The red “JSMA @ 80” symbol is your guide to new artwork at the Schnitzer museum.
Artwork acquired by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in the past five years will be on display throughout the museum’s galleries during its 80th anniversary celebration. On view beginning June 1, these new acquisitions will be identified with a red “JSMA @ 80” symbol.
The celebration of the museum’s 80th birthday begins with a free, public reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight, Friday, May 31. A members-only reception runs from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“From our Schnitzer Gallery to our Japanese galleries, we’ve installed a range of work that points to our expanded collections strategies,” said Executive Director Jill Hartz. “Among these strategies are adding works that enable us to explore the history of art and a special focus on art of the Americas that reflects our community’s growing Hispanic demographic.”
Included in the Schnitzer Gallery is “Book 2,” a commissioned multi-media piece by video artist Peter Sarkisian; “Leaving the Lecture: The Faculty Wives,” an oil painting by Anne Kutka McCosh; “Mesopotamian Bouquet,” a wood and paper sculpture by Rex Silvernail; “Zig Zag with Heat Source,” a watercolor and ink work by Charles Stokes; “Abaco,” an oil on canvas diptych by Aimée Garcia; and “Sin Titulo (Untitled),” a textile work by Ibrahim Miranda.
The JSMA’s photography collection continues to grow and photographs by Sam Abell, David Maawad, Patricia Noyes, Milton Rogovin, Genaro Sántiz Gómez, George Tice, Arthur Tress, and Andy Warhol are featured.
The Preble/Murphy Galleries of Japanese Art showcase new acquisitions from the Jack and Susy Wadsworth Collection, a recent gift of more than 150 contemporary Japanese prints. Ten Wadsworth prints are on view on the museum’s large Japanese gallery, including works by Amano Kazumi, Fukuzawa Hideki, Ikeda Masuo, Kurosaki Akira, Kusama Yayoi, Noda Tetsuya, Okamoto Hiroko, Shima Kuniichi and Sonoyama Harumi.
In the adjoining Japanese gallery, “Ainu Pattern,” a woodblock print by Sekino Jun’ichirô, purchased in honor of the late Yoko Matsuoka McClain after her death in 2011, is juxtaposed with a sampling of Sekino prints kindly donated by the artist’s son, Sekino Junpei. Nearby, a small portfolio by Japanese mezzotint master Hamanishi Katsunori celebrates artistic and architectural monuments of Chicago.
The Jin Joo Gallery in the Huh Wing of Korean Art highlights contemporary Korean ceramics acquired with assistance by International Arts and Artists, the Korea Foundation, and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. These ten pieces were part of the exhibition “From the Fire: Contemporary Korean Ceramics,” shown at the museum in 2007.
Two works by master calligrapher Jung Hyunbok, a 10-panel folding screen and a pair of hanging scrolls, were given to the museum by internationally renowned calligrapher Jung Do-jun, the artist’s son. At the end of the gallery, a large hanging scroll by contemporary Korean ink painter Her Suyoung envelops the viewer in a steep, mist- covered landscape.
The MacKinnon Gallery of European Art features a selection of Old Master paintings from the 2012 bequest of Dr. Roy and Jeanne Neville. Another welcome gift, an aquatint etching by Francisco de Goya titled “El Vergonzoso (The Shamefaced One),”was made possible by David Hilton.
In the Soreng Gallery of Chinese Art hangs Lee Chun-yi’s “Autumn Sacrifice,” an album leaf in ink and color on paper, the gift of the artist in honor of Robert Mowry. Beside it hangs “Order (The Red Guards),” an installation by Xiaoze Xie, which the museum is raising funds to acquire to commemorate its 80th anniversary.
Two additional Chinese-themed works are on display together in the museum’s North Upper Hallway, a sculpture by contemporary Chinese artist Ma Han given by Dennis Braddock and Janice Niemi and a digital print entitled “Pastilli Chairman Mao,” created and gifted by Pacific Northwest artist Jim Riswold.
The new acquisitions are on view in conjunction with “Living Legacies: The JSMA @ 80,” an exhibition featuring more than 200 works on loan from more than 80 collectors. Also on view during the summer is “Light Journey: An Odyssey in Paint,” a retrospective exhibition of the contemporary Korean American artist Su Kwak.
- by Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art