Media
Book Club: The Family Fang
Thursday, April 26
6pm
Martha Stecher Reed Library
The Family Fang
By Kevin Wilson
From art theft to the scandalous lives of artists, the museum’s book club is never boring. Author Kevin Wilson’s debut novel, The Family Fang, is this spring’s book club pick. Get a crash course in performance art and discuss the book with museum book club members and staff.
The Museum’s Book Club is free but requires registration. Additional charges may apply for non-members for some events.
Please call 330.376.9186 x 230 to register.
For outré performance artists, Caleb and Camille Fang, everything in life is secondary to art, including their children. Annie and Buster (popularly known as Child A. and Child B.) are the unwilling stars of their parents’ chaotically subversive work. Art is truly a family affair for the Fangs. Years later, their lives in disarray, Annie and Buster reluctantly return home in search of sanctuary—only to be caught up in one last performance. The Family Fang sparkles with Kevin Wilson’s inventive dialogue and wonderfully rendered set-pieces that capture the surreal charm of the Fang’s most notable work. With this brilliant novel, the family Fang is destined to join the families Tenenbaum and Bluth as paragons of high dysfunction.
—Shane Hansanuwat
The book is available for purchase in the Museum Store and through Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Akron Art Museum to Auction Contemporary Masterpiece
Coinciding with the retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Christie’s is proud to offer an acclaimed masterpiece by Cindy Sherman consigned by the Akron Art Museum, Ohio. All proceeds from the sale will be directed to the museum’s acquisition fund to allow for future strategic purchases that will augment the core of the Akron Art Museum’s strong Contemporary collection.
Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #96 is recognized as an icon within her career to date. Another example of this image was sold at Christie’s in May 2011 for $3,890,500, which represents not only a world auction record for Sherman, but also a world record price for any photograph at the time.* The work from the Akron Art Museum is a vintage print in excellent condition and will have a pre-sale estimate of $2,800,000 – $3,800,000.
Dr. Mitchell Kahan, Akron Art Museum director and CEO, states: “The Akron Art Museum is extremely happy to partner with Christie’s on this sale. The result will be a new acquisitions endowment that generates significant growth for our collection. I am especially looking forward to continuing a commitment to Cindy Sherman by acquiring works made after the famous Centerfolds images.”
Akron Art Museum has for thirty years strategically used funds to acquire great new works for its collection, ranging from American masters Philip Guston, Frank Stella and Chuck Close in the early 1980s to more recent purchases of works by Kiki Smith and Yinka Shonibare.
Dr. Kahan notes that the museum will retain in its collection another 1981 masterpiece by Cindy Sherman from the Centerfolds series, Untitled #93 (Black Sheets). Akron Art Museum has a longstanding commitment to Sherman’s work, having organized her first major exhibition in 1984, which traveled to the Walker Art Center and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art, states: “Christie’s is very proud to have been selected by the Akron Art Museum to sell this masterpiece. The museum acquired this work in 1981, the year of its creation, showcasing the forward thinking approach of the institution. Our track record with important works by Cindy Sherman is unparalleled. We are confident that Christie’s leadership in the contemporary market will allow us to achieve a record price for Akron’s work, allowing the museum to continue to collect at the highest level.”
Untitled #96 is an outstanding example from her highly acclaimed Centerfolds series, which Sherman made as a project for Artforum magazine in 1981. Untitled #96 is recognized as the most important work from the series. This image has become the icon of the major retrospective currently at the Museum of Modern Art and is reproduced in all the media related to this show.
Although Sherman designed the Centerfolds images to resemble quick snapshots of a young woman’s life, she heavily choreographed, acted and staged them herself. As both the subject and executor of these images, she takes the utmost care to develop the various guises for each photograph she produces. She will dress the set, create the costumes, design the lighting and finally execute the photograph entirely by herself without the use of assistants. By controlling every aspect of the image’s production, she dispels the long held belief that photography is the medium of “truth.”
*Christie’s leader in selling photographs
May 2011, Christie’s set a world record for any photograph ever sold at auction with Sherman’s Untitled, an example from her 1981 Centerfold series, comparable to Untitled #96 which achieved $3,890,500 in the Post- War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale. Christie’s has broken this world record only 6 months later with Andreas Gursky’s Rhein II for $4,338,500.
Read More90th Anniversary
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5GBnqUiFMA]
By Antoinette George, Communications Intern
On February 1, 1922, the Akron Art Museum opened its doors as the Akron Art Institute in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the city’s public library. In the past 90 years, the museum has survived and grown despite significant hardships including the Great Depression a disastrous fire, World War II and multiple moves. Today, the Akron Art Museum occupies two iconic buildings and boasts a world-renowned collection of over 5,000 objects. The dream of the Institute’s founding committee to become a collecting institution holding work of national significance and offering art exhibitions of historical and modern international art has been realized.
The museum celebrated this momentous anniversary with a Community Open House on February 5, 2012. Nearly 2300 visitors enjoyed free admission to the collection and exhibition galleries and a mesmerizing performance by Ohio abstract performance artist Al Bright, who was accompanied by the Jesse Dandy Band. Visitors also enjoyed cupcakes and cakes with images of some of the museum’s most popular artwork.
Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic recognized February as Akron Art Museum Month in honor of the museum’s many achievements through the years. In his proclamation he encouraged all to continue to visit this important institution that has been and continues to be essential to our region’s cultural heritage.
Al Bright presented the community with an unforgettable experience of abstract performance art. For over four decades, Bright has explored the realm of abstract expressionism by creating art to live music in front of public audiences. This interesting form of art allows Bright to include the audience in the piece’s creation. He reminded the audience that their energy and response were important stimulants to his creative process. In addition to the audience’s participation, the different selections of jazz played by the Jesse Dandy Band also provided Bright with artistic inspiration.
This celebration rewarded the community with an elaborate setting of appreciation and reminded visitors of the important role they play in helping the Akron Art Museum continue its mission of Enriching Lives through Modern Art.
More anniversary activities are being planned through the year to inspire and engage the community.
Read MoreThe Sixth Floor Trio at the Akron Art Museum
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLkMKcu0dvI&list=UUExlvD8C0lQ9XPyhe4vdL2A&index=6&feature=plpp_video]By Antoinette George, Communications Intern
Come see The Sixth Floor Trio perform live at the Akron Art Museum Friday, March 16 at 6:30 pm- 8:30 pm as part of Tuesday Musical Association and the museum’s popular FUZE! concert series.
The Sixth Floor Trio is a chamber group dedicated to the creation and performance of music that furthers a dialogue between different musical communities and other artistic disciplines. Their vision places musical traditions from around the world on one continuum as part of the same great musical language.
The Sixth Floor Trio was selected to receive a generous grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to be the resident partner of the Random Acts of Culture program across the United States during 2011-2012.
Random Acts of Culture series brings classical artists out of the performance halls and into the streets and our everyday lives. Think Mozart at the Food Court.
To purchase tickets visit TicketLeap.
During FUZE!, concert goers and museum members may also visit the exhibition galleries to view Stranger in Paradise: The Works of Reverend Howard Finster, Ray Turner: Population and String of Hearts: Photographs by Bea Nettles from 6 – 9 pm. For detailed information on this and other museum events, visit the calendar of events at www.AkronArtMuseum.org/calendar.
Read MoreLandscapes Panel Discussion on Feb 2
Three Northeast Ohio Artists Discuss Landscape Art
Thursday, February 2
6:30 pm
The Akron Art Museum will host a panel discussion featuring three local artists currently on view at the museum on February 2 at 6:30 pm.
Bruce Checefsky, Michelle Droll and Barry Underwood will discuss how light, environmental issues and the tradition of landscape painting apply to their work in a panel discussion moderated by Interim Chief Curator Ellen Rudolph.
Regional artist Michelle Droll, creator of Landslide: Between a Rock and a Place, builds environmentally friendly landscapes out of recycled materials. She uses scraps from her studio, Styrofoam and other recycled man-made material to create these scenes. Intrigued by the “building” of landscape with junk, she has created a vibrant sculpture that references present-day environmental concerns.
Cleveland photographers Bruce Checefsky and Barry Underwood use atmospheric and applied light to capture ephemeral moments in nature. All of these artists have illustrated nature and landscapes in different ways but all have unified viewers under one topic.
How do contemporary artists work in the tradition of landscape painters on view in Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism? How have contemporary concerns such as environmentalism and technology altered the tradition? How does the local terrain inspire Northeast Ohio artists? Join us for the answers to these questions and more at this inspiring look at the art of contemporary landscape.
Beginning in the 19thcentury, artists left their studios and ventured out into the wild to document the great outdoors. From creating art depicting the sea to the sky, artists have been trying to replicate the wonders that surround us. Nature and landscapes have always been captivating elements because we cannot completely describe their magnificence. However, artists can open our minds to different interpretations of landscapes. Though concerns and views about landscapes may have changed since the impressionist era, the land remains a profound source of inspiration for artists.
Museum OPEN on Monday, January 16, 2012
Are you off work or school Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and looking for something entertaining to do? The Akron Art Museum will OPEN TO THE PUBLIC on Monday, January 16.
With the snow blanketing your gardens, escape the cold and stroll through the lush, colorful landscapes on view in the Akron Art Museum galleries. Don’t miss Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism, which includes influential works by impressionist precursors Courbet, Daubigny and Boudin as well as exquisite canvases by Monet, Caillebotte, Pissarro and Americans John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam and others. This may be the first exhibition to present the well-known French impressionists with both their American colleagues and the earlier artists who set the example of taking canvases outdoors and working en plein air. Standard museum hours and gallery admission apply.
Read MoreBook Club: The Private Lives of the Impressionists
Thursday, January 26
6 pm
The Private Lives of the Impressionists
By Sue Roe
From Art theft to the scandalous lives of artists, the museum’s book club is never boring. January’s book club selection will transport readers to the studios, salons and rowdy riverside bars of Paris as readers discuss The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe. Filled with maps and illustrations, Roe’s book is a lively biographical take on the key artists of the impressionist movement. Book club will also include a guided tour of Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism.
The Museum’s Book Club is free but requires registration. Additional charges may apply for non-members for some events.
Please call 330.376.9186 x 230 to register.
Review of The Private Lives of the Impressionists in Publishers Weekly:
From Monet and Pissarro’s first meeting in Paris in 1860 to art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel’s influential 1886 Impressionist exhibition in New York City, the group known as the Impressionists—Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Cézanne, Renoir, Degas, Sisley, Morisot and Cassatt—struggled to build their reputations, support themselves financially and create meaningful personal lives. In this meticulously researched and vividly written book, British writer Roe (Gwen John) argues that their drive for success was the strongest unifying factor among this diverse group of artists, including the antisocial, celibate Degas, the socialist Pissarro and the chronically depressed Sisley, who resented the Impressionists’ meager public appreciation until the very end of his life. Roe’s nuanced portraits of these artists include personal details both small—the American Cassatt’s booming voice and “atrocious” French accent—and significant—Manet’s illegitimate son and his upper-middle-class family’s elaborate efforts to conceal the child’s existence. The result is a comprehensive and revealing group portrait, superbly contextualized within the period’s volatile political, socioeconomic and artistic shifts. Roe’s book will be of great interest to both art and social historians as well as to the general reader.
The book is available for purchase in the Museum Store and through Amazon and Barnes &Noble.
Read MoreHoliday Hours 2011
Akron Art Museum Offers Extended Holiday Hours
Open Monday, December 26 & Tuesday, December 27
Although normally closed on Monday and Tuesday, the Akron Art Museum is offering extended holiday hours due to the popularity of Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism and the two complementary exhibitions Michelle Droll: Landslide/ Between a Rock and a Place and SuperNatural: Landscapes by Bruce Checefsky and Barry Underwood. The museum will be open to the public Monday, December 26 and Tuesday, December 27 from 11 am – 5 pm.
Below are the museum’s hours of operation for the 2011 holiday season:
Saturday, December 24 (Christmas Eve): Closed
Sunday, December 25 (Christmas Day): Closed
Monday, December 26: 11 am – 5 pm
Tuesday, December 27: 11 am – 5 pm
Wednesday, December 28: 11 am – 5 pm
Thursday, December 29: 11 am – 9 pm
Friday, December 30: 11 am – 5 pm
Saturday, December 31: 11 am – 5 pm
Sunday, January 1 (New Year’s Day): Closed
Because the first Sunday of January is New Year’s Day, Sunday Sampler will not occur in January. It will resume February 5, 2011. For more information visit www.AkronArtMuseum.org.
Museum Information
Address: One South High, Akron, OH 44308
Tel: 330.376.9185
Fax: 330.376.1180
Website: www.AkronArtMuseum.org
Gallery and Store Hours: Wednesday – Sunday: 11 am – 5 pm, Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm, Closed Monday and Tuesday as well as major holidays
Café Hours: Wednesday – Sunday: 11 am – 3 pm
Library Hours: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 11 am – 4 pm
Admission: Adult general admission is $7, Student and Senior (65+) general admission is $5, Children (12 and under) are FREE, members are FREE. On the first Sunday of every month, individual admissions to the collection are FREE. Special exhibitions may require paid admission. No tours available on these days.
Read MoreBehind the Scenes: Photography
By Keith Freund, Collections Information Coordinator
Most of the photography we do to document our collection at the Akron Art Museum is accomplished in a studio setting with the highest-quality equipment. We hire a photographer and set up a professional studio in our storage areas and galleries to capture our prints, paintings, and sculptures looking their best so that we can share them online, or use them for print material. But we’ve also found it helpful to document the objects as they move, are shown in exhibitions, or are conserved. These photos have not only proven helpful for our preparators, curatorial staff and scholars, but we’ve also recently found that the public enjoys seeing their favorite pieces in a different context (Alexander Lieberman’s Contact III for example).
Installation of ‘Seer (Alice I)’ by Kiki Smith at the Akron Art MuseumThe Akron Art Museum recently acquired Seer (Alice I), a fantastic new sculpture by Kiki Smith, and completely redesigned one of our galleries to showcase this work. We documented the installation of the piece, especially since it is quite large and heavy and the odd proportions required special consideration. This way, our preparators can reference these photos for future moves and our Collections Manager can consider them for preservation issues.
More photos and information about Kiki Smith’s sculpture is available on our Knight Foundation-funded Online Collection at https://akronartmuseum.wpengine.com/collection
Read MoreCongrats to our Share Your Landscape Winner
Congratulations to Barbara Hacha, who’s photograph First Light won the Akron Art Museum’s Share Your Landscape contest. Thank you to all who submitted your favorite landscapes.
Here’s what Barbara had to say about First Light, “…is a photograph I took at dawn from the basket of a hot air balloon as we were ascending near the Sangre Crista mountains near Albuquerque, NM. It was absolutely quiet, except for the intermittent sound of the burner firing and the yips of coyotes below.”
Read More