Surprises in store for viewers

by in Archives
“House on Fire: Chicken Suit” Kim Russo 2007, watercolor and graphite on paper, 13 x 11 in. ©

     (PNAN-NM) –  Opening Friday, November 19 at the New Mexico Museum of Art, “Case Studies is an occasion to show some of the gems of the collection, and to think about the linkages that bridge works from different moments in time, cultures, and mediums,” says Curator of Contemporary Art and Case Studies curator Laura Addison. “Much of the contemporary collection has been largely unseen. This exhibition will reveal some of those surprises.”

“Head, Heart, Hands” Erika Wanenmacher, circa 1992, painted wood, glass, silver, brass and phenolic resin, 12 x 6 1/2 in. ©
     The show presents particular lines of inquiry into the contemporary collection that consists of over 5,500 works dating from 1970 to the present, although some earlier pieces which would have set the stage for artists working in the subsequent decades are also included in this exhibition, including a 1967 ink drawing by Eva Hesse and a 1959 Robert Ryman painting.

      There are nearly forty artists in the show, from New Mexico and beyond, including Dieter Appelt, Erika Blumenfeld, Louise Bourgeois, Sarah Charlesworth, Constance DeJong, Tom Joyce, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, Bruce Nauman, Larry Poons, Kim Russo, Peter Sarkisian, Peter Voulkos, Erika Wanenmacher and Joel-Peter Witkin. The 60 plus artworks on display represent ceramics, sculpture, painting, drawing, prints, photography, and video. Acupuncture needles, butterflies, martini glasses, and charred books are among the other unconventional materials to be found in the show.

     On view through March 20, 2011, “Case Studies from the Bureau of Contemporary Art” is hosted by the Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico. Call 505.476.5072 for more information, or see www.nmartmuseum.org.