations, performed with live music, prominent figures in the worlds of entertainment, business, philanthropy and politics will join Robert Battle and Ailey’s extraordinary dancers for a dinner/dance in the Hilton New York Grand Ballroom.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theaters Solomon Dumas. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will launch a five-week holiday season on December 4 with a star-studded gala benefit performance at New York City Center. Photo by Andrew Eccles
The event’s co-chairs are Emily & Len Blavatnik, Paulette Mullings Bradnock & Howard Bradnock, Melody Hobson & George Lucas, Daria L. & Eric J. Wallach and Joan & Sandy Weill. Proceeds from the annual benefit will support the creation of new works, scholarships to The Ailey School, and Ailey’s educational programs for children.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey’s Revelations Performed with Live Music. Photo by Christopher Duggan.
Ailey’s holiday season features special programs such as an evening celebrating The Ailey School’s 50th Anniversary (December 10); a tribute performance for Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya, which will highlight his extensive career of nearly five decades as he concludes his final season with the Company (December 22); and world premieres Greenwood (December 6), a powerful work by Donald Byrd that draws on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and Ode (December 10), offering a meditation on the beauty and fragility of life in a time of growing gun violence by Ailey dancer and Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Jacqueline Green. Photo by Andrew EcclesContinue reading →
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.
The
beautifully constructed dance worlds of Seattle-based choreographer
Kate
Wallich meld with the gloriously ornate theatrical music of
pop/electronic hero Perfume
Genius to create the evening-length The
Sun Still Burns Here. This radical integration of dance and
live music features outstanding performers burning through a
postmodern swirl of classical and contemporary movement. The piece
delves into what the artists describe as “a spiritual unraveling of
romantic decay.” (Seattle Times).
Kate Wallich and The YC & Perfume Genius: The Sun Still Burns Here. Photo Credit: Agustin Hernandez
Kate Wallich is a Seattle-based choreographer, director and educator. Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2015, she has left a significant mark in the Pacific Northwest through commissions and presentations from leading local, national and international institutions including: On the Boards, Seattle Theater Group, Velocity Dance Center, Seattle Art Museum, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Whim W’Him and Northwest Dance Project, Walker Art Center with Liquid Music, MASS MoCa, The Joyce Theater, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Newfields/IMA, ICA Boston, Danse and SPOTLIGHT: USA in Bulgaria. In 2010, she co-founded her company The YC with Lavinia Vago and has gone on to create five evening-length works and three large-scale, site-specific works with the company. Also in 2010, she founded an all-abilities, community-focused class Dance Church® (no religious affiliation) which reaches over 550+ attendees per week and is taught weekly by professional dance artists in New York City, Seattle, Portland, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and more. Dance Church has partnered with local and national organizations including Gibney, Mark Morris Dance Center, LA Dance Project, Newfields/IMA, BodyVox, Adidas Studio London, Velocity, On the Boards, The Sweat Spot, Design Week Portland and goop among others.
Kate Wallich and The YC & Perfume Genius: The Sun Still Burns Here. Photo Credit: Agustin Hernandez
“Mike Hadreas, the artist better known as Perfume Genius, has always been a physically expressive performer, and he’s made dance a crucial part of his generally stunning live shows and videos. And now he’s about to make it a focus.” —Stereogum
Six
artists have been short-listed for the Hugo Boss Prize 2020,
the biennial award for significant achievement in contemporary art.
The short list is selected by a panel of international curators and
critics in recognition of artists whose work is transforming the
field. Since its inception in 1996, the prize has consistently
functioned as a platform for the most relevant and influential art of
the present, and has become a cornerstone of the Guggenheim’s
contemporary programming.
“On
the occasion of the thirteenth Hugo Boss Prize, I’m delighted to
announce the finalists for the 2020 cycle,” said Nancy
Spector, Artistic Director and Jennifer and David Stockman Chief
Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, and jury
chair. “After a rigorous examination of today’s artistic
landscape, the jury identified a group of artists whose practices are
beacons of cultural impact. While diverse in their approaches and
themes, they each exemplify the spirit of experimentation and
innovation that the prize has always championed.”
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York logo
The
Hugo Boss Prize recognizes the achievements of both emerging
and established artists, and sets no restrictions in terms of age,
gender, nationality, or medium. The winner, who will receive a
$100,000 honorarium, will be announced in the fall of 2020 and will
present a solo exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
in spring 2021.
Since
its inception in 1996, the Hugo Boss Prize has been awarded to
twelve influential contemporary artists: American artist Matthew
Barney (1996); Scottish artist Douglas Gordon (1998);
Slovenian artist Marjetica Potrč (2000); French artist Pierre
Huyghe (2002); Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija (2004);
English artist Tacita Dean (2006); Palestinian artist Emily
Jacir (2008); German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann (2010);
Danish artist Danh Vo (2012); American artist Paul Chan
(2014); American artist Anicka Yi (2016); and American artist
Simone Leigh (2018). The related exhibitions have constituted
some of the most compelling presentations in the museum’s history.
Previous
finalists include Laurie Anderson,
Janine Antoni, Cai Guo-Qiang, Stan Douglas, and Yasumasa Morimura
in 1996; Huang Yong Ping,
William Kentridge, Lee Bul, Pipilotti Rist, and Lorna Simpson in
1998; Vito Acconci, Maurizio
Cattelan, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Tom Friedman, Barry Le
Va, and Tunga in
2000; Francis Alÿs, Olafur
Eliasson, Hachiya Kazuhiko, Koo Jeong-A, and Anri Sala
in 2002; Franz Ackermann,
Rivane Neuenschwander, Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij, Simon
Starling, and Yang Fudong
in 2004; Allora &
Calzadilla, John Bock, Damián Ortega, Aïda Ruilova, and Tino Sehgal
in 2006; Christoph Büchel,
Patty Chang, Sam Durant, Joachim Koester, and Roman Signer
in 2008; Cao Fei, Roman Ondák,Walid Raad, Natascha SadrHaghighian, and Apichatpong
Weerasethakul
in 2010; Trisha Donnelly,
Rashid Johnson, Qiu Zhijie, Monika Sosnowska, and Tris Vonna-Michell
in
2012; Sheela Gowda, Camille
Henrot, Hassan Khan, and Charline von Heyl
in 2014; Tania Bruguera, Mark
Leckey, Ralph Lemon, Laura Owens, and Wael Shawky in
2016; and Bouchra Khalili,
Teresa Margolles, Emeka Ogboh, Frances Stark,
and Wu Tsang
in 2018.
The
following artists are finalists for the Hugo Boss Prize 2020:
Nairy Baghramian (b. 1971, Isfahan, Iran)
Kevin Beasley (b. 1985, Lynchburg, Va.)
Deana Lawson (b. 1979, Rochester, N.Y.)
Elias Sime (b. 1968, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
Cecilia Vicuña (b. 1948, Santiago, Chile)
Adrián Villar Rojas (b. 1980, Rosario, Argentina)
“The
Hugo Boss Prize is our most prestigious engagement in the field of
arts,” said Mark Langer, CEO and Chairman of HUGO BOSS AG. “We
are excited about this diverse and distinguished short list for 2020
and looking forward to the announcement of the winner next fall.”
HUGO
BOSS PRIZE 2020 SHORT LIST
Nairy
Baghramian(b.
1971, Isfahan, Iran) lives and works in Berlin. In an oeuvre that
probes the boundaries between the decorative, the utilitarian, and
the art object, Baghramian has illuminated new possibilities for
sculpture. The artist’s disarming biomorphic forms, made with a
range of materials including steel, silicon, resin, and leather,
elicit various unexpected art-historical and sociopolitical
references, reimagining the workings of the body, gender, and public
and private space.
Nairy Baghramian, Stay Downers: Nerd, Fidgety Philip, Dripper, Truant, Backrower and Grubby Urchin, 2017. Various media, dimensions variable Installation view: Déformation Professionnelle, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2017–18. Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo: Timo Ohler
Baghramian’s
work has been presented in solo exhibitions such as Privileged
Points,
Mudam Luxembourg—Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (2019),
Breathing
Spell (Un respire),
Palacio de Cristal del Retiro, Madrid (2018); Déformation
Professionnelle,
Museum der Moderne Salzburg, and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
(2017); S.M.A.K. Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent (2016); Nairy
Baghramian: Scruff of the Neck (Supplements),
Zurich Art Prize, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2016); Hand
Me Down,
Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2015); Fluffing
the Pillows,
MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Mass. (2013), and Kunsthalle
Mannheim, Germany (2012); and Class
Reunion,
Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2012).
Kevin
Beasley(b.
1985, Lynchburg, Va.) lives and works in New York. Working at the
intersection of sculpture, installation, and performance, Beasley
constructs revelatory formal and sonic experiences. In works that
embed found objects in substances such as resin, foam, and tar, or
incorporate unconventionally manipulated audio equipment, he
amplifies the cultural resonances of his materials to excavate
personal and shared histories of class, race, and institutional
power.
Beasley
has presented and performed in solo exhibitions such as ASSEMBLY,
The Kitchen, New York (2019); a
view of a landscape,
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2018); Kevin
Beasley,
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2018); Movement
V: Ballroom,
CounterCurrent Festival, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts,
Houston (2017); Hammer
Projects: Kevin Beasley,
Hammer Museum at Art + Practice, Los Angeles (2017); Rubbings,
Kim? Contemporary Art Center, Riga, Latvia (2017); and inHarlem:
Kevin Beasley,
The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2016).
Deana
Lawson(b.
1979, Rochester, N.Y.) lives and works in New York. Her large-format
photographs channel vernacular, art-historical, and documentary
traditions within the medium, in compositions that valorize black
diasporic culture. Picturing individuals she encounters over the
course of her everyday life within carefully staged domestic
settings, Lawson choreographs every nuance of scenery, lighting, and
pose to create tableaux that powerfully evoke the agency of her
subjects.
Lawson’s
work has been presented in solo exhibitions including Deana
Lawson,
Huis Marseille, Museum voor Fotografie, Amsterdam (2019); Deana
Lawson: Planes,
The Underground Museum, Los Angeles (2018); Deana
Lawson,
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2018); Deana
Lawson,
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2017); Deana
Lawson,
The Art Institute of Chicago (2015); and Corporeal,
Light Work, Syracuse, N.Y. (2009).
TheSound Unseen Film + Music
Festival (November
12-17) announced the film lineup for this year’s 20th Anniversary
edition of the film festival.
Highlights
include a special appearance of John Doe with the screening of
W.T. Morgan’s documentary X: THE UNHEARD MUSIC,
award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner coming to Sound Unseen
with a 15th Anniversary screening of her film, DIG!, as
well as a special presentation of the MAPPLETHORPE
Director’s Cut. Sound Unseen also announced that Scott
Crawford’s BOY HOWDY: THE STORY OF CREEM MAGAZINE,
would be the Closing Night selection.
In
the fall of 1999, Sound Unseen introduced itself as a unique,
cutting edge “films-on-music” festival in Minneapolis. Formulated
as a cultural organization dedicated to the role of film and music as
a conduit of powerful ideas and diverse viewpoints. Its mission is to
foster a greater appreciation of cinema, to bridge cultures, create
and expand community, provide cultural exchange, networking
opportunities and educational outreach through regular interaction
with great films, filmmakers, musicians and artists.
Since
its inception, It has established itself as one of the premiere niche
festivals in the country, but more importantly as a vital part of the
regional cultural scene. Now in its 19th year, the festival has
expanded to include year-round programming, unique pop-up events, and
special screenings including world and regional premieres.
Mystify: Michael Hutchence will have its Minnesota Premiere at the 20th Annual SOUND UNSEEN | FILM + MUSIC FESTIVAL
Named
“One
of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals In The World”
by Moviemaker
Magazine
in 2016, the “Best
Winter Film Festival”
by theStar
Tribune
2012,
and the “Best
of the Fests 2010”
from Mpls/St
Paul Magazine,
Sound
Unseen continues
its tenure as the region’s premiere films-on-music festival. While
bringing the best in documentaries, short films, and music videos it
also showcases rare concert footage, interactive panels, and live
music events. As part of its year-round presence,
Sound Unseen offers
a successful monthly screening series and special events throughout
the Twin Cities. This diversity in content is one of the things that
separates Sound Unseen from the typical outdoor mega concerts and
film festivals.
Sound
Unseen Festival Director Jim Brunzell and
Producer/Co-Programmer Rich Gill, said, “Our lineup this
year is a wonderful mix of films hot on the film festival circuit,
classics, and screenings that include appearances by wonderful
filmmakers and musicians. We are really excited about this group of
films and events built around them that should make our 20th
Anniversary edition truly memorable.”
Scott
Crawford’s BOY HOWDY: THE STORY OF CREEM MAGAZINE
joins the previously announced Seamus Murphy’s A DOG
CALLED MONEY (Opening Night), and Brandon Vedder’s
STRANGE NEGOTIATIONS (Centerpiece) to
complete an impressive trio of Gala screenings. BOY HOWDY: THE
STORY OF CREEM MAGAZINE looks at the seminal Creem Magazine‘s
humble beginnings to becoming one of the publications of record for
rock n’ roll. Fifty years after publishing its first issue,
“America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine” remains a
seditious spirit in music and culture. The film features interviews
with Cameron Crowe, Alice Cooper, Kirk Hammett, Joan Jett, Michael
Stipe, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Chad Smith, Peter Wolf and
Wayne Kramer.
The
one and only John Doe of X will come to Sound Unseen as part
of a presentation of W.T. Morgan’s X: THE UNHEARD MUSIC.
Screened on 35mm, the film is one of the best music films of the punk
era. Shot over the course of five years, this documentary presents
spectacular live performances interspersed with interviews with the
band members and associates.
The
only filmmaker to be a two-time Sundance Film Festival Grand Prize
Jury Winner, Ondi Timoner comes to Minnesota with two of
her films. The first is the 15th Anniversary screening of
DIG!. The 2004 documentary looked at the collision of art and
commerce through the eyes of The Dandy Warhols and The Brian
Jonestown Massacre. The film was acquired by the Museum of Modern
Art for their permanent collection. Timoner will also be on hand
for her Director’s Cut of MAPPLETHORPE. Led by a devastating
performance by Matt Smith in the title role, the stylish and
well-crafted biopic covers the full life of its subject, world
renowned and controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe,
most frequently providing an alluring view of New York in its
grittiest era.
Other
highlights include; ALL I CAN SAY, a film created from
hours of home video footage shot by tragic Blind Melon front man
Shannon Hoon; Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni‘s
GORDON LIGHTFOOT: IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND, a portrait
of Canada’s most famous singer-songwriter; Tyler Measom’s
I WANT MY MTV, which traces the beginnings and
exploding influence of the music video channel; Steven Gaddis’
LIVE FROM THE ASTROTURF: ALICE COOPER, about a
super-secret concert event at a record store in Dallas, featuring the
legendary shock rocker; the North American premiere of Simon
David’s TIME AND PLACE, about cult favorite
Atlanta R&B artist Lee Moses; and Brent Hodges’
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT, which explores the history,
influence, and story behind the famous (or infamous) song.
For
more information about Sound Unseen, as well as how to purchase
tickets, go to: http://www.soundunseen.com.
The
2019 Sound Unseen Film Festival official selections:
Opening
Night Selection
A
DOG CALLED MONEY MIDWEST PREMIERE
Director:
Seamus Murphy
Countries:
Ireland/UK, Running Time: 90 min
Alternative-music
icon PJ Harvey’s ninth studio album, 2016’s “The Hope Six
Demolition Project,” was created through a unique process
that blended travelogue, photography, performance art, and now a
documentary feature. It began when Harvey, looking to develop a new
set of politically tinged songs that would also evoke a tangible
sense of place, decided to accompany award-winning photojournalist
and filmmaker Seamus Murphy as he travelled on assignments to
war-torn regions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, as well as to the poor,
mostly black neighborhoods of Washington, D.C.
CENTERPIECE
SELECTION
STRANGE
NEGOTIATIONS MINNESOTA PREMIERE
Director:
Brandon Vedder
Countries:
USA, Running Time: 91 min
After
renouncing his long-held Christian beliefs and walking away from his
critically-acclaimed band, Pedro the Lion, musician David Bazan
retreated into a solitary life of touring solo, struggling to rebuild
his worldview and career from the ground-up, and to support his
family of four. STRANGE NEGOTIATIONS finds David a decade into his
journey, during which he has become a sort of reluctant prophet to
Americans reeling from their country’s own crisis of faith
highlighted during the 2016 presidential election.
CLOSING
NIGHT SELECTION
BOY HOWDY: THE STORY OF CREEM MAGAZINE MINNESOTA PREMIERE
Director:
Scott Crawford
Country:
USA, Running Time: 75 min
Capturing
the messy upheaval of the ’70s just as rock was re-inventing itself,
the film explores Creem Magazine’s humble beginnings in post-riot
Detroit, follows its upward trajectory from underground paper to
national powerhouse, then bears witness to its imminent demise
following the tragic and untimely deaths of its visionary publisher,
Barry Kramer, and its most famous alum and genius clown prince,
Lester Bangs, a year later.
Musical Director Terence Blanchard Leads Exciting Evening Celebrating the Extraordinary Impact of African Music on Today’s Cultural Landscape
Carnegie Hall announced that pianist, vocalist, and television personality Jon Batiste and breakout New Orleans-based R&B and hip-hop group Tank and The Bangas will join Diaspora Songson Friday, December 6 at 8:00 p.m., for a one-night-only multimedia performance in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Musical Director Terence Blanchard leads this dynamic program featuring his ensemble the E-Collective plus specials guests Vieux Farka Touré (vocals and guitar), Quiana Lynell (vocals), Joshuah Campbell (vocals), Carpenters United Choir, and RAREdancework. The evening shines a spotlight on the remarkably wide-ranging influence that African music has across multiple genres including gospel, blues, jazz, hip-hop, rock, and more. Beyond music and dance, the performance will also feature unique video projection created for the occasion to bring this journey to life.
This
concert is part of Angélique Kidjo’s
Perspectives Series which takes
audiences on a journey of African music and culture throughout the
world. The residency kicked off on October
19 with a sold-out Zankel Hall
performances by Benin International
Musical. In addition to Diaspora
Songs on December
6, upcoming events on the series
include:
Benin-born guitarist Lionel Loueke brings a program inspired by African and traditional jazz to Zankel Hall on Friday, December 13 at 9:00 p.m. Loueke and his trio, along with special guest Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista, honor Kidjo in a concert that both celebrates and reinvents many of her marvelous songs.
The series culminates on Saturday, March 14 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage with a special concert marking both Kidjo’s 60th birthday and the anniversary of independence of her native Benin in addition to 16 other West African nations. For this momentous occasion, Kidjo will perform and is joined by a host of stellar guest artists to celebrate her remarkable musical career.
About
the Artists Terence
Blanchard is
a six-time Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter, composer and music
educator who in 2019 received an Oscar nomination for best original
score for Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman.
Blanchard has been named the first Kenny
Burrell Chair in Jazz Studies at
the UCLA
Herb Alpert School of Music,
which was established to honor Burrell, a legendary jazz guitarist
and composer, as well as the founder and director of jazz studies at
UCLA from 1996 to 2016.
Terence Blanchard is one of today’s foremost jazz composers. Photo Credit: Nitin Vadukul/Courtesy of the artist
Blanchard,
a veteran of Art Blakey’s Jazz
Messengers, is a musical polymath
who launched his solo career as a bandleader in the 1990s. Since then
he has released 20 solo albums, composed more than 60 film scores,
and received 10 major commissions. Among these works are two
critically-acclaimed operas in jazz commissioned by the Opera
Theatre of Saint Louis – Champion
which debuted in 2013, as well as the recently premiered Fire
Shut Up In My Bones based on the
memoir by Charles Blow
(Op-Ed columnist for The New York
Times). Blanchard has also composed
work for Broadway revivals, plays, dance performances, and for
national orchestras, including the Los
Angeles Philharmonic.
In
addition to Blanchard’s recent Oscar nod for the score for
BlacKkKlansman,
he also won his sixth Grammy for the haunting main theme from the
film, “Blut Und Boden (Blood and
Soil),” in the Best
Instrumental Category.
A recipient of the 2019 BMI Icon
Award, Blanchard became a go-to
composer for film beginning in the early 1990s, so much so that
Entertainment Weekly
called Blanchard “central to a
general resurgence of jazz composition for film.”
His credits include Lee classics Do
the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, 25th Hour as
well as Lee’s 2006 post-Katrina HBO documentary When
the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.
Some of Blanchard’s other film credits include Black
or White starring Kevin
Costner and directed by
Mike Binder; the Kasi Lemmons’
films, Eve’s Bayou
and the upcoming Harriet (opening
November 1);
George Lucas’ Red Tails;
and Tim Story’s Barbershop.
His
latest projects include his new album Live,
featuring seven songs recorded live in concert with his current
quintet, the E-Collective.
The album is a powerful musical statement concerning painful American
tragedies from the past and present, and addresses critical issues,
among them the staggering cyclical epidemic of U.S. gun violence. The
album is also an impassioned continuation of the band’s
Grammy-nominated 2015 studio recording, Breathless,
which includes a title track written with the “Eric
Garner ‘I can’t breathe’ NYPD chokehold in mind,”
says Blanchard.
Later
this year Blanchard will also pay tribute to his mentor Art
Blakey with the staging of
“AB-Squared,”
an evening of Blakey’s music. Blakey is also known for developing and
nurturing the next generation of jazz voices – a practice that
Blanchard follows closely.
An
avid music educator, Blanchard served as artistic director of the
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
(now named the Herbie Hancock
Institute of Jazz) from 2000 to
2011. In this role, he presented masterclasses and worked with
students in the areas of artistic development, arranging, composition
and career counseling.
Jon Baptiste. photo by Neil Grabowsky / Montclair Film
Born
into a long lineage of Louisiana musicians, Jon
Batiste is a globally celebrated
musician, educator, bandleader, and television personality whose
musical skill, artistic vision, and exuberant charisma has garnered
him the well-deserved title of “crowned
prince of jazz.” Batiste is
recognized for his originality, jaw-dropping talent, and dapper sense
of style. Batiste effortlessly transitions from commanding the piano
with virtuosic skill to soulfully crooning to wailing on the
“harmonaboard” (a hybrid of a harmonica and keyboard) to curating
unique “social music” experiences all over the world, whether
solo or with his band Stay Human.
Designs for Different Futures is organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
The
role of designers in shaping how we think about the future is the
subject of a major exhibition that will premiere at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art this fall. Designs for Different Futures
(October 22, 2019–March 8, 2020) brings together some 80
works that address the challenges and opportunities that humans may
encounter in the years, decades, and centuries ahead. Organized by
the Philadelphia Museum of Art, theWalker
Art Center, Minneapolis,
and the Art Institute of Chicago,
Designs for Different Futures will be presented at the Walker
(September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021) and the Art Institute
of Chicago (February 6–May 16, 2021) following its
presentation in Philadelphia.
Among
the questions today’s designers seek to answer are: What role
can technology play in augmenting or replacing a broad range of human
activities?Can intimacy be maintained at a distance? How can
we negotiate privacy in a world in which the sharing and use of
personal information has blurred traditional boundaries? How might we
use design to help heal or transform ourselves, bodily and
psychologically? How will we feed an ever-growing population?
While
no one can precisely predict the shape of things to come, the works
in the exhibition are firmly fixed on the future, providing design
solutions for a number of speculative scenarios. In some instances,
these proposals are borne of a sense of anxiety, and in others of a
sense of excitement over the possibilities that can be created
through the use of innovative materials, new technologies, and, most
importantly, fresh ideas.
Timothy
Rub, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer of
the Philadelphia Museum of Art, stated: “We often think of
art museums as places that foster a dialogue between the past and the
present, but they also can and should be places that inspire us to
think about the future and to ask how artists and designers can help
us think creatively about it. We are delighted to be able to
collaborate with the Walker Art Center and the Art Institute of
Chicago on this engaging project, which will offer our visitors an
opportunity to understand not only how designers are imagining—and
responding to—different visions of the futures, but also to
understand just how profoundly forward-looking design contributes in
our own time to shaping the world that we occupy and will bequeath as
a legacy to future generations.”
“Lia: The Flushable and Biodegradable Pregnancy Test,” designed 2018 by Bethany Edwards and Anna Couturier Simpson (Courtesy of the designer). Photograph courtesy of LIA Diagnostics. Image courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019.
Thinking
about the future has always been part of the human condition. It has
also been a perennial field of inquiry for designers and architects
whose speculations on this subject—ranging from the concrete to the
whimsical—can profoundly affect how we imagine what is to come.
Among the many forward-looking projects on view, visitors to Designs
for Different Futures will encounter lab-grown food, robotic
companions, family leave policy proposals, and textiles made of
seaweed.
“Some
of these possibilities will come to fruition, while others will
remain dreams or even threats,” said Kathryn Hiesinger,
the J. Mahlon Buck, Jr. Family Senior Curator of European Decorative
Arts after 1700, who coordinated the exhibition in Philadelphia with
former assistant curator Michelle Millar Fisher. “We’d like
visitors to join us as we present designs that consider the possible,
debate the inevitable, and weigh the alternatives. This exhibition
explores how design—understood expansively—can help us all
grapple with what might be on the horizon and allows our imaginations
to take flight.”
The
exhibition is divided into 11 thematic sections. In Resources,
visitors will encounter an inflatable pod measuring 15 feet in
diameter, part of the work Another Generosity first created in
2018 by Finnish architect Eero Lundén and designed in this
incarnation in collaboration with Ron Aasholm and Carmen
Lee. The pod slowly expands and contracts in the space,
responding to changing levels of carbon dioxide as visitors exhale
around it, and provoking questions about the ongoing effect of the
human footprint on the environment.
“Svalbard Global Seed Vault,” designed 2008 by Peter W. Søderman, Barlindhaug Consulting (Exhibition display courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation). Photograph courtesy of Global Crop Diversity Trust. Image courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019.“Recyclable and Rehealable Electronic Skin,” designed 2018 by Jianliang Xiao and Wei Zhang (Courtesy of the designer). Image courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019
The
section titled Generations will explore ways in which the
choices we make today may contribute to the well-being or suffering
of those who come after us. Here, visitors will find a model of the
Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a repository that stores the
world’s largest collection of crop seeds. Located within a mountain
on a remote island near the Arctic Circle, the facility is designed
to withstand natural or human-made disasters. The Earths section
of the exhibition speculates on the challenges of extra-terrestrial
communication in Lisa Moura’s Alien Nations installation and
showcases typeface from the 2016 science-fiction film Arrival.
In
Bodies, designers grapple with choices about how our physical and
psychological selves might look, feel, and function in different
future scenarios. Featured here is one of the world’s lightest and
most advanced exoskeletons, designed to help people with mobility
challenges remain upright and active. Also notable is the CRISPR
Kit, an affordable and accessible gene-editing toolbox, which has
the potential to revolutionize biomedical research and open
opportunities for gene therapy and genetic engineering.
Intimacies
is a section that explores how technologies and online interfaces may
affect love, family, and community. Here, urban experiences of sex
and love are the focus of Andrés Jaque’s Intimate
Strangers, an audio-visual installation focusing on the gay
dating app. Through internet-enabled devices, designers explore the
possibility of digitally mediated love and sex, suggesting what
advanced digital networks hold for human sexuality.
Foods
contains projects that explore the future of the human diet.
Among them is a modular edible-insect farm, Cricket Shelter,
by Terreform ONE, which offers a ready source of protein for
impending food crises. A kitchen installation suggests how technology
and design may contribute to new modes of food production, including
an Ouroboros Steak made from human cells.
“Circumventive Organs, Electrostabilis Cardium (film still),” designed 2013 by Agi Haines (Courtesy of the designer). Image courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019.
Additional
sections of the exhibition will focus on the future of Jobs and how
Cities will function and look 100 years from now—with
robotic baby feeders, driverless cars, and other
developments—affording a glimpse at how we might navigate living
beyond this planet. Shoes grown from sweat are among the innovations
visitors will find in a section devoted to Materials, while
Power will look at how design may affect our citizenship and
help us retain agency over such essentials as our DNA, our voices,
and our electronic communications in a future where the lines between
record-keeping, communication, and surveillance blur. Data
acknowledges and questions the different ways that information
might be collected and used, with all its inherent biases and
asymmetries, to shape different futures.
The
curatorial team is comprised of: at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art, Kathryn B.
Hiesinger, The J. Mahlon Buck, Jr. Family Senior
Curator of European Decorative Arts after 1700, and Michelle
Millar Fisher, formerly The Louis C. Madeira IV Assistant
Curator of European Decorative Arts after 1700; At the Walker
Art Center, Emmet Byrne,
Design Director and Associate Curator of Design; and at the Art
Institute of Chicago, Maite
Borjabad López-Pastor, Neville Bryan Assistant Curator of
Architecture and Design, and Zoë Ryan,
the John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design.
Consulting curators are Andrew Blauvelt,
Director, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield
Hills, Michigan, and Curator-at-Large, Museum of Arts
and Design, New York; Colin Fanning,
Independent Scholar, Bard Graduate Center,
New York; and Orkan Telhan,
Associate Professor of Fine Arts (Emerging Design Practices),
University of Pennsylvania School of Design,
Philadelphia.
Kathryn
B. Hiesinger is the J. Mahlon Buck, Jr. Family Senior Curator of
European Decorative Arts after 1700 at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art. Her work focuses on decorative arts and
design from the mid-nineteenth century to the present and includes
the exhibitions and publications Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion
(2011), Out of the Ordinary: The Architecture and Design of
Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Associates (2001),
Japanese Design: A Survey since 1950 (1994) and Design
since 1945 (1983).
Michelle
Millar Fisher is the Ronald C. and Anita L Wornick Curator of
Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston. She is a graduate of the University
of Glasgow, Scotland, and is currently completing her
doctorate in architectural history at the Graduate
Center of the City University of New York. She is the
co-author, with Paola Antonelli, of Items: Is Fashion
Modern? (2017).
Emmet
Byrne is the Design Director and Associate Curator of Design at
the Walker Art Center in
Minneapolis. He provides creative leadership and strategic direction
for the Walker in all areas of visual communication, branding,
publishing, while overseeing the award-winning in-house design
studio. He was one of the founders of the Task Newsletter in
2009 and is the creator of the Walker’s Intangibles platform.
Maite
Borjabad López-Pastor is the Neville Bryan Assistant Curator of
Architecture and Design at the Art Institute
of Chicago. She is an architect and curator educated at
the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Columbia
University, New York. She is the author and curator of
Scenographies of Power: From the State of Exception to the Spaces
of Exception (2017). Her work revolves around diverse forms of
critical spatial practices, operating across architecture, art, and
performance.
Zoë
Ryan is the John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and
Design at the Art Institute of Chicago.
She is the editor of As Seen: Exhibitions That Made Architecture
and Design History (2017) and curator of In a Cloud, in a
Wall, in a Chair: Six Modernists in Mexico at Midcentury (2019)
and the 2014 Istanbul Design Biennial, The Future is Not
What it Used to Be. Her projects explore the impact of
architecture and design on society.
Centered
on the innovative contemporary design objects, projects, and
speculations of the exhibition’s checklist, the accompanying volume
proposes design as a means through which to understand, question, and
negotiate individual and collective futures, giving provocative voice
to the most urgent issues of today. It asks readers to contemplate
the design context within broader historical, social, political, and
aesthetic spectrums. Designs for Different Futures addresses
futures near and far, exploring such issues as human-digital
interaction, climate change, political and social inequality,
resource scarcity, transportation, and infrastructure.
The
primary authors are Kathryn B. Hiesinger, Michelle Millar Fisher,
Emmet Byrne, Maite Borjabad López-Pastor, and Zoë Ryan,
with Andrew Blauvelt, Colin Fanning, Orkan Telhan, Juliana Rowen
Barton, and Maude de Schauensee. Additional contributions
include texts by V. Michael Bove Jr. and Nora Jackson,
Christina Cogdell, Marina Gorbis, Srećko Horvat, Bruno Latour,
Marisol LeBrón, Ezio Manzini, Chris Rapley, Danielle Wood, LinYee
Yuan, and Emma Yann Zhang; and interviews with Gabriella
Coleman, Formafantasma (Andrea Trimarchi and Simone
Farresin), Aimi Hamraie and Jillian Mercado, Francis
Kéré, David Kirby, Helen Kirkum, Alexandra Midal, Neri Oxman,
and Eyal Weizman.
Designs
for Different Futures will be distributed by Yale University
Press. The book was overseen by Philadelphia Museum of Art
publishing director Katie Reilly and editors Katie Brennan
and Kathleen Krattenmaker. It is designed by Ryan Gerald
Nelson, Senior Graphic Designer at the Walker Art Center, under the
direction of Walker design director Emmet Byrne.
Futures
Therapy Lab
As
part of the exhibition, visitors to the Philadelphia Museum of Art
galleries will also encounter a space for community meetups, public
programs, school visits, and self-directed activities. The Futures
Therapy Lab will weave personal connections between visitors and
the exhibition as part of a collaboration between the museum’s
Education Department and the curatorial team. Weekly programs,
many of which will occur on Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesday Nights,
will connect visitors with designers, artists, and locally based
creatives. The Futures Therapy Lab will contain a crowdsourced
Futures Library that includes everything from science-fiction
books to the exhibition catalogue. “Thinking about possible
futures is both exhilarating and anxiety-provoking,” said
Emily Schreiner, the Zoë and Dean Pappas Curator of Education,
Public Programs. “The Futures Therapy Lab is a place for
conversation, critique, and creativity in which visitors can imagine
their own hopes, fears and solutions for the future through
reflection, discussion, and art making.”
In
Philadelphia, this exhibition is generously supported by the
Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions, the Robert
Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, the Kathleen C.
and John J.F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions,Lisa Roberts and
David Seltzer in Honor of Collab’s 50th Anniversary, the Women’s
Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Laura and
William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions, the Harriet and
Ronald Lassin Fund for Special Exhibitions, the Jill and
Sheldon Bonovitz Exhibition Fund, and an anonymous donor.
Related
Programs
The
Futures Therapy Lab will host a series of weekly happenings:
Artists
in the Lab
Artists
and designers share their work through talks, demonstrations, and
workshops. Wednesday Nights, 5:00–8:45 p.m.
The
Designer is In
Talk
it out. One-on-one sessions with local designers offer new
perspectives on your everyday life. Thursdays & Saturdays,
2:00–4:00 p.m.
Sci-Fi
Sundays
Drop-in
readings that explore narratives of the future. Select Sundays,
2:00–3:00pm
The Museum of Modern Art will inaugurate its latest transformation on New York City’s Wesr 53rd Street with Surrounds: 11 Installations, opening in The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Center for Special Exhibitions, in The Peggy and David Rockefeller building, on October 21, 2019. The presentation, spanning the entire sixth floor, presents 11 watershed installations by living artists from the past two decades, all drawn from the Museum’s collection and on view at MoMA for the first time. Each installation will occupy its own gallery, providing an individualized, immersive experience.
Surrounds
is organized by Quentin Bajac, former Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz
Chief Curator of Photography, Christian Rattemeyer, Harvey S.
Shipley Miller Associate Curator for Drawings and Prints, Yasmil
Raymond, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture,
Sean Anderson, Associate Curator, Department of Architecture
and Design, and Joshua Siegel, Curator, Department of Film,
with the assistance of Lucy Gallun, Associate Curator,
Department of Photography, Erica Papernik-Shimizu, Associate
Curator, Department of Media and Performance, Arièle
Dionne-Krosnick, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture
and Design, and Taylor Walsh, Curatorial Assistant, Department
of Drawings and Prints.
Surrounds
includes work by Jennifer Allora (American, b. 1974) and
Guillermo Calzadilla (Cuban, b. 1971), Sadie Benning
(American, b. 1973), Janet Cardiff (Canadian, b. 1957) and
George Bures Miller (Canadian, b. 1960), Sou Fujimoto
(Japanese, b. 1971), Sheila Hicks (American, b. 1934), Arthur
Jafa (American, b. 1960), Mark Manders (Dutch, b. 1968),
Rivane Neuenschwander (Brazilian, b. 1967), Dayanita Singh
(Indian, b. 1961), Hito Steyerl (German, b. 1966), and Sarah
Sze (American, b. 1969).
Each
work included in the exhibition was conceived out of different
individual circumstances—as a contribution to a biennial, as an
element of a larger ongoing body of work, as a response to a classic
work of art history, or as a stand-alone work unrelated to others—but
the installations are united in their ambition and scope, marking
decisive shifts in the careers of their makers and the broader field
of contemporary art.
The
exhibition is made possible by Bank of America, MoMA’s
opening partner.
Generous
funding is provided by Agnes Gund.
Leadership
contributions to the Annual Exhibition Fund, in support of the
Museum’s collection and collection exhibitions, are generously
provided by the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Sue and Edgar
Wachenheim III, Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, Jerry I.
Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, Eva and Glenn Dubin, The
Sandra and Tony Tamer Exhibition Fund, Alice and Tom Tisch,
The David Rockefeller Council, Anne Dias, Kathy and Richard S. Fuld,
Jr., Kenneth C. Griffin, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, Jo Carole
and Ronald S. Lauder, Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro, The Keith
Haring Foundation, and The Contemporary Arts Council of The
Museum of Modern Art.
Major
contributions to the Annual Exhibition Fund are provided by
the Estate of Ralph L. Riehle, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Brett and
Daniel Sundheim, Karen and Gary Winnick, The Marella and Giovanni
Agnelli Fund for Exhibitions, Clarissa Alcock and Edgar Bronfman,
Jr., Agnes Gund, and Oya and Bülent Eczacıbaşı.
MoMA
Audio is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The Whitney Museum of American Art announced today that its 2021 Biennial, the 80th edition, will be co-organized by two brilliant members of the Museum’s curatorial department, David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards. The 2021 Whitney Biennial exhibition will open in the spring of 2021 and is presented by Tiffany & Co., which has been the lead sponsor of the Biennial since the Museum’s move downtown.
Image credit: Adrienne Edwards and David Breslin. Photograph by Bryan Derballa
Alice
Pratt Brown Director Adam D. Weinberg noted: “The central
aim of the Biennial is to be a barometer of contemporary American
art. Each Biennial is a reflection of the cultural and social moment
as it intersects with the passions, perspectives, and tastes of the
curators. David and Adrienne will be a great team. They are
inquisitive, curious, and are acutely attuned to the art of the
current moment. No doubt they will bring fresh outlooks to this
historic exhibition and reinvent it for these complex and challenging
times.”
With
a long history of exhibiting the most promising and influential
artists and provoking debate, the Whitney Biennial is the Museum’s
signature survey of the state of contemporary art in the United
States. The Biennial, an invitational show of work produced in the
preceding two years, was introduced by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in
1932, and it is the longest continuous series of exhibitions in the
country to survey recent developments in American art.
Initiated by founder Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1932, the Whitney Biennial is the longest-running survey of American art. More than 3,600 artists have participated, including Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jacob Lawrence, Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Agnes Martin, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Serra, Lynda Benglis, Frank Bowling, Joan Jonas, Barbara Kruger, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jenny Holzer, David Wojnarowicz, Glenn Ligon, Yvonne Rainer, Zoe Leonard, Kara Walker, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Mike Kelley, Lorna Simpson, Renée Green, Wade Guyton, Julie Mehretu, Cecilia Vicuña, Mark Bradford, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Ellen Gallagher, Rachel Harrison, Wu Tsang, Nick Mauss, Sarah Michelson, Laura Owens, Postcommodity, Pope.L, Jeffrey Gibson, and Tiona Nekkia McClodden.
The biennials were originally organized by medium, with painting alternating with sculpture and works on paper. Starting in 1937, the Museum shifted to yearly exhibitions called Annuals. The current format—a survey show of work in all media occurring every two years—has been in place since 1973. The 2019 Biennial (still on partial view on the Museum’s sixth floor until October 27) was organized by two Whitney curators, Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley. It featured seventy-five artists and collectives working in painting, sculpture, installation, film and video, photography, performance, and sound.
David
Breslin was recently named the DeMartini Family Curator and
Director of Curatorial Initiatives, a role he will assume this
month. Since joining the Museum in 2016 as DeMartini Family Curator
and Director of the Collection, Breslin has spearheaded the Museum’s
collection-related activities, curating a series of major collection
exhibitions and overseeing acquisitions. Working closely with his
curatorial colleagues, he has organized or co-organized four timely
and thematized collection displays, including Where We Are:
Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1900–1960, An
Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s
Collection, 1940–2017, Spilling Over: Painting Color
in the 1960s, and The Whitney’s Collection:
Selections from 1900 to 1965, which is currently on view on
the Museum’s seventh floor. In 2018, he co-curated (with David
Kiehl) the landmark retrospective David Wojnarowicz:
History Keeps Me Awake at Night.
Breslin
came to the Whitney from the Menil Drawing Institute, where he
created an ambitious program of exhibitions and public and scholarly
events and helped to shape the design of the Institute’s new
facility. He also oversaw work on the catalogue raisonné of the
drawings of Jasper Johns and grew the collection. Prior to the
Menil, Breslin served as the associate director of the research and
academic program and associate curator of contemporary projects at
the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA; he also oversaw
the Clark’s residential fellowship program and taught in the
Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
Breslin co-edited Art History and Emergency: Crises in the Visual
Arts and Humanities (Yale University Press, 2016), a volume that
grew from a Clark Conference he organized with art historian Darby
English.
In
2018, Adrienne Edwards was named Engell Speyer Family
Curator and Curator of Performance at the Whitney. Previously,
she served as curator of Performa since 2010 and as Curator at
Large for the Walker Art Center since 2016.
At
the Whitney, Edwards curated Jason Moran, the artist’s first
museum show, now on view on the Museum’s eighth floor. She
originated the exhibition at the Walker in 2018; it previously
traveled to the ICA Boston and the Wexner Center for the
Arts. The exhibition features a series of performances, Jazz on a
High Floor in the Afternoon, curated by Edwards and Moran. She
organized the event commencing the construction of David
Hammons’s Day’s End, featuring a commission by composer
Henry Threadgill and a “water” tango on the Hudson
River by the Fire Department of the City of New York’s
Marine Company 9. Earlier this year, Edwards organized Moved
by the Motion: Sudden Rise, a series of performances based on
a text co-written by Wu Tsang, boychild, and Fred Moten,
which presented a collage of words, film, movements, and sounds.
For
Performa, Edwards realized new boundary-defying commissions,
as well as pathfinding conferences and film programs with a wide
range of over forty international artists. While at the Walker, she
co-led the institution-wide Mellon Foundation Interdisciplinary
Initiative, an effort to expand ways of commissioning, studying,
collecting, documenting, and conserving cross-disciplinary works.
Edwards’s curatorial projects have included the critically
acclaimed exhibition and catalogue Blackness in Abstraction,
hosted by Pace Gallery in 2016. She also organized Frieze’s
Artist Awardand Live program in New York in 2018. Edwards
taught art history and visual studies at New York University
and The New School, and she is a contributor to the National
Gallery of Art’s Center for the Advanced Study in Visual Art’s
forthcoming publication Black Modernisms.
Scott
Rothkopf, the Whitney’s Senior Deputy Director and Nancy and Steve
Crown Family Chief Curator, said, “David and Adrienne truly
represent the best spirit and ideals of the Whitney. Not only are
they devoted to—and beloved by—living artists, but they bring to
the art of our time a deep historical and scholarly awareness. The
most recent editions of the Biennial have reaffirmed its vitality and
relevance, and I look forward to discovering how another pair of
Whitney curators will lend their voices to our signature exhibition.”
Debut of New Works by International Designers Ini Archibong, Matt Checkowski, Misha Kahn, the Ladd Brothers Laurie Haycock Makela, and Yuri Suzuki
speechless: different by design Opens at the Dallas Museum of Art in November 2019, Travels to the High Museum of Art in April 2020
The High Museum of Art (High) (Atlanta, Ga.) and the Dallas Museum of Art(DMA) (Dallas, Texas) announced the co-organization of speechless: different by design, an exhibition that merges research, aesthetics, and innovative new design to explore the vast spectrum of sensory experiences and new approaches to accessibility and modes of communication in the museum setting. Speechless will debut new work by six leading and emerging international designers and design teams—Ini Archibong, Matt Checkowski, Misha Kahn, Steven and William Ladd, Laurie Haycock Makela, and Yuri Suzuki—whose projects were informed by conversations with specialists from prominent academic and medical institutions. Their site-specific installations and new commissions will create participatory environments and distinct situations in which senses merge or are substituted for one another.
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta logo
Curated
by Sarah Schleuning, The Margot B. Perot Senior Curator of
Decorative Arts and Design and Interim Chief Curator at the DMA,
speechless will open at the DMA on November 10, 2019,
and remain on view through February 23, 2020. The exhibition
is presented in Dallas by Texas Instruments. The High will present
the exhibition in Atlanta from April 25 through September
6, 2020.
“This
exhibition is about blurring the boundaries between senses, media,
disciplines, and environments to encourage visitors to interact and
communicate through design,”
said Schleuning. “speechless
is about what makes us as individuals unique—the challenges we
experience through ourselves and others—ultimately defining the
interconnections among all of us. Our perceptions, experiences, and
differences should unite us instead of divide us, heightening
our understandings and creating a greater sense of empathy in
ourselves and our community.”
“Sarah
Schleuning began to develop this important project while serving as
our curator of decorative arts and design, so it feels very fitting,
and full circle, to co-organize this exhibition with our esteemed
colleagues at the DMA,”
said Rand Suffolk,
Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr., Director of the High. “This
exhibition dovetails perfectly with our ongoing and evolving
commitment to access. Consequently, we’re excited to welcome
audiences with wide-ranging abilities to experience these unique and
immersive installations. We hope to learn something important about
how such a diverse group of visitors interacts with these works as
well as engages with each other within the spaces.”
“The
DMA is committed to offering our audiences opportunities for
discovery and for learning about different perspectives and cultures
through our exhibitions and collections, and the intersections
between them,”
said Agustín Arteaga, the DMA’s Eugene McDermott Director. “In
line with this approach, Sarah’s work on this groundbreaking
project—involving years of cross-disciplinary study and
collaboration with designers, scholars, and scientists at the
forefront of innovation in art and accessibility—is truly
pioneering within our field and creates an incredible opportunity to
provide a truly distinct museum experience to our audiences. We are
pleased to partner with the High in presenting speechless, an
exhibition that creates meaningful experiences for visitors of all
backgrounds and abilities, and also contributes important scholarship
and insight about how museums can innovate with everything from
installation to the visitor experience.”
About
the Artists
Ini Archibong. Photo Frank Juerey.
Ini
Archibong was born and raised in Pasadena, California, where he
graduated from the Art Center College of Design. After a period
living and working in Singapore and traveling widely, he moved to
Switzerland, where he is currently based, to pursue further studies
in luxury design and craftsmanship and received a master’s degree
from École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL). He has designed
furniture for such luxury brands as Hermès, de Sede, Bernhardt
Design, Ruinart, Christofle and Vacheron Constantin. He is currently
collaborating with the Friedman Benda Gallery in New York and Sé
Collections in London, with whom he released the second installment
of the Below the Heavens during this year’s Salone del Mobile in
Milan.
Matt Checkowski. Photo: Shawn Michienzi.
Matt
Checkowski is a designer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He
has served as the creative force behind the dream sequences in Steven
Spielberg’s Minority Report; The Sensorium, a
first-of-its-kind interactive perfume museum in New York; and the
digital media content for a science fiction opera at l’Opera de
Monte Carlo; and he was the co-director of Lies & Alibis,
a feature film starring Steve Coogan, Sam Elliott, James Marsden, and
Rebecca Romijn. In 2006 Checkowski established the Department of the
4th Dimension, a multi-disciplinary studio working at the
intersection of storytelling, technology, and branding with clients
that include the Walker Art Center, MIT, Victoria’s Secret,
Sephora, Unilever, Electrolux, and the University of California. His
work has been profiled in the New York Times, the Los
Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, and
Popular Science, among others.
Misha Kahn. Photo: Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Misha Kahn, Photography by Dan Kukla.
Misha
Kahn was born in Duluth, Minnesota, and graduated from the Rhode
Island school of Design with a BFA in furniture design in 2011. His
work exists at the intersection of design and sculpture, exploring a
wide variety of media and scales from mouse to house. Kahn’s
approach melds an array of processes, from casting, carving, welding,
and weaving, to imaginative and singular modes of production.
According to former president of the Rhode Island School of Design
John Maeda, “Misha creates work for a parallel wonderland, where
traditional perception of material and structure is pushed to the
edges of the room to make space for one big party.” His work has
been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collection of
numerous museums and public collections, including the Museum of
Fine Arts, Houston and the Corning Museum of Glass.
Steven and William Ladd in Scroll Space. Photo: Nick Lee.
Brothers
Steven and William Ladd have created multi–disciplinary
works combining sculpture, performance, design, and social
activism since they began collaborating in 2000. They have exhibited
at the Musée des arts décoratifs and had solo exhibitions at
numerous American institutions, including their hometown institution
the Saint Louis Art Museum. Their work is labor-intensive and has
varied from large three-dimensional murals to book bindings. Through
their Scrollathon® they have worked with over 7,000 people,
including children, hospital patients, and special needs individuals.
Their work is in the collections of the Musée des arts décoratifs
at the Louvre, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Corning Museum of
Glass, and Mingei International Museum.
Laurie Haycock Makela. Photo: Carmela Makela.
Laurie
Haycock Makela has been a recognized voice of experimental
graphic and trans-disciplinary design practice and education for over
30 years in the United States and Europe. She has taught at
prestigious institutions in Sweden, Germany, and Los Angeles. She was
designer-in-residence and co-chair of the department of 2-D design at
the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, from 1996
to 2001 with the late P. Scott Makela. Their studio, Words and
Pictures for Business and Culture, produced print and new media for
clients such as NIKE, MTV and Warner Bros. She was awarded the AIGA
(American Institute of Graphic Arts) Medal, the profession’s
highest honor, in 2000. Most recently, she became the first
designer-in-residence at USC’s Roski School of Art and Design.
Yuri
Suzuki is a sound artist, designer, and electronic musician who
explores the realms of sound through exquisitely designed pieces. His
work looks into the way people experience sound, and how music and
sound affect their minds. His sound, art, and installations have been
internationally exhibited and he has work in several permanent
collections across the world. He began his own design studio in 2013,
working alongside Disney, Google, and Yamaha, among others.
Ini Archibong and Hideki Yoshimoto. Photo: Matt Checkowski.
Harnessing
the power and impact of design, speechless offers audiences
unconventional multisensory experiences that foster understanding of
the varied ways in which we experience the world through our senses.
The exhibition presents opportunities for new modes of communicating
ideas beyond speech and words. Organized in five major sections, the
exhibition is connected by a central introductory space and sensory
de-escalation area, through which visitors must pass to move between
sections. Six contemporary designers will create spaces that fuse
multiple sensory experiences—for instance, rendering sound visible
or language tactile. The works include:
The
Oracle, designed and engineered by California-born,
Switzerland-based multi-disciplinary designer Ini Archibong,
will explore non-traditional ways of experiencing sound. The space
occupied by Archibong’s work will be infused with a soothing,
harmonious soundscape created by a custom synthesizer, which removes
discordant sound and produces pure sound waves. The installation
will feature an array of interactive elements designed to illustrate
sound through movement, shape, light, and color, including a pool
with an obelisk that visitors can rotate to tune the sound to
various bass tones, thereby changing the shape and movement of the
water as well; and brass pedestals holding handblown glass shapes
that pivot to initiate shifts in light and color. Visitors can turn
every element throughout the room to communally alter the sound in
the space.
Glyph, by designer and filmmaker Matt Checkowski, will explore the creativity behind each designer’s work in speechless and the role of empathy that informs it through a series of narrative and intimate short film portraits of each artist. He is developing a method of word and image translation whereby the filmed speech of each artist will be transformed live into images, offering a new, universal visual language for the ideas conveyed by the creative minds involved with this project.
Brooklyn-based designer and artist Misha Kahn will create a meandering coral garden composed of vibrant, dynamic inflatables that will move in multiple ways, inflating and deflating over the course of each day. Visitors can touch, sit, squeeze, and otherwise interact with the inflatable forms, both observing the landscape change around them and themselves participating in the alteration.
Scroll Space, presented by New York–based brothers and artists Steven and William Ladd, will be a vibrant and tactile room created entirely of tens of thousands of hand-rolled textile “scrolls.” These scrolls will be made in collaboration with 2,000 community members in Dallas and Atlanta through the Ladd Brothers’ community engagement program Scrollathon®, which brings the arts to underserved populations through hands-on creative workshops. The Dallas program will include participants from the Center for BrainHealth and the Callier Center for Communication Disorders at the University of Texas at Dallas.
The exhibition’s graphic identity and corresponding publication speechless: Beyond Sense is created by Laurie Haycock Makela, a leader in the field of experimental, transdisciplinary graphic design. Playing with the multiple meanings of the word “speechless,” the publication will explore the evolution of the project, document the installations, and feature conversations between the designers and the curator. Both innovative and accessible, her work contributes to the foundation of total inclusive and interactive experience of the project.
Sound Of The Earth Chapter 2, a sound installation by London-based sound artist and designer Yuri Suzuki, will integrate audio crowdsourced from around the world. The work will take the form of a spherical sculpture with which visitors can interact by placing their ears against the surface. Each spot on the sphere represents a different area of the world and will “whisper” back a corresponding sound sourced from that region, enabling visitors to experience the globe in a fresh way, beyond text and words. Anyone around the world can submit audio via the DMA’s website at earthsounds.dma.org.
Misha Kahn. New work for Speechless, computer generated rendering, 2019. Courtesy of Misha Kahn.
speechless
is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art and the High Museum
of Art, Atlanta. The exhibition in Dallas is presented by Texas
Instruments.
Support
for the exhibition in Atlanta is provided by wish foundation. This
exhibition in Atlanta is made possible by Exhibition Series
Sponsors Delta Air Lines, Inc., Northside Hospital, and
WarnerMedia; Premier Exhibition Series Supporters the
Antinori Foundation, Sarah and Jim Kennedy, and Louise
Sams and Jerome Grilhot; Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporter
Anne Cox Chambers Foundation; Ambassador Exhibition Series
Supporters Tom and Susan Wardell, and Rod Westmoreland;
and Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters Lucinda W. Bunnen,
Marcia and John Donnell, W. Daniel Ebersole and Sarah
Eby-Ebersole, Peggy Foreman, Robin and Hilton Howell,
Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones, Margot and Danny McCaul, Joel Knox and
Joan Marmo, and The Ron and Lisa Brill Family Charitable
Trust.
Steven and William Ladd, Scroll Space, 2019. Photo: Nick Lee.
Generous
support is also provided by the Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition
Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara
Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment
Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund,
The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts
Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier
Endowment Fund, Isobel Anne Fraser–Nancy Fraser Parker
Exhibition Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland
Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special
Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund,
and the RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund.
The
Museum of Modern Art announces member: Pope.L,
1978–2001, an exhibition of landmark performances and
related videos, objects, and installations by the multidisciplinary
artist Pope.L, on view from October 21, 2019, through
January 2020. Pope.L (b. 1955) is a consummate thinker and
provocateur whose practice across multiple mediums—including
painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, theater, and
video—utilizes abjection, humor, endurance, language, and absurdity
to confront and undermine rigid systems of belief. Spanning works
made primarily from 1978 to 2001, the exhibition features videos,
photographs, sculptural elements, ephemera, and live actions. member:
Pope.L, 1978–2001 is organized by Stuart Comer,
Chief Curator, Department of Media and Performance, with Danielle
A. Jackson, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and
Performance.
The Museum of Modern Art logo
Works
in the exhibition include those rooted in experimental theater, such
as Egg Eating Contest (1990), Aunt Jenny Chronicles
(1991), and Eracism (2000), as well as street interventions
such as Thunderbird Immolation a.k.a. Meditation Square Piece
(1978), Times Square Crawl a.k.a. Meditation Square Piece
(1978), Tompkins Square Crawl a.k.a. How Much Is That Nigger in
the Window (1991), ATM Piece (1996), and The Great
White Way: 22 miles, 9 years, 1 street (2001–09), among others.
Together, these works highlight the role performance has played
within an emphatically interdisciplinary career that has established
Pope.L as a critical and influential force in contemporary art.
Additionally, these early works form a snapshot of the profound
social, cultural, and economic shifts in New York City throughout the
1980s and ’90s.
MoMA
will publish a comprehensive, fully illustrated catalogue to
accompany the exhibition. Presenting a detailed study of these
investigations, as well as overarching topics Pope.L has explored
throughout his career, the publication will establish key details for
each work and articulate how the artist continues to think about the
legacy of these ephemeral projects unfolding in time.
MoMA’s
presentation is part of Pope.L: Instigation, Aspiration,
Perspiration, a trio of complementary exhibitions organized
by MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Public
Art Fund. Utilizing both public and private spaces, the expansive
presentation will address many elements of the artist’s oeuvre,
from seminal early works to a monumental new installation and a new
performative work inspired by the artist’s iconic crawl series.
The
exhibition is presented as part of The Hyundai Card Performance
Series. Major support is provided by The Jill and Peter Kraus
Endowed Fund for Contemporary Exhibitions and The Jon Stryker
Endowment. Additional support is provided by The Friends of
Education of The Museum of Modern Art, Nancy and David Frej,
Barbara Karp Shuster, and Ann and Mel Schaffer.
Leadership
contributions to the Annual Exhibition Fund, in support of the
Museum’s collection and collection exhibitions, are generously
provided by the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Sue and Edgar
Wachenheim III, Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, Jerry I. Speyerand
Katherine G. Farley, Eva and Glenn Dubin, The Sandra
and Tony Tamer Exhibition Fund, Alice and Tom Tisch, The David
Rockefeller Council, Anne Dias, Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr.,
Kenneth C. Griffin, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, Jo Carole and
Ronald S. Lauder, Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro, The Keith Haring
Foundation, and The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of
Modern Art.
Major
contributions to the Annual Exhibition Fund are provided by the
Estate of Ralph L. Riehle, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Brett and Daniel
Sundheim, Karen and Gary Winnick, The Marella and Giovanni Agnelli
Fund for Exhibitions, Clarissa Alcock and Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Agnes
Gund, and Oya and Bülent Eczacıbaşı.
NEW
YORK, September 17, 2019—The Whitney Museum of American Art
yesterday celebrated the groundbreaking of Day’s End,
a permanent public art project by New York-based artist David
Hammons (b. 1943). Slated for completion in the fall of 2020, the
project was developed in collaboration with the Hudson River Park
Trust (HRPT). The sculpture will be located in Hudson River
Park along the southern edge of Gansevoort Peninsula,
directly across from the Museum, within the footprint of the former
Pier 52. Hammons’s Day’s End (2020) derives its
inspiration and name from Gordon Matta-Clark‘s 1975 artwork in
which he cut openings into the existing, abandoned Pier 52 shed
transforming it into monumental sculpture.
Rendering of Day’s End by David Hammons, as seen from the Whitney Museum of American Art. Courtesy Guy Nordenson and Associates
David
Hammons was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1943. He moved to
Los Angeles in 1963, attending the Chouinard Art Institute (now
CalArts) and the Otis Art Institute. In 1974, he moved to
New York, where he still lives and works. Hammons was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship in 1984 and a MacArthur Fellowship in
1991. In 1990 his work was the subject of a career survey, David
Hammons: Rousing the Rubble, 1969–1990, at PS1. His work
is in numerous collections, including the Whitney Museum of
American Art; The Museum of Modern Art; the Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Fogg
Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Stedelijk Museum,
Amsterdam; and Tate Britain. His art has profoundly
influenced a younger generation of artists.
An
open structure—a three-dimensional drawing in space—that
precisely follows the outline, dimensions, and location of the
original Pier 52 structure, Hammons’s Day’s End,
will be a “ghost monument” to the earlier work by Matta-Clark and
allude to the history of New York’s waterfront, from the original
commercial piers that stood along the Hudson River during the heyday
of New York’s shipping industry to the reclaimed piers that became an
important gathering place for the gay and artist communities. Open to
everyone, Day’s End is designed to coexist with HRPT’s
planned park at Gansevoort Peninsula and to bring visitors down to
the water’s edge.
The
celebration took place at sunset in the Museum’s third floor Susan
and John Hess Family Gallery and Theater, overlooking the project
site on the Gansevoort Peninsula. Adam D. Weinberg, Alice Pratt
Brown Director of the Whitney, paid tribute to Hammons, an
internationally acclaimed artist with longtime ties to the Museum and
deep roots in New York, and thanked the project’s funders and
collaborators during the evening’s remarks.
The
commencement of the installation was heralded by a presentation on
the Hudson River by the Fire Department of New York City’s
Marine Company 9 and their fireboat the Fire Fighter II.
The performance, a “water tango,” featured a display of the
boat’s water cannons and served as a prelude to the premiere of a
new piece by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and bandleader Henry
Threadgill (b. 1944). A sextet debuted the overture to
Threadgill’s 6 to 5, 5 to 6, a two-part work commissioned by
the Whitney on the occasion of Hammons’s Day’s End. The
composition responds to the architectural structure and engineering
schematics of the artwork. Its title is based upon the preponderance
of the numbers 5 and 6, and their myriad combinations and
subdivisions, found in the project’s design. The commission is
overseen by Adrienne Edwards, the Engell Speyer Family Curator and
Curator of Performance at the Whitney. The second part of the
commission will premiere at the unveiling of Day’s End in fall
2020.
Henry
Threadgill was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1944, and is one of
only three jazz artists to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. Playing a
myriad of instruments in his childhood from percussion to clarinet to
saxophone, by his late teens he joined the Muhal Richard Abrams’
Experimental Band, which later expanded into the Association
for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). In 1970,
Threadgill moved to New York City, exploring approaches to jazz music
with various group acts over the next forty years—from AIR
(Artists In Residence), his 1970s trio that reimagined ragtime
without the piano, to his current band, Zooid, representing a
culmination of decades of his musical process as a composer. In 2016,
Threadgill was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music for Zooid’s
album In for a Penny, In for a Pound (2015). He was also the
recipient of the 2016 Doris Duke
Artist Award, 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award,2008
United States Artist Fellowship, and 2003 Guggenheim
Fellowship.
Weinberg
also announced that the Whitney will present an exhibition, drawn
from the Museum’s permanent collection, related to Matta-Clark’s
seminal work that inspired Hammons’s sculpture. Titled Around
Day’s End: Downtown New York, 1970–1986, and on view from
July through October 2020, the exhibition is organized by Whitney
assistant curator Laura Phipps and will include approximately
fifteen artists, in addition to Matta-Clark, who worked in the
downtown New York milieu of the 1970s and early 1980s. The work of
these artists, including Alvin Baltrop, Joan Jonas, and Martin
Wong, embodies ideas of artistic intervention into the urban
fabric of New York City. A photographic installation by Dawoud
Bey, who will also be the subject of a survey exhibition at the
Whitney in the fall of 2020, captures Hammons at work on other
outdoor pieces in New York.
“The
Whitney’s collaboration with David Hammons, one of the most
influential artists of our time, represents our profound commitment
to working with living artists and supporting their visions intimate
or grand. The open form of the work—a building without a roof,
walls, floor, doors or windows—is a welcoming metaphor that
represents our commitment to community and civic good,” said
Weinberg. “Just steps away from the Whitney, Day’s End
celebrates the history of the Hudson River waterfront and the
neighborhood and the City. We are deeply grateful for the support
Day’s End has already received from New York City, as well as
neighborhood, arts, historic preservation, LGBTQ, commercial and
environmental groups, and we look forward to the ribbon-cutting in
fall of 2020.”
“This
inspiring project will celebrate the historic waterfront and
perfectly align with our newly designed park on the peninsula,”
said Madelyn Wils, President & CEO of the Hudson River
Park Trust. “We’re incredibly appreciative of this
collaboration with our neighbors at the Whitney and looking forward
to seeing the project take shape at what will certainly be one of the
most visually dynamic spots in all of Hudson River Park.”
In
tandem with the realization of the project, the Whitney Museum is
developing rich interpretive materials including the Whitney’s
first podcast series, videos, neighborhood walking tours, and a
children’s guide. These will take Hammons’s Day’s End
(2020) and Matta-Clark’s Day’s End (1975) as jumping-off
points for exploring the history of the waterfront and the
Meatpacking District, the role of artists in the neighborhood, the
diverse cultural and ethnic histories, its LGBTQ history, the
commercial history, and the ecology of the estuary. New research,
archival materials, and oral history interviews will all be
incorporated. The interpretative materials will be accessible on site
and online, including for mobile use.
Day’s
End is developed in collaboration with HRPT and will be donated
by David Hammons and the Whitney Museum to the Park upon completion.
The project will rise directly south of the HRPT’s planned
Gansevoort Peninsula Park, which will include a sandy beach
area with kayak access and a seating area; a salt marsh with habitat
enhancements; a large sports field; and on its western side, picnic
tables and lounge chairs. That section of the park is slated to start
construction next year and open in 2022.
The
Whitney, HRPT, and Hammons are committed to ensuring that the artwork
becomes an integral part of the local area and waterfront fabric—as
were the working piers that preceded it. The Whitney will continue to
share its plans and engage in a dialogue with the community over the
coming months as the project installation continues.
Attendees
at the event included New York State Senator Brad Hoylman;
Deputy Mayor of Housing and Economic Development for New York City
Vicki Been; Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer;
Commissioner, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Tom
Finkelpearl; Hudson River Park President & CEO Madelyn
Wils; Whitney Trustees Jill Bikoff, Neil G. Bluhm,
Nancy Carrington Crown, Gaurav Kapadia, Jonathan O. Lee, Brooke
Garber Neidich, Julie Ostrover, Nancy Poses, Scott Resnick, Richard
D. Segal, Fern Kaye Tessler, Thomas E. Tuft, and Fred Wilson;
Whitney curators Scott Rothkopf, Senior Deputy Director and
Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator, Adrienne Edwards,
Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, Elisabeth Sussman, and Laura Phipps;
and artists Derrick Adams, Jules Allen, Dawoud Bey, Torkwase
Dyson, Awol Erizku, Rachel Harrison, Maren Hassinger, Tiona Nekkia
McClodden, Dave McKenzie, Julie Mehretu, Sarah Michelson, Jason
Moran, and Adam Pendleton.
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