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educators: 2009-10 exhibit schedule |
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Surface Quality
May 23 - November 15, 2009
The idea of surface has become synonymous with a lack of depth, both literally and metaphorically. In a work of art, though, surface is a singularly important element. In the Renaissance, a painting’s surface was seen as a window through which a viewer looked on to a carefully crafted representation of the world. Surface quality has also been an important element of sculpture and crafted objects like textiles, glass, and ceramics. More recently, modern and post-modern artists have questioned traditional, idealized notions of surface. Artists like Lucio Fontana (included in this exhibition) punched holes in the canvas. Others, like Andy Warhol, dwelled in the surface-only affect of contemporary media and popular culture. Surface Quality showcases examples of such diverse attitudes about surface in works of the Weisman collection. |
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Au Courant: Robert Rauschenberg’s Current Series
June 20 - September 13, 2009
In autumn 1969, artist Robert Rauschenberg met with renowned curator John Stoller at Dayton’s Gallery 12 in Minneapolis. There they planned a major exhibition featuring a large scale print made from collages of New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis newspaper clippings. The show, Currents, opened at the Minneapolis gallery the folllowing spring. Along with the large-scale "drawing" Rauschenberg produced portfolios of related prints, including "Features from Currents," which the Weisman owns. From government corruption and war to drugs and gay rights to astronomical events and the weather, the headlines in the prints give us a glimpse into our national past and a frame for how we might see the country's situation today. This exhibition, by one of the most important American artists of the 20th century, highlights the role the Twin Cities played in its conception and dissemination. |
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Stories of the Somali Diaspora: Photographs by Abdi Roble
June 20 - September 13, 2009
Somali-born photographer Abdi Roble has documented the Somali diaspora for fifteen years. This exhibition presents some fifty black and white photographs that depict themes of dependence (refugee camp), reliance (arrival), and participation (assimilation). The exhibition traces one family’s path from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya to their arrival in Anaheim, California and subsequent resettlement in Portland, Maine. Also included are works from Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio, the country's two largest Somali immigrant communities. |
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A Reverence for Materials: Woodworkers Look at Traditional Korean Furniture
September 12, 2009 - February 7, 2010
This exhibit presents Korean furniture and functional objects from the Weisman's outstanding Edward Reynolds Wright, Jr. Collection. Korean traditional culture did not use chairs and high tables, so traditional furniture is mainly wooden boxes of all sizes-boxes for the storage of clothing, bedding, money, food, herbs and medicines, jewelry, cosmetics, sewing, writing implements, and books; and for the presentation of wedding presents. The exhibit will focus on the woods and techniques of joinery in Korean furniture. Furniture from the north of Korea, where the variety of wood was more limited than in the south, uses decorative metal fittings for hinges, locks, and fasteners. Fanciful bats and butterflies, symbols of good luck and happiness, can be seen in the metal hinges and other fittings of many Korean boxes, particularly those made for use by women. |
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Xavier Tavera: Farsas
September 19, 2009 - January 3, 2010
This exhibition features three bodies of work by Minneapolis-based photographer Xavier Tavera. The series-Enmascarados, Luchas, and El Circo-show Tavera's interest in both quickly captured and highly staged portraiture. In both cases, Tavera's work reveals the productive role of the sitter in the making of his or her own image. With subjects ranging from professional wrestlers on their way to the ring to a dramatically costumed young girl seated atop a horse before a painted sky, Tavera's work illuminates the overarching, somewhat farcical artifice that is identity itself. |
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The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: 50 Works for 50 States
October 10, 2009 - January 10, 2010
New York art collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed a broad and important collection featuring minimalist, conceptual, and other work by innovative 20th century American artists. Working with the National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Vogels have launched an unprecedented gift program that distributes much of their collection to one museum from each U.S. state. The Weisman Art Museum is the proud Minnesota recipient of this generous gift and will receive works by Will Barnet, Robert Barry, Lisa Bradley, Charles Clough, Mark Kostabi, Michael Lucero, Lucio Pozzi, Barbara Schwartz, and Richard Tuttle, among others. Chosen for its location at the university, its focus on American art, and its commitment to education and accessibility, the Weisman is thrilled to add these works to its overall collection of twentieth century American art. |
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