Harn Museum reopens galleries with seven new exhibitions
August 30, 2006
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For the last three months, the original galleries of the Harn Museum of Art have been bare of art, filled instead with painters, wood refinishers and carpet installers. That all changes on Sept. 5 when the doors to the original galleries are reopened with seven new exhibitions celebrating a year of milestones for the 16-year-old museum.
Along with the reinstallation of the permanent collections of African art, Asian art, and modern art of Europe and the Americas, the Harn’s growing collection of photography will have its own gallery for the first time, celebrated with the exhibition “Contemporary Complexities: Photography Gifts from Martin Z. Margulies,” featuring 28 recent gifts to the Harn’s collection. Harn curators have seized the opportunity in the permanent galleries to showcase recent acquisitions never before seen and create interesting juxtapositions and groupings of objects that offer insights into even the most familiar works of art.
Three temporary exhibitions opening on Sept. 5 originated at the Harn Museum. “Resonance and Inspiration: New Works by Magdalene Odundo” will feature new works by one of the world’s most highly regarded ceramic artists. The exhibition includes 11 ceramic vessels and seven drawings, and will travel to other venues after it leaves the Harn on Dec. 31, 2006. Odundo is represented in major national and private collections worldwide and has long been recognized for her contemporary ceramic vessels that incorporate the materials, methods and iconography of ancient and historical ceramics from diverse cultural areas including Kenya, Nigeria, the American Southwest, as well as Mediterranean and Asian ceramic traditions. A catalogue accompanying the exhibition is available in the museum store.
An exhibition of 12 ceramic vessels selected by Curator of African Art Susan Cooksey from the Harn’s Asian, African and Ancient American collections and Mediterranean holdings will be shown in conjunction with “Resonance and Inspiration.” “Ceramic Reflections: Selected Ceramic Vessels from the Harn Museum Collection” will explore the connections between Odundo’s work and the various cultures that have influenced it.
Chief Curator and Curator of Asian Art Charles Mason organized “Spinach Green and Mutton-fat White: Chinese Jades of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)” and wrote the accompanying catalogue. The exhibition features dramatic Qing-dynasty jades of various colors and uses and includes displays focused on the raw materials of jade, the evaluation and dating of jade, and carvings in other hardstones similar to jade. The Qing dynasty was one of the great ages of Chinese jade carving. Spinach Green and Mutton-fat White concludes Jan. 28, 2007.
The RISK Cinema season, titled “Present Tense,” will focus on the extremes of political and cultural paranoia that have rocked the recent past. The work of three outstanding directors of contemporary video and film will be featured, including Paul Chan, Harun Farocki and Craig Baldwin, along with an evening of shorts. The season begins Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. with “An Evening of Paul Chan,” featuring four video works by the critically acclaimed artist and activist whose provocative work engages the conflicts and contradictions of art, politics and religion. Admission to RISK Cinema is $4 for adults and $3 for students.
The Harn Museum’s dynamic exhibition line-up is also reflected in fall programming. Two artists exhibited this fall will speak about their work. On Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. Magdalene Odundo will speak about her work in “Resonance and Inspiration: New Works by Magdalene Odundo” and photographer Charlie White will speak about his work in “Contemporary Complexities: Photography Gifts from Martin Z. Margulies” on Nov. 9. Also, gallery talks and lectures by Harn curators and visiting scholars will provide insight into the new exhibitions.
Admission to the Harn Museum of Art is free. For more information about fall programs and events call 352-392-9826 or visit www.harn.ufl.edu.