Looking Forward to 2020
Curator of Collections & Exhibitions, Jon Swanson, discusses the 2020 exhibition schedule
After a very successful and record breaking 2019 exhibition schedule, MMAM is pleased to offer a series of eight diverse and exciting exhibitions for 2020. The schedule is varied mix of historic and contemporary art, regional, national and international artists, in variety of mediums, all inspired by water.
David Tewes (American, 1913-1991), Water Carnival, Hutchinson, MN, 1950, Kodachrome slide.
Opening on January 10 is Shutterbug: The Mid-Century Photography of David Tewes (January 10-May 3, 2020). David Tewes (1913-1991) was a soldier in the U.S. Army during World War II with a penchant for photography. After Tewes' death in 1991, his family discovered a large collection of his Kodachrome photographic slides taken between 1944 and 1955. These never-before-seen images offer a unique view of post-war America, including river and lake scenes around his hometown of Hutchinson, MN and Minneapolis and St. Paul, and snapshots from his trips to the coasts of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico, and New York.
Gregory Euclide creates unique paintings, sculptures, dioramas, and mixed media installation pieces exploring landscapes, water, and the collision of nature and mankind in Observation Infiltration (January 24-May 24, 2020). He uses a variety of found objects, both natural and artificial, to explore humankind's impact on the natural world. Euclide invites us to explore worlds where he blends real and imagined images, objects, and materials to evoke feelings of nostalgia, question the reality of the present moment, and provide a look toward the future.
Memories of Titanic (March 3-Autumn 2020) explores art and objects associated with the loss and shipwreck of RMS Titanic. On view will be diary entries from a young survivor's riveting first-hand account of the disaster, including the loss of her father. Also included are paintings by American artist Colin Campbell Cooper from when he was aboard the rescue ship Carpathia, and a ship model, original telegrams, and more.
In Christy Lee Rogers: Baroque Water Worlds (May 8 to September 6, 2020), Hawaii-born Christy Lee Rogers creates and choreographs beautiful, complex, and colorful photographs of individuals and groups underwater. Her fluid compositions, costumes, dramatic lighting, and bold colors used in her large-scale digital images are reminiscent of 17th century Baroque paintings by European masters such as Caravaggio and Rubens. Her work is exhibited globally and she is the winner of the 2019 Sony World Photographer of the Year award.
Christy Lee Rogers (American, b. 1972), Rhapsody, 2018, digital photographic print.
Mark Herman: Landmarks (May 29-September 27, 2020) showcases digital images and fine art prints of Minnesota's favorite natural and man-made landmarks in his distinctive, colorful, and vintage-poster-inspired style. His prints feature beloved locations such as Lake Superior, the North Shore, the Mississippi River, many of Minnesota's favorite lakes, as well as iconic images of popular parks, buildings, and bridges.
Dive into the world's oceans with award-winning Mexican photographer Christian Vizl through his captivating black-and-white images in Christian Vizl: Silent Kingdom (September 11, 2020 to January 3, 2021). Vizl's mastery of shadow and light capture the ocean's creatures as they are rarely seen, at home in the ethereal world beneath the waves. Through three decades of working and photographing underwater, Vizl simultaneously portrays both the beauty and fragile nature of these animals to educate and raise awareness of the threats to the world's oceans and marine life.
Greg DeGrace (American, b. 1971), From This Point Home Is Just Over The Horizon, 2017, encaustic on panel.
Opening in October are encaustic (wax and pigment) paintings in Greg DeGrace: Driftless (October 2, 2020 to January 10, 2021). With varying degrees of abstraction, Minneapolis painter Greg DeGrace's paintings reference the Driftless region of Minnesota and Wisconsin, an area that escaped the flattening effects of glaciers during the last ice age. Working in encaustic wax and pigment to create textural paintings, DeGrace references maps, aerial photographs, linear and geometric patterns found in roadways and plots of land with the natural, free-flowing forms of area waterways. His paintings, filled with colors and patterns, create memories of where one has been or stories of where one may have always dreamed of going.
As always, MMAM's permanent collection galleries also features three centuries of great European and American art inspired by water.
We hope to see you in the galleries in 2020.
Sincerely,
Jon Swanson
Curator of Collections & Exhibitions