Opening Exhibitions and Installations
NEW AT UMMA: OSHIMA TSUMUGI KIMONO
APRIL 20–JUNE 23, 2019
THE CONNECTOR
Fashioned in the Amami islands of Japan, Oshima Tsumugi silk has long been admired for its understated beauty, incredible softness, and comfortable year-round lightness. The rich fabric is created through a remarkable and laborious process: from pattern design and cotton-thread binding, to over 100 rounds of plant and mud dyeing and weaving. This series of steps may take up to one year. Despite the high production values and complexities, Oshima Tsumugi kimono can be worn only for non-ceremonial occasions, since woven fabric is considered to be a less elevated technique than paint-dyed fabric. This special installation introduces UMMA audiences to one of the ten exceptional Oshima Tsumugi kimono recently donated to the Museum by Kazuko Miyake. Thanks to Mrs. Miyake and her older sister, Shizuko Iwata, who previously gifted her kimono and other formal garment collection, UMMA holds more than 300 traditional Japanese ensembles.
This kimono was recently gifted to UMMA by Ms. Kazuko Miyake.
THE WORLD TO COME: ART IN THE AGE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE
APRIL 27–JULY 28, 2019
A. ALFRED TAUBMAN GALLERY I
The World to Come: Art in the Age of the Anthropocene awakens us to the physical and social effects of the Anthropocene, a much-debated term used to define a new geological epoch shaped by human activity. Structured around ecological issues, the exhibition presents photography, video, and sculpture that address subjects and themes related to raw materials, disasters, consumption, loss, and justice. More than thirty-five international artists, including Sammy Baloji, Liu Bolin, Dana Levy, Mary Mattingly, Pedro Neves Marques, Gabriel Orozco, Trevor Paglen, and Thomas Struth, respond to dire global and local circumstances with resistance and imagination—sustaining an openness, wonder, and curiosity about the world to come.
The World to Come: Art in the Age of the Anthropocene is organized by the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida and curated by Kerry Oliver-Smith, Harn Museum of Art Curator of Contemporary Art. Support for the exhibition is provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, UF Office of the Provost, National Endowment for the Arts, C. Frederick and Aase B. Thompson Foundation, Ken and Laura Berns, Daniel and Kathleen Hayman, Ken and Linda McGurn, Susan Milbrath, an anonymous foundation, UF Center for Humanities and the Public Sphere, UF Office of Research and Robert and Carolyn Thoburn, with additional support from a group of environmentally-minded supporters, the Robert C. and Nancy Magoon Contemporary Exhibition and Publication Endowment, Harn Program Endowment, and the Harn Annual Fund.
Lead support for the local presentation of this exhibition is provided by Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Michigan Medicine, Tom Porter in honor of the Michigan Climate Action Network, Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment, and the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.
Continuing Exhibitions
ART IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET, 1989 TO TODAY
THROUGH APRIL 7, 2019
A. ALFRED TAUBMAN GALLERY I | THE CONNECTOR
The internet has changed every aspect of contemporary life—from how we interact with each other to how we work and play. Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today examines the radical impact of internet culture on visual art since the invention of the web in 1989. This exhibition presents more than forty works across a variety of media—painting, performance, photography, sculpture, video, and web-based projects. It features work by some of the most important artists working today, including Judith Barry, Juliana Huxtable, Pierre Huyghe, Josh Kline, Laura Owens, Trevor Paglen, Seth Price, Cindy Sherman, Frances Stark, and Martine Syms.
Organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the exhibition at UMMA will be accompanied by a wide range of U-M partnerships and public programming. Please visit our website for a full calendar of events.
Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston and curated by Eva Respini, Barbara Lee Chief Curator, with Jeffrey De Blois, Assistant Curator.
Major support is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. UMMA gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their generous support: Lead Exhibition Sponsors: Candy and Michael Barasch, University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Ross School of Business, Michigan Medicine, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Individual and Family Foundation Donors: William Susman and Emily Glasser; The Applebaum Family Compass Fund: Pamela Applebaum and Gaal Karp, Lisa Applebaum; P.J. and Julie Solit; Vicky and Ned Hurley; Ann and Mel Schaffer; Mark and Cecilia Vonderheide; and Jay Ptashek and Karen Elizaga. University of Michigan Funding Partners: School of Information; College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; Michigan Engineering; Institute for Research on Women and Gender; Institute for the Humanities; Department of History of Art; Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning; Department of American Culture; School of Education; Department of Film, Television, and Media; Digital Studies Program; and Department of Communication Studies
WANG QINGSONG/DETROIT/BEIJING
THROUGH MAY 26, 2019
IRVING STENN, JR. FAMILY GALLERY
In The Bloodstained Shirt (2018), Chinese artist Wang Qingsong restages in Highland Park, Michigan, an iconic 1959 drawing by Wang Shikuo of peasants rising up against a cruel landlord and triumphantly reclaiming their right to the land. Wang’s projects are usually located in China, but while visiting southeast Michigan he was struck by the similarities between the effects of inequitable real estate development on local communities in Detroit, Highland Park, and his native Beijing. His large-scale photograph, set in an abandoned factory building in Highland Park and featuring more than seventy volunteers, collapses two moments in history to present a vivid reminder of the human consequences of the ruthless pursuit of profit and the power of collective action. The exhibition includes works created in collaboration with area residents that give voice to their concerns and their hopes for transformation and renewal.
Lead support for Wang Qingsong/Detroit/Beijing is provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Confucius Institute at the University of Michigan, the University of Michigan Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, and the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment.
COSMOGONIC TATTOOS
THROUGH SPRING 2019
THE COMMONS
In celebration of the University of Michigan’s Bicentennial in 2017, artist and distinguished U–M art professor Jim Cogswell was invited to create a series of public window installations in response to the holdings of the University of Michigan Museum of Art and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. For this visionary project, the artist adhered a procession of vivid images to the glass walls of the museums in a rhythmically evocative narrative, based on reassembled fragments from a diverse range of artworks in both museums’ permanent collections. The juxtaposed images address our shared histories and experiences while connecting the viewer to the origins and meaning of objects and their power to shape knowledge, memory, and identity. By leveraging the buildings’ unique architecture, the artist expands our understanding of a museum as a cultural repository and highlights the significant role of these institutions in the life of the campus community.
Lead support for Cosmogonic Tattoos is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost. Additional support for the artist’s project is provided by the University of Michigan Bicentennial Office and the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design.
THE SIX SENSES OF BUDDHISM
THROUGH JUNE 30, 2019
THE JAN AND DAVID BRANDON FAMILY BRIDGE
Art museums generally give primacy to the sense of sight. Religious and ritual objects, on the other hand, stimulate an array of multisensory experiences. Focusing on works from UMMA’s collection associated with different types of Japanese Buddhism, we engage all of the six senses in this exhibition. These six are integral to Buddhist devotion: sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and mind (or the activity of thinking, including what is perceived via the other senses). The “Six Senses” gallery experience extends beyond vision to include: the sound of chanting and ritual implements; the fragrance of incense; the feel of bronze, ceramic, and silk; and the creation of mental images. Our goal for visitors, is to gain a deeper understanding of the nature and histories of objects used in Buddhist practice.
Lead support for The Six Senses of Buddhism is provided by the Japan Business Society of Detroit Foundation and the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies.
THE POWER FAMILY PROGRAM FOR INUIT ART: TILLIRNANNGITTUQ
MARCH 16–OCTOBER 6, 2019
SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS FFW 2ND FLOOR
Two fascinating stories converge in one very special exhibition: One tracks the development and subsequent worldwide acclaim of contemporary Inuit art from the Canadian Arctic. The other traces the Power family’s seminal role in supporting Inuit art and introducing it to a U.S. audience. Seventy years ago, neither the Inuit artists nor the Power family could have foreseen the tremendous popularity that this work would come to enjoy. Taking its title from the Inuktitut word for “unexpected,” this stirring exhibition showcases 58 works from the collection of Philip and Kathy Power, most from the very early contemporary period of the 1950s and 60s. Included are exquisite sculptures of ivory, bone, and stone, as well as stonecut and stencil prints, some from the first annual Inuit print collection in 1959. Among the renowned Inuit artists featured in this historic survey are Kanaginak Pootoogook, Kenojuak Ashevak, Lucy Qinnuayuak, Niviaksiak, Osuitok Ipeelee and Johnny Inukpuk.
The exhibition also serves as a promising launch pad for future groundbreaking research, exhibitions, and programming related to Inuit art and culture at the University of Michigan, thanks to the generosity of the Power family.
This exhibition inaugurates the Power Family Program for Inuit Art , established in 2018 through the generosity of Philip and Kathy Power.
ABSTRACTION, COLOR, AND POLITICS IN THE EARLY 1970s
THROUGH FALL 2019
A. ALFRED TAUBMAN GALLERY II
In the early 1970s, that question was hotly debated as artists, critics, and the public grappled with the relationship between art, politics, race, and feminism. Many of those debates centered on bringing to light the roles that gender and race played in how “great modern art” was defined and assessed, and on employing art to advance civil rights. Within this discourse, abstraction had an especially fraught role. To many, the decision by women artists and artists of color to make abstract art seemed to represent a retreat from politics and protest: an abnegation of a commitment to civil rights and feminism. Abstraction, Color, and Politics in the Early 1970s presents large-scale work by four leading American artists—Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Al Loving, and Louise Nevelson—who chose abstraction as a means of expression within the intense political climate of the early 1970s.
UMMA gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their generous support of Abstraction, Color, and Politics in the Early 1970s Lead Exhibition Sponsors: University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Michigan Medicine, and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Exhibition Endowment Donors: Richard and Rosann Noel Endowment Fund, Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment, and Robert and Janet Miller Fund. University of Michigan Funding Partners: Institute for Research on Women and Gender, School of Social Work, Department of Political Science, and Department of Women’s Studies
Guided Exhibitions and Gallery Tours
SHORT STUDENT TOURS
FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 3–3:15 p.m . & 3:30–3:45 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 3–3:15 p.m. & 3:30–3:45 p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 3–3:15 p.m.
MEET AT THE UMMA STORE
Student Docents will enliven your afternoon and kick off the weekend with a brisk but intense encounter with a few key pieces of art and an engaging theme connecting their selections. Love and death, politics and humor, history, mythology, materiality, fashion, food, or other entry points will draw you in for a sweet peek at the UMMA collection. Each tour will last 10-15 minutes. Meet at the UMMA Store.
Student programming at UMMA is generously supported by the University of Michigan Credit Union Arts Adventures Program, UMMA’s Lead Sponsor for Student and Family Engagement.
PUBLIC TOUR: WANG QINGSONG/DETROIT/BEIJING WITH FANG ZHANG
FRIDAY, APRIL 5
4–5 p.m.
IRVING STENN, JR. FAMILY GALLERY
Fang Zhang, Hughes Fellow at the U-M Liberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies and wife of the artist Wang Qingsong, will lead a public tour of Wang Qingsong/Detroit/Beijing to kick off the symposium Chinese Contemporary Art: Exhibition, Collection, and Criticism.
The symposium will take place at UMMA on Saturday, April 6, beginning at 9 a.m., and focus on the contributions of museums, exhibitions, collections and criticism to expand our understanding contemporary Chinese art practice.
Organized by Fang Zhang in collaboration with the U-M Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies and co-sponsored by UMMA.
Lead support for Wang Qingsong/Detroit/Beijing is provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Confucius Institute at the University of Michigan, the University of Michigan Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, and the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment.
ART IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET, 1989 TO TODAY
SUNDAY, APRIL 7
2–3 p.m.
MEET AT UMMA STORE
The internet has changed every aspect of contemporary life—from how we interact with each other to how we work and play. Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today , examines the radical impact of internet culture on visual art since the invention of the web in 1989. Join UMMA docents as they explore the more than forty works across a variety of media—painting, performance, photography, sculpture, video, and web-based projects—in this exciting exhibition.
Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston and curated by Eva Respini, Barbara Lee Chief Curator, with Jeffrey De Blois, Assistant Curator.
Major support is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. UMMA gratefully acknowledges its lead exhibition sponsors: Candy and Michael Barasch, University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Ross School of Business, Michigan Medicine, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
For program information and a complete list of sponsors: umma.umich.edu/aiai .
THE POWER FAMILY PROGRAM FOR INUIT ART: TILLIRNANNGITTUQ
SUNDAY, APRIL 14
2–3 p.m.
MEET AT UMMA STORE
