Falling Back into Art! Exhibitions to Explore

After being buried under heaps of books for a few months, I’ve resurfaced!

George Segal, Three People on Four Benches, 1979, Metropolitan Museum of Art, photo by author

I’ve passed my comprehensive PhD exams and I’m ready to put away the PowerPoint presentations (for a little while) so I can get out and see some art.
Here’s a list of Northeast coast exhibitions I’d like to see this fall.

BOSTON
Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Anthropocene Extinction, ends 12/30
Realistically, I don’t think I’ll be able to travel to Boston because of lack of time and funds. However, I’d love to see this site-specific installation by street artist Swoon. She has combined her hallmark cut paper drawing technique with a large bamboo sculpture.

NEW YORK
Museum of Modern Art
New Photography 2011, ends 1/16/12
I’m particularly interested in two of the six artists featured in this show. Moyra Davey’s efforts to re-materialize and re-personalize conceptions of photography by circulating non-digital (film based) images in the mail sounds cool.  And Doug Rickard’s reinterpretations of Google Map images touch on culturally and politically resonant issues of privacy and surveillance.

Metropolitan Museum of Art
Romare Bearden: A Centennial Celebration, ends 1/8/11
Although I’m a Bearden fan, I haven’t seen much of his actual work.  This exhibition, which features The Block, a mural sized landscape collage, sounds like the perfect solution to this predicament.

The Noguchi Museum, Queens
Civic Action: A Vision for Long Island City, ends 4/4/12
I haven’t visited this museum yet. However, I’ve frequently checked out their website and other online materials. This community oriented exhibition, a tribute to Isamu Noguchi who worked with other artists on neighborhood revitalization projects, seems like a wonderful impetus to get me over to this museum. Four artists, Natalie Jeremijenko, Mary Miss, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and George Trakas, collaborated to re-envision how the area can better serve residents and businesses.

The Studio Museum of New York
The Bearden Project, 11/10/11 – 3/12/12
Romare Bearden was instrumental to founding The Studio Museum. Accordingly, the institution is honoring him and recognizing his 100th birthday (September 2nd). I look forward to checking out this in-depth and lively exhibition which will continually change over time. It should be interesting to compare the Met’s interpretative stance regarding Bearden’s subject, Harlem streets, with the approach taken by an institution located in that neighborhood.

PHILADELPHIA
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Isamu Noguchi, sculpture garden installation, ends summer 2012
This exhibition was scheduled to close earlier this year.  Fortunately PMA will continue to feature Noguchi’s work until next summer. Hmm, stars are starting to align. I can imagine having an awesome day in Philly checking out Noguchi’s work and finally going on one of those mural arts tours. Fingers crossed….

WASHINGTON DC
Smithsonian National Museum of African American Heritage and Culture, on exhibit at NMAAHC’s gallery in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights, ends 11/27
For some reason, I missed this exhibition when it was at the International Center of Photography in New York last year. Fortunately, it’s a traveling exhibition so there’s still time to see it. After the current venue it will go to Baltimore, Maryland and Andover, Massachusetts (see the webpage for details). I’m very eager to see this exhibition since it relates to my studies in visual culture and it’s curated by Professor Maurice Berger. He has written extensively on issues involving the interplay of race, visual culture, and museums. So this one is on my absolutely must see list!

What about your list? What have you seen or hope to see this autumn?

Related:

Google Street View and the Politics of Exploitation, Visual Culture Blog, 10/19/11
Navigating the Puzzle of Google Street View Authorship, Wired, 8/19/11
The Romare Bearden Commemorative Stamps Unveiling, Katherine Finerty, The Studio Museum Blog, 10/6/11
Romare Bearden Honored with US Stamp, Hrag Vartanian, Hyperallergic, 9/28/11