New Exhibits to Look Forward to As the World Reopens
The world of art has slowed down considerably due to the coronavirus, but it has not come to a complete halt. Deals are still being struck for the exhibition of pieces that we can look forward to seeing in the coming months. Here is a recap of some works that will be available for viewing once museums open their doors.
The Hong Kong Palace Museum
When it comes to fresh art, Hong Kong tops the list. The city will not only be presenting post-pandemic fresh art, but it will also be opening an entirely new museum.
The Hong Kong Palace Museum is due to open in mid-2022. It is currently under construction in the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District. It aims to connect with younger audiences through the integration of technology while promoting communication between Chinese culture and global civilizations. It will feature contemporary and modern art as well as pieces that have been preserved over time.
The museum will feature 9 galleries over 7800 square meters of exhibit space. Among the galleries will be an art and antiquities section with pieces that will rotate out for preservation reasons. For instance, an ancient painting from the Jin Dynasty will be displayed for only one month in order to protect its fragile state.
Three thematic exhibitions will be planned each year with art spanning anywhere from the Qing Dynasty to the modern era. The integration of a variety of eras works as a strategy to draw younger generations in with contemporary elements in the hope that they will become familiar with older pieces and learn to enjoy museums in general.
Work on display will include digital art, Chinese art and history, and visual displays.
Opening shows that are planned include one by designer Stanley Wong that aims to promote a dialogue between Qing culture and contemporary art. Another exhibition will focus on horses comparing works that feature the animal as it is represented in Chinese culture to those displayed in the Musee du Louvre in Paris. The museum will be teaming up with collectors as well as local contemporary artists.
William Tsiarias Donates Photographs to the Colby College Museum of Art in Maine
New art will also be coming to the Colby College Museum of Art in Maine.
William Tsiarias is a well know ophthalmologist and photo collector. As board member and former chair at his undergraduate alma mater, Colby College, he presented the idea that the school’s museum needed a photography collection. He fulfilled this need by donating over 500 photographs from his personal collection.
Tsiarias’ love of photography developed when he started out an amateur photographer. He began taking pictures of anything worthy of remembering.
He started becoming more involved in the art world when he met artist Lucas Samaras. He purchased many of his pieces and donated them to several museums. Over the years, he became an avid collector and is quoted as saying, “I have basically donated photography to every major institution in America, from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to the Art Institute of Chicago to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.”
But at the same time, Tsiarias was donating, he was also collecting. He has bought pieces from many members of the Photo League as well as examples by historical figures like Ansel Adams, Berenice Abbot, Dorothea Lange, Imogen Cunningham, and more.
The college will be using the pieces Tsiarias donated to teach photography as well as other subjects of learning. The school embraces art as an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning and will be integrating the photos in a variety of courses including economics, meteorology, literature, dance, and visual arts.
Georg Baselitz Donates Six Paintings to the Met
The Met celebrated its 150th anniversary earlier this year and artist Georg Baselitz made the milestone even more exciting by donating six portraits from is pivotal artwork from 1969.
1969 was special for Baselitz as it was the year he decided to paint and display his subjects upside down. The portraits are based on Polaroids turned upside down and provide a new perspective to viewers.
The portrait’s subjects are people the artist was associating with during the time of the painting. They include his wife Elke, and his friends in the German art world including art dealers, Franz Dahlem and Michael Werner. Collector Karl Rinn and journalist Martin G. Buttig are also featured.
The pictures are located in the Robert Lehman Wing of the museum.
Conclusion
Taking a look at the post-corona art world, we see a melding of new and old. This is quite apparent in the Hong Kong Palace Museum’s efforts to attract a younger crowd with contemporary art in an effort to introduce them to newer art.
But even the donations made by Baselitz and Tsiarias, while still considered modern, are not representative of the cutting-edge art of the modern-day.
This could mean we are looking at a merging of nostalgia with contemporary elements in the current artistic climate.
We also see an incentive to make art more appealing to the younger crowd. This is one of the core aims of the Hong Kong Museum, but it is also interesting that art is used as a primary teaching method for students at Colby College.
The post-corona art world will certainly have unique elements for everyone. We can only look forward to the time when we are given the ‘all-clear’ to get out and enjoy it.
