Exhibitions Archive
Art of the 1990s
Lateral Thinking
This extraordinary exhibition features forty contemporary artists from North, South, and Central America, Cuba, Africa, China, and Europe, including Matthew Barney, Vanessa Beecroft, Roman de Salvo, Zhang Huan, William Kentridge, Byron Kim, Jean Lowe, Vik Muniz, and Cindy Sherman, many of whose works have not appeared in the Upper Valley before. The exhibition defies categorization by style, school, or medium, but a number of key ideas recur throughout, such as the body; the construction of identity (gender, personal, social, or ethnic); the role of the artist; and one's relationship to everyday occurrences and objects.
Africa on Display?
A Point of View
In the usual museum setting, African art displays aim to enhance our understanding of the diverse cultures to which they belong. A Point of View addresses the idea that, by the very nature of museum viewing and displaying, African arts often can tell us more about ourselves and our relationships to other cultures than about the cultures they are meant to represent.
The Creative Journey of Nike Davies-Okundaye
A rich slice of Yoruba culture offers a unique experience for visitors to the museum through January 19 in the form of batik textiles in Harrington Gallery. Although small in scale, this exhibition is large on life. Visitors entering the gallery are surrounded by the deep, calming shades of indigo—a traditional color used in the making of Nigerian textiles. These inspired works are created by internationally recognized Nigerian artist, musician, and dancer Nike Davies-Okundaye—a fascinating person in her own right. Offered as part of DaviesOkundaye's nine-day residency at Dartmouth College, the exhibition includes a video made at the artists' school for men and women in Nigeria that demonstrates the various methods and forms of creating batik.