Local artists, beloved masterpieces and American modernists guarantee museum lovers a rousing year
By Melody Mock
Paul Cézanne,The François Zola Dam - ca. 1877-78
Vincent van Gogh. Steve White. Arthur Dove. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Berthe Morisot. Man Ray. E.E. Cummings. Karen Yank. Georgia O’Keeffe. Anne Cole. Pierre-Auguste Renoir. You will find these artists and many more in three different exhibitions at the Albuquerque Museum this year.
Local art by friends and neighbors
“Albuquerque Now: Winter,” the second of a two-part installment of works by Albuquerque artists.
Opens with a public reception on January 23, 2010 and runs through April 18th.
“It is just a glimpse, a sampling of some of the best artists working here,” says curator Andrew Connors. “We have a thriving and dynamic arts community that the museum gets to celebrate.”
L. Eugene Nelson, Bolo-Extraordinaire
Steve White Pez Coat
Curator of art at the Albuquerque Museum only since June of last year, Connors drew upon his 10 years of involvement in Albuquerque’s arts community and invited over 150 artists to participate in the exhibition. Sixty-one artists were in the first exhibit; more than 90 will fill the gallery for the second.
One highlight will no doubt be Steve White, local folk artist, who is known for his remakes of Pez candy dispensers and his Pez puppet theater in which he creates miniature morality tales. Other artists are Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, whose art provides a dialogue between her American Indian heritage and contemporary issues; Karen Yank , who creates large metal sculptures; photographers Patrick Nagatani and Joel-Peter Witkin; Native American jeweler Philip Loretto of Jemez pueblo; and violin maker Anne Cole . Programs highlighting Albuquerque performing artists are scheduled throughout the show.
European masterpieces
Opening in May is “Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum of Wales.” To prepare for the exhibit, pull out your art history books and read the chapters on Romanticism, Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism—then throw in some Realism with a social focus.
In 1908, Gwendoline and Margaret Davies began collecting art of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Heirs to a fortune, the sisters traveled around Europe studying art history, an unusual topic for women of their time. When they bequeathed their works to the National Museum of Wales, it was considered one of the great British art collections of the 20th century. Fifty-eight French and English oil paintings and watercolors, many never before seen in the U.S., will travel to Albuquerque.
Berthe Morisot, At Bougival - 1882
“Rain-Auvers” is a painting that van Gogh painted during the last week of his life. A “Waterlilies” by Monet, and Renoir’s famous “La Parisienne” will delight those who admire Impressionism. Other artists include Turner, Daumier, Cézanne, Morisot, Manet, Millet, Pissarro and Whistler, among many.
Early American conceptual works
Have you ever heard a sound and envisioned a color? Or looked at a painting and heard music? When our senses such as hearing and vision intersect, the experience is called synesthesia . Curated by art historian Sharyn Udall, “Once More, with Feeling: Revisiting Synesthesia in American Art” is a collection of mostly early 20th-century modernist works, and the third exhibit of 2010.
The titles of the works reveal their relationships to the aural: “Sounds in the Head 2” by Emil Bisttram; “The Insect Chorus” by Charles Burchfield; “Sound” by E.E. Cummings; “Primitive Music” by Arthur Dove; “Monument to Sound” by Raymond Jonson; “Blue and Green Music” by Georgia O’Keeffe; “Jazz” by Man Ray. A catalog will accompany the exhibit.
Mixing it up
When asked about his vision for the museum, Connors plans to continue focusing on local artists while bringing art to Albuquerque that we might not otherwise get to see. “This puts our local artists into a larger context,” he says.
Public opening reception: January 23, 7 – 9 p.m.
Opening day: January 24, 1 – 3 p.m.
Artist tours at 2 p.m.
Show runs from January 24 through April 18, 2010
First Wednesdays: 11 a.m. Gallery Conversations with museum staff and artists
“Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum of Wales”
May 16 – August 8
“Once More, with Feeling: Revisiting Synesthesia in American Art”
August 29, 2010 through January 2, 2011
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Road NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
505.243.7255
—Melody Mock is a contributing editor to albuquerqueARTS.
Entries (RSS)