Current Exhibitions


Blue Curry, Untitled, 2010

Into the Mix
February 4th – April 14th 2012

Janine Antoni
Christopher Cozier
Blue Curry
Carlos Gámez de Francisco
Marlon Griffith
Sofia Maldonado
Wendy Nanan
Ebony G. Patterson
Sheena Rose
Heino Schmid
Text by Nicholas Laughlin

Interactive Design object by Marlon Darbeau and Christopher Cozier

Discussion moderated by Nicholas Laughlin at the University of Louisville, Ekstrom Library, Elaine Chao Auditorium, 4pm Saturday
February 4th with artists Blue Curry, Marlon Griffith and Sofia Maldonado.

Discussion at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft with Christopher Cozier, Ebony G. Patterson, and Courtney J. Martin, PhD Vanderbilt and Sheena Rose, Saturday April 14th 10 – 12 am

What matters today is to translate the cultural values of cultural groups and to connect them to the world network. This “reloading process” of modernism according to the twenty-first-century issues could be called altermodernism, a movement connected to the creolization of cultures and the fight for autonomy, but also the possibility of producing singularities in a more and more standardized world.

-Nicolas Bourriaud, French curator/critic

The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft is proud to present Into the Mix, a conversation about how materiality addresses the complexities of cultural stereotypes in an exhibition featuring 10 Caribbean artists.  Their artwork takes on new meanings in a context where cultural history is influenced by outside migrating populations, colonial governments, tourists and the popular culture machine. In many societies, craft and hand-worked items help establish a culture of self-worth in the minds of the local population. The creation of these objects is influenced by the economic opportunity presented through tourism, yet souvenirs represent the visitor’s interests and are taken out of context.

What is cultural authenticity and who decides what is truly a significant representation of a culture? It is up to contemporary artists and artisans to communicate their intentions and shape the framework in which their work is perceived. The Museum explores ideas from a variety of perspectives that describe the historical, conceptual, and aesthetic nature of the art works as singular vignettes not as sweeping generalizations.

Furthering the conversation of what is culturally authentic, this exhibition reveals how disparate artists from the Caribbean connect with each other in a virtual world that has no boundaries. Through E-Catalogues by Draconian Switch and Richard Rawlins the show will develop written texts with the artists, blog comments, and include pictures from reviews, interventions, happenings, and discussions that happen in Louisville and other regions of the world during the 10 weeks.

During the opening week from January 30th to February 4th, several artists in the exhibition will be in Louisville creating their works, interacting with students and museum visitors, doing artist talks, and making performances. In collaboration with this exhibition, Carlos Gámez de Francisco will be in the Steve Wilson Gallery as artist-in-residence, working on his newest series of paintings.

This exhibition was generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Brown-Forman, D.D. Williamson, Fund for the Arts, the Kentucky Arts Council, and other donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Thank you to Magasin 3, Stockholm, Coulson and Voges Collection, Bahamas, Alice Yard, Trinidad, University of Louisville Latin American and Latino Studies Program, and University of Kentucky for making this exhibition possible.

 

 

 

Scholastic Gold Key Awards Show

February 4th – March 3rd 2012
Opening Reception
Friday Trolley Hop
February 3rd 5 – 10pm

The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing outstanding visual art and writing created by teenagers to a national audience, has launched the 2012 Scholastic Art Awards and will be on exhibit at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, February 3rd – 25th, 2012. 179 student Gold Key award-winning works of art are on display in this gallery. The Awards offer early recognition for creative teenagers and art scholarship opportunities for graduating high school seniors. If a student receives a top Award (Gold Key) from the local Louisville Metropolitan Regional Art Awards, then he or she moves on to the national level.

Known nationally as the oldest art contest in the United States, the annual awards competition began locally in early January, as students, grades 7-12, in the Louisville Metropolitan region submitted works of art in a wide array of categories, including painting, sculpture, fashion, design, digital art and photography.  The entries, submitted to the Jefferson County Public Schools Arts and Humanities Specialist, were evaluated by a panel of local jurors comprised of artists, art educators and arts professionals. Entries were eligible from all public, private and parochial school in thirteen surrounding counties.

Distinguished artists and writers who received an Art & Writing Award when they were in high school include Andy Warhol, Robert Redford, Sue Miller, Richard Avedon, Philip Pearlstein, Zac Posen, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Otterness, Robert Indiana, Sylvia Plath, John Lithgow, and Joyce Maynard. Since Scholastic founded the program in 1923, more than 13 million of America’s most talented teens have participated in the Awards, and 2.5 million have been recognized through exhibition and publication and have shared in more than $25 million in cash awards and college scholarships.