Northwestern's Block Museum marks 40th anniversary by asking 'Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts'?
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, November 25, 2024


Northwestern's Block Museum marks 40th anniversary by asking 'Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts'?
Kwame Brathwaite, Untitled (Grandassa Models, Merton Simpson Gallery) ca. 1967, printed 2018 Inkjet print. Gift of the Allen-Niesen Family: Kim, Keith, Kelsey, and Kyle, 2019.13.2. Image courtesy of Philip Martin Gallery and The Kwame Brathwaite Archive.



EVANSTON, ILL.- How do artists, artworks and museums shape and challenge our understanding of the past? The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University celebrates its 40th anniversary and the full reopening of its galleries with the fall 2021 exhibition “Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts: Thinking about History with The Block’s Collection.”

The exhibition will be on view until Dec. 5 at The Block Museum, 40 Arts Circle Drive on the Evanston campus.

Highlighting more than 80 modern and contemporary artworks recently acquired by The Block Museum of Art, the exhibition considers its constantly changing understanding of the past through the lens of artistic practice. The museum-wide exhibition and accompanying publication with Northwestern University Press marks the culmination of a major multi-year initiative to acquire works of art that encourage critical thinking about the representation of history.

“We are thrilled to welcome our audiences back to The Block to join the conversation around these extraordinary artworks that are now part of the museum’s collection,” said Lisa Corrin, Block Museum Ellen Philips Katz Director. “In the past year, so many of us have been thinking deeply about questions of history, asking how we arrived at this moment, and how we might envision new futures.

“These new acquisitions are representative of the way that our curatorial team, under the leadership of Kathleen Bickford Berzock, associate director of curatorial affairs, have allowed such meaningful questions to inform and hone their collecting strategy. Our focus has evolved to ensure that our artworks represent many narratives, are deeply relevant to the lives our communities, and catalyze dialogue about our complex world,” Corrin said.




Covering the entirety of The Block’s upstairs and downstairs galleries, the exhibition features work by a wide-ranging selection of artists exploring the idea of history, such as Dawoud Bey, Shan Goshorn, the Guerrilla Girls, Louise Lawler, Kerry James Marshall, Catherine Opie, Walid Raad, Man Ray, Edward Steichen and Kara Walker. The exhibition borrows its title and an entry point from a work in The Block’s collection by conceptual artist Louise Lawler, “Who Says, Who Shows, Who Counts” (1990), which draws attention to barriers that exist within the art world. The artworks on view each raise similarly provocative questions about how art might help us reflect on, rewrite or reimagine history.

In addition to their display with the exhibition, all exhibition works can be explored within the museum’s collection database, a campus-wide tool for teaching and learning with art. The exhibition, publication and digital collection consider the works within four key themes Institutions Critiqued; Critical Portraits; Reframing the Past; and Place and Memory.

“One thing I hope the exhibition communicates is the ways in which The Block is seeking to expand our thinking about not only what we collect, but also how we collect, and why,” said exhibition co-curator Kate Hadley Toftness, senior advancement manager, grants and collection council. “Taking stock of this fact is exciting and rewarding, but also a challenge.”

Northwestern Voices

The exhibition also includes several works that came into the collection through student guidance and input. These contributions include “Undertone #17, #23, #51” 2017-18 by artist Myra Greene and “Quarantine Blues” (2021) by Leonard Suryajaya. Both student-led acquisitions for The Block’s collection, the works were the focus of undergraduate seminars critically investigating museum collecting practices.

This unique collaborative process extended throughout the creation of the exhibition publication, which includes voices from Northwestern students, faculty, staff and alumni in essays, research and wall labels. Within the publication, more than 50 short essays reflect the multidisciplinary perspectives of more than 20 different academic departments, including anthropology, African American studies, art history, art theory and practice, classics, communication studies, comparative literature, economics, education and social policy, engineering, English, gender and sexuality studies, journalism, history, materials science, performance studies, psychology, radio/television/film, Spanish and Portuguese, and sociology.

“For our anniversary we really wanted to represent our identity as a shared University resource and source of inspiration for teaching, learning and research,” said Essi Rönkkö, exhibition co-curator and associate curator of collections. “The project exemplifies the ways in which works of art can encourage critical thinking across fields of inquiry.”










Today's News

October 4, 2021

VFA...ABSTRACT ADDICTIONS... PAINT IT BLACK....

Pearl Tytell, examiner of dubious documents, dies at 104

Minneapolis Institute of Art acquires four Baroque Italian paintings commissioned by the Barberini Family

New exhibition of works on paper at Palmer Museum takes viewers on a journey across the globe

Saving a vibrant history, one frame at a time

Kehinde Wiley's "A Portrait of a Young Gentleman" revealed at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Statues reflecting on racial injustice go up in Union Square

Telling stories of Black life rescued him

Carnegie Hall counts down to its reopening

Christie's Post-War to Present sale achieves its highest total: $34,409,820

Messums Wiltshire presents a collection of large-scale sculptures by Dame Elisabeth Frink

Freeman's to offer important Qianlong jade seal

Richard Kirk, post-punk pioneer of industrial music, dies at 65

Solo exhibition of works by Anthony Akinbola opens at Carbon 12

Casino Luxembourg opens an exhibition of works by Karolina Markiewicz and Pascal Piron

Harpies, Hybrids, and Hidden Worlds: Bender Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Laine Bachman

Augmented Reality artworks by renowned contemporary artists appear at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Ultimate 007 collectable expected to fetch up to £25,000 at Ewbank's

Christie's announces highlights included in its Paris Avant-Garde sale

Over the Influence opens an exhibition of works by South Korean artist Hyangmok Baik

Exhibition explores the work of a generation of artists who helped shape New York into the art center it is today

Chrysler Museum of Art exhibition follows the career of architect Pier Luigi Nervi

Northwestern's Block Museum marks 40th anniversary by asking 'Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts'?

DRIFT debut new work in New York at The Shed

Gandy gallery presents a new installation by Marysia Lewandowska

Damiani publishes a spectacular sequel to Brad Wilson's bestselling book Wild Life

Two Important Factors To Consider When Selecting Your First Violin

Discuss in Detail About 4 Most Promising Touch Screen Technology for Outdoor Event in the UK

10 Most Expensive Bongs In The World

The Art Of Locksmith

Glass Railings In Museum Interior




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful