What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1153307
8 WHAT'S UP! AUGUST 11-17, 2019 FYI Crystal Bridges Museum And The Momentary 2020 Exhibition Schedule "Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal…" — Feb. 8-April 20 "State of the Art II" — Feb. 22-May 24 "Ansel Adams: In Our Time" — May 23- Sept. 7, 2020 "Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere" — July 4-Oct. 11, 2020 "Nick Cave: Until" — July 18, 2020- Jan. 3, 2021 "Craft" — Oct. 10, 2020-Feb. 1, 2021 Historical meets contemporary at Crystal Bridges, Momentary Photo courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Sculpture "Raise Up" will be part of the opening exhibition of the 2020 season, "Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal…" FEATURE JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette W hen curators at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville look at building a new temporary exhibition lineup, they look at the season holistically. With the intention of providing fresh and engaging perspectives on American art, the curatorial team endeavors to create a calendar that varies in contemporary versus historical material, internally versus externally generated projects, and solo artists versus group showings. In 2020, they had the added excitement of organizing in two spaces with the Momentary, scheduled to open in February. "It's a really nice opportunity for us to think about different ways that the contemporary programming will live across both buildings," offers Lauren Haynes, curator, contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and curator of visual arts for the Momentary. "It's also important for us to really think about how, although we will have contemporary visual arts and performing arts at the Momentary, that doesn't mean we're going to stop having contemporary projects here at Crystal Bridges." The new lineup comprises six exhibitions — four to be displayed at Crystal Bridges, one at the Momentary and one at both locations. "We were definitely thinking about that balance," Haynes explains. For example, "in the summer when we have the Ansel Adams exhibition here at Crystal Bridges, we'll have the Nick Cave project, 'Until,' that we co-commissioned with MASS MoCA, at the Momentary. Those are very different projects in a way, but exciting to think about together. "I think that's something that's going to be a trend for us as we continue thinking about the two spaces and how they'll go together," she continues. "Like, what is that balance? When do we want to have things that connect? When do we want to have things that may seem very disparate but have some connections? And when do we want to do things that go across both spaces? [It] really gives us the opportunity to expand and have some great conversations with our team internally, as well as make space for great projects that are organized by other institutions that feel like a good fit for us here." Before Ansel Adams or Nick Cave, the season opens Feb. 8 with a survey of award- winning conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas' career. The chance to present a mid-career survey of work by a living artist is a compelling opportunity, Haynes says, especially when the artist in question works across so many types of media, offering many points of entry and connection for the viewer. "Hank Willis Thomas' work lives in a space of multiplicity, and he often sees dichotomies — as well as binaries, double entendre and different perspectives — as an opportunity to create meaningful dialogue," shares Allison Glenn, Crystal Bridges associate curator. A perfect example, Glenn points out, is Thomas' 2014 sculpture "Raise Up," based on an apartheid-era photograph of 13 black miners by South African photographer Ernest Cole. The piece connects this historical moment to contemporary time, as well as the continents of Africa and North America. "In the wake of the murder of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014, Black Lives Matter organized a national ride and protest, where the 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' slogan was born," Glenn says.