Saturday, February 04, 2012
exhibitions
past exhibitions
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Between Shadows and Light: The Photography of Berenice Abbott and Larry Silver
October 22, 2011 - January 1, 2012
With the work of Berenice Abbott and Larry Silver, Between Shadows and Lights focuses on the remarkably similar career and aesthetic choices of these 20th century photographic pioneers. Separated by a generation, each turned her/his camera on the complexity of burgeoning American metropolises.
A native of Ohio, Berenice Abbott (1898 – 1991) began her photographic career in Paris in 1923 as apprentice to her friend Man Ray. Inspired by this connection, she chose to focus her camera at the outset on the Parisian writers and intellectuals of the day. She also became acquainted with the French photographer, Eugene Atget. His photographs attempted to make sense of a Paris in the midst of a transformation, and upon his death, she was instrumental in promoting his work by preserving his prints and negatives and arranging for publications and exhibitions of his photographs.
She returned to the United States in 1929 for a brief stay that resulted instead in a decades-long residence in the U.S. Settling in New York City, she was immediately seduced by the evolving urban landscape of the city: the modern juxtaposed with the traditional; the wealth with the poverty; and the new skyscrapers rising out of the deterioration of old neighborhoods.
She sought to create photographs that would document the interactions of urban life, including the diverse people and the places they lived, worked and played. Her desire was to capture the city in the same manner that Atget had interpreted Paris – imposing her love of facts and belief that “photography, a twentieth-century invention, was the only medium worthy of capturing twentieth-century New York.” Stylistically, her work explored contrasts, such as light and darkness, strength and decay, and present and past.
Larry Silver (born 1934) began exploring the streets and subways of New York at the age of fifteen, two decades years after Abbott had arrived. Born in the Bronx, Silver studied photography at the High School of Industrial Art in Manhattan. The school’s proximity to the Peerless Camera Store connected him to members of the Photo League, including W. Eugene Smith, Arthur Fellig (Weegee) and Lou Bernstein. Influenced by his environment and these other photographers, Silver focused on the relationship between the inhabitants of New York and the physical landscape of an evolving urban environment.
No Limits: Janet Biggs
October 8, 2011 - January 8, 2012The Tampa Museum of Art is pleased to present No Limits: Janet Biggs, the first survey exhibition of this New York-based video and performance artist. For almost fifteen years, Biggs has been an important figure in the world of video art. Her work has been featured in over 100 solo and group exhibitions around the world and is widely collected by institutions and individuals. Janet Biggs has explored the tense relationships between athleticism and human ambition, individualism and community, and free will and control. Her work has focused on sports and natural environments and has ranged from the claustrophobic pool with synchronized swimmers to the vast expanse of the High Arctic.
Biggs started her career working in glass, photography and painting. By the mid-1990s, though, she became intrigued by the opportunities that video and the moving image offered her conceptual approach to art. Like many artists of her generation, Biggs was excited by what video would allow her to do with subjects, narrative, and storytelling, and has created work that is both mesmerizing and deeply touching. She experimented with projection and single-channel monitor works and ventured into the area of room installations throughout the last decade.
The exhibition takes its impetus from the feeling found throughout Biggs’ work that there are no limits to which individuals will go to control their environments, and that no areas are off limits for physical and emotional exertion. Her most recent work in the High Arctic typifies the extent to which the artist herself will go in pursuit of boundary pushing. Further, she continually and forcefully encourages individuals to examine and challenge the restraints that cultural systems impose.
Informed by a feminist sensibility of questioning gender and sexuality stereotypes, Biggs has always maintained that the definition of gender is that of a performance, and throughout this exhibition, she returns to this topic repeatedly. As the work developed over the years, gender became a complicated and complicating trope for the artist. For instance, the exhibition begins and ends with a consideration of challenges to conventional masculinity.
No Limits: Janet Biggs is supported with funds provided by the Tampa Museum of Art Foundation, Members of the Tampa Museum of Art, and Pride and Passion 2010. Media support has been provided by St. Petersburg Times. Support for the publication of the exhibition catalogue has been provided by Philanthropic Young Tampa Bay.
Image:
Janet Biggs, Fade to White (video still), 2010.
Courtesy Conner Contemporary.
Copyright Janet Biggs.
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Syntax: Text and Symbols for a New Generation.
Selections from the Hadley Martin Fisher CollectionJuly 9 - September 25, 2011
The Museum is pleased to present Syntax, an exhibition that examines the current generation of artists' interest in text, symbolism, and means of information transference. Drawn from the Hadley Martin Fisher collection in Miami, this project is the first opportunity to experience the depth of this fascinating new collection of contemporary art.
The 20th century began with the inclusion of written text within the collages of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. As the century progressed, text remained an important presence within the art world. With the appearance of Pop Art, textual references reappeared in staggering fashion. Conceptual art, with all of its challenges to the nature of the art object, relied heavily on text as a vehicle to express its desire to rupture and overturn accepted forms of expression. By the 1990s and early 2000s, artists began to reposition text and symbolic matter into new formats and to increasingly expanding ends. In addition to the experiments within the art world, reassessments continued in the philosophical and linguistic discourse about what constitutes meaning within textual references.
In Syntax, the Museum has chosen an important theme that is central to the Hadley Martin Fisher (HMF) Collection: text-based work created by a new generation of conceptual artists. This exhibition highlights several key early works in the text-based genre within the HMF Collection (by artists such as John Baldessari, Mel Bochner and Joseph Kosuth) against a wide array of younger artists who revisit the importance of word, symbolism, communication and information transference. Together, these artists show that text-based art is a vital and vibrant presence. More than 30 artists are featured in this exhibition, including Fiona Banner, Natalie Djurberg, Tracey Emin, Olafur Eliasson, Robert Gober, Sean Landers, Christian Marclay, Seth Price and Jason Rhoades.
Syntax marks the first time that the HMF Collection has been shown in such depth and demonstrates the collector’s belief that in his new home, Florida, thought-provoking contemporary visual art plays a key role in defining the cultural conversation. Budding collector Hadley Martin Fisher, it has been said, “has art collecting in his genes.” Mr. Fisher’s passion for art and collecting can be attributed to his interaction with the collection of iconic modern masterworks that his grandmother, Emily Fisher Landau, assembled over the last four decades. Her longstanding contributions to the artistic and philanthropic worlds are evident in her grandson's efforts today.
Hadley Fisher’s commitment to the bridging of arts and education was further inspired by the life of his late brother, Andrew Fisher, a young art student destined for a promising artistic career. Launched in 2007, the Hadley Martin Fisher Collection is an ever-advancing compilation of contemporary and emerging artists that firmly supports Umberto Eco’s belief that “every cultural phenomenon can be studied as communication." The Collection seeks to understand the changing nature of text, symbolism and means of communication in art of our time.
Based in Miami, Hadley Martin Fisher is involved in real estate and development with his family’s business, Fisher Brothers Corporation. He serves on the board of the Fisher Alzheimer’s Research Foundation and the Film and Photography Acquisitions Committee of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Mr. Fisher has recently become engaged with the philanthropic community in Miami with his support of the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Lotus House Women’s Shelter. Fisher holds a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University. Along with a passion for science and art collecting, he pursues his love for the theatre by devoting much of his spare time to studying literature, poetry, and plays, as well as various forms and methods of acting.
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The Hillsborough River: From the Green Swamp to the Bay
Works by Karen GlaserJuly 2 - October 16, 2011
In 2010, the City of Tampa selected Karen Glaser as its Photographer Laureate. Glaser’s project was to pay tribute to the diversity and complexity of the Hillsborough River. Since the 1990s, Glaser has chronicled the ecosystems and in particular its freshwater springs, rivers, and swamps of Florida. According to the artist, “the State of Florida has a truly interesting history and a remarkable cultural and natural heritage. It is home to some of the most unique natural areas in the world, and the tie that binds all in this most diverse state is water.
For Glaser in the current works, “the paradoxical scenery of the Hillsborough River – as I traveled through time both culturally and naturally from the swamp through the city – was irresistibly compelling. I allowed the work to bend and flow, in whatever direction the experience took me all the while creating work that reflected the life and character of Tampa in a very special way.”
Glaser has been featured in exhibitions at the Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; and the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. In 2002, she received a commission from the Miami Dade Art in Public Places to create a permanent 226-foot mural for the Seaport. She has also been awarded Artist in Residencies at Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.
The City of Tampa launched the Photographer Laureate Program in 2003 as a means to capture in photographs Tampa and its citizens with an emphasis on what it means to be in Tampa at this particular time in history. Past recipients have included Barbara Revelle, Jeremy Chandler, Marion Belanger, Steven Gregory, Rebecca Sexton Larson, Suzanne Camp Crosby, and Beth Reynolds.
Degas: Form, Movement and the Antique
March 12 - June 19, 2011Degas: Form, Movement and the Antique brings together a selection of this French genius’s bronze sculptures with a selection of paintings and drawings to demonstrate the close relationship between his sculptures and two-dimensional work as he explored form and movement. Degas (1834-1917) himself spoke on more than one occasion of the connection between his dancers and “the movement and balance of rhythmic dance” found in the art of ancient Greece; often his bathers also demonstrate the influence of antique statuary with which he was familiar from the collections of the Louvre.
In Degas: Form, Movement and the Antique, a selection of Greek and Roman works from the Tampa Museum of Art’s outstanding collection of antiquities will complement the display of works by Degas. Degas is the first ever exhibition of works by Degas in the Tampa Bay region and is the second major exhibition of early modernism that the museum has presented in its new award-winning building. The exhibition is curated by the Tampa Museum of Art, organized and presented by International Arts, and will be accompanied by an essay by Ann Dumas to be published in the museum member publication Gasp!.
Degas is presented at the Tampa Museum of Art by
Additional support for the exhibition has been provided by
St. Petersburg Times
Dr. Mark and Mrs. Mary Frankle
Hillsborough County Arts Council
Pamela and Leslie Muma Family Foundation
Bronson and Stella Thayer
Anonymous
Tom and Dixie Arthur
Bryan Baldwin and Eric Hull
Monroe and Suzette Berkman
Carlton Fields Attorneys at Law
Caspers Company
Cornelia and Dick Corbett
Degas Devotees
Mary Lee Farrior
Celia and Jim Ferman
Donald and Joan Herman
Jessie & Andrew Krusen and Family
Dr. Kathleen Leber and Dr. Vince Perron
Pride & Passion 2010
Quarles & Brady LLP
Reeves Audi
Sara and Mort Richter, in honor of Lewis Lubitz's 95th birthday
Dan and Angie Rodriguez
Tready and Thayer Smith
Don and Ellen Stichter
TECO Energy
Image:
EDGAR DEGAS (French, 1834-1917)
Dancer Looking at the Sole of Her Right Foot, conceived around 1890-1900, bronze cast in 1919-1937 or later and from a mixed media sculpture. © 2010 Courtesy of International Arts®
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NCECA Biennial
January 28 - April 24, 2011The NCECA Biennial* is the premier exhibition of ceramic arts celebrating the deepest traditions and the most contemporary work of national and international artists. This juried exhibition will exhibit over 40 works that look beyond the conventional while embracing the roots of this powerful and multi-faceted art form. The exhibition will be held in conjunction with the annual NCECA conference “Tidal Forces: The Next Wave” which will take place in Tampa/St. Petersburg from March 30-April 2, 2011.
*(NCECA is the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts)
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Herb Snitzer: A Jazz Memoir
January 28 - June 26, 2011St. Petersburg resident and former photojournalist for Life, Look and Fortune magazines, Herb Snitzer has spent the better part of five decades capturing the world around us. On the occasion of the publication of a new collection of his images, Glorious Days and Nights, the Museum is pleased to present a selection of Snitzer’s world-famous jazz images. Shot mostly during the 1950s and 1960s, these images give a fascinating insight into the personalities and culture of jazz in New York City. His subjects have included Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis.
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American Modernism from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Mark S. Kauffman
January 8 - February 27, 2011Featuring approximately 60 works, American Modernism examines the developments in American art from the 1910s through the latter decades of the 20th century with special emphasis placed on the struggle between a lingering representational mode and an emerging modernist aesthetic. Artists featured in the exhibition include Stuart Davis, Charles Burchfield, John Marin, Reginald Marsh, Ben Shahn, and Charles Sheeler. This exhibition is organized by the Tampa Museum of Art.
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Otto Neumann: A Reluctant Modernist
January 8 - February 27, 2011German artist Otto Neumann (1895-1975) created a body of work that defies categorization. He exposed his psyche through his exploration of mythology; on the one hand he remains fascinated by the human body through his career while he moves late in his career into a fuller acceptance of the abstracted surface. His work leaps from his imagination and offers a highly personalized interjection into the story of modernism. Otto Neumann provides an intriguing counterpart exhibition to American Modernism and affords visitors an opportunity to consider modernism in different cultural contexts.
Robert Rauschenberg: Studies for Chinese Summerhall
November 6, 2010 - January 2, 2011One of contemporary American art's most prolific and influential figures, Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925-2008) moved between styles and mediums blurring the lines between painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and even performance and dance. Rauschenberg stated that he wanted to work in "the gap between art and life." This desire manifests itself in his selection and juxtaposition of everyday objects and images.
In 1982, Rauschenberg traveled to China and, immersed in the culture and tradition of the country, took hundreds of photographs reflecting his encounters. Upon his return to the United States, the artist collaborated with University of South Florida's Graphicstudio to produce the 100-foot-long collage titled Chinese Summerhall. At the onset of the project Rauschenberg selected twenty-eight of the images and produced C-print color photographs that comprise Study for Chinese Summerhall.
As a result of his experiences in China, Rauschenberg was inspired to create a network of artistic communication that would develop a dialogue in areas where there was minimal knowledge of Western traditions or perhaps even artistic activity within their own culture. In 1984, the Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange (ROCI) was established. It was an evolving exhibition of over 200 works by the artist, based on his visits and collaborations with artists throughout the world. The global, peace-seeking initative of art and information included paintings, sculptures, videotapes, prints, and photographs that reflected the artist's respect for the characteristics that emphasize the differences between the various cultures of the world.
At the formal announcement of the project at the United Nations in New York, Rauschenberg stated that "one-to-one contact through art contains potent peaceful powers and is the most non-elitist way to share exotic and common information..."
Studies for Chinese Summerhall
Chromogenic prints (c-prints); Presentation proofs
Tampa Museum of Art
Gift of Dr. & Mrs. James C. Ross
In memory of Judith Rozier Blanchard