PALM DESERT, CALIF.- Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert, The Galen and the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden brings bold art, fashion, and design to the public with the new exhibition Baroque to Bling! High Art and Low from the Collection of Donna MacMillan. This playful exhibition offers an intimate peek into the exuberant collection of one of the region’s most prominent collectors. Drawn from museum gifts and loans, the exhibition conveys MacMillan’s distinctively ebullient collecting sensibility through cutting-edge art, fantastic fashion design, and sculptural jewelry -- all linked by their highly decorative and meticulously-crafted aesthetics.

If the baroque suggests excess, bling is that final, often glittery, enhancement that brings a sense of awe to the viewer. MacMillan’s approach to collecting emphasizes a keen awareness of the joyful play between structure and surface, form and finish, glitter and polish, and ultimately, resonance and wonder. The exhibition includes objects that both engage the mind and delight the viewer while highlighting the rich decorative practices that artists undertake today.

From the kaleidoscopic photo collage by Vik Muniz, to the gilded explosiveness of Takuru Kuwata’s ceramics and bold jewelry designs that meld unusual materials into sculptural forms, the works in this exhibition introduce audiences to a collection full of aesthetic drama. Many offer contemporary interpretations of the baroque, a term that brings to mind lavishly ornamental design, elaborate aesthetics, and the theatrical, such as the stunning, large-scale photograph by Carlos Betancourt. Other artists in the exhibition blend the histories of European decorative arts with vivid colors (Ryan McGinness) or Swarovski-studded embellishment (Tim Horn) in their creative practice.

Also showcased in the exhibition is chromed dishware by Matt Eskuche, polished fashion armor by Giuseppe Zanotti, and intricately beaded necklaces and earrings from Europe and Africa. Additional works by Salvador Dalí, Ernesto Neto, Gavin Turk, Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, Bob van Breda, Betsabeé Romero, and Yayoi Kusama fill The Galen’s jewel-box galleries alongside treasures from MacMillan’s diverse and globally-sourced fashion design collection.

This exhibition is organized by Palm Springs Art Museum. Exhibition Season Sponsors are Dorothy Meyerman, and Marion and Bob Rosenthal.