Two new exhibitions open in October 2023
By Bowdoin College Museum of Art
On October 12, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) will open two exhibitions that highlight the richness of the Museum’s collections of modern and contemporary art. Currents: Art Since 1875 brings together late-nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first works of art that respond to socially relevant issues and highlight points of art historical connection and disruption. Global in scope, the exhibition is organized into a series of thematic displays. In “Labor/Bodies,” visitors will learn how changing notions of work, rest, and portrayals of the human form intersect with race, gender, and class. In “Migration/Environment,” the selected artworks demonstrate how the dynamic movement of people, ideas, and goods around the world inspired artistic production and led to new forms experimentation while also contributing to ecological devastation, violent conflict, and structural inequities that persist even today. Finally, “Inspiration/Appropriation” examines the intricate social and intellectual networks through which artists exchanged ideas, influenced one another, and innovated anew, prompting visitors to consider the often-blurry distinction between inspiration, appreciation, and appropriation.
Currents extends the geographic, historical, and cultural boundaries explored in Re|Framing the Collection: New Considerations in European and American Art 1475–1875, providing space to continue conversations about race, gender, class, and power through the twentieth century and into the present. The exhibition will remain on view indefinitely in Boyd Gallery, combining longtime favorites from the Museum’s collection with recent acquisitions. Regular rotations of works on display will ensure that visitors will continuously encounter new ideas and questions. Some cases and sections of walls will be dedicated to “micro-exhibitions” featuring light-sensitive works such as prints, photographs, drawings, and textiles to be shown as part of a long-term installation. These micro-exhibitions may at times be co-curated by faculty and/or students, providing avenues for the BCMA to integrate more fully into the academic life of the campus and respond to shifting interests, ideas, and opportunities. Collectively, the exhibition redoubles the Museum’s commitment to promote inclusive narratives in its galleries by placing works of art from different artistic traditions, geographic regions, and cultural context in dialogue with one another.
Threads: Artists Weave their Worlds highlights the work of modern and contemporary artists who have engaged with the expansive and ancient practice of weaving in innovative and sometimes unexpected ways. The exhibition features quilts, collages, drawings, garments, sculpture, tapestry, basketry, and more, debuting several new acquisitions that have not yet been shown at the Museum. The artists represented explicitly situate their work within the long and complex history of weaving, raising questions about gender, labor, and the distinction between fine art and traditional craft. Some, such as Jeremy Frey, Jeffrey Gibson, Tamara Gonzales, Theresa Secord, and Hong Zhang use weaving, fashion, and fabric to address the intersections of race, identity, personhood, memory, and cross-cultural encounters. Others such as Christo, Anne Ryan, Jo Sandman, Judith Shea, and Sarah Zapata force us to confront the often-overlooked material connections between textiles and other well-established modes of artistic production such as painting, sculpture, and public art. Collectively, these works illustrate how artists use their diverse practices to weave powerful and intimate stories—about themselves, their identities and experiences, and the worlds that they inhabit.
Cassandra (Casey) Braun
Curator, Bowdoin College Museum of Art
image: untitled, ca. 1948–1954, paper and fabric collage by Anne Ryan, American, 1889–1954. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Bequest of Hilton and Esta Kramer.