from the director

Having just returned from the opening of “Georgia O’Keeffe: Abstraction” at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the occasion gives rise for me to comment on a very important entity within the University Art Museum: the Friends of Art.  Begun in 1966 by Clinton Adams, the Dean of the College of Fine Arts at UNM, and Van Deren Coke, the first Director of the Art Museum, the Friends mission began as, and remains, a membership of devoted supporters whose dues ensure the continuance of important acquisitions for the permanent collections. Pictured with me above is one such FOA purchase: Georgia O’Keeffe’s Tent Door at Night, 1916, which is recognized as one of her most significant early works. The watercolor was originally shown at Stieglitz’s 291 Gallery and came into the University Art Collection in 1976 through funds raised from the FOA and the Julius L. Rolshoven Memorial Fund. It is among one of five hundred works of art that have been acquired in just forty years that also includes masterpieces of various mediums such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s The Colosseum, 1776, and Andy Warhol’s Untitled (Campbell’s Tomato Soup), 1967.

As the Museum faces forward—with great optimism—about its future to provide our students, the general public of New Mexico, and visitors from around the world who comes through our doors, innovative exhibitions and related events, the reopening of the expanded Museum in September 2010 brings with it the opportunity to support one of America’s leading collegiate art museums. I would encourage you to become a member of the Friends of Art which by doing so you become a stakeholder in the acquisition of works of art that continue to build the Museum’s nationally recognized collection. Information about the FOA membership is found on the Membership tab above or by calling (505) 255-1689.

On another high note, I want to acknowledge the success of the first Land Arts project in New Mexico of which the Museum participated as an organizer and site for two important exhibitions, a Film Fest, and public talks. Dispersal/Return and Bill Gilbert: Physio-cartography 2005-06 will be on view through November 25th, so please do not miss these shows. The opening reception in late September was a rousing success with over 350 people in attendance!

Many thanks to Michele Penhall, curator of prints and photographs, who along with Bill Gilbert co-organized and curated both projects, to our generous supporters without whose contributions our operation would be less bright, and to the Museum staff, especially Lee Savary and Steven Hurley, who despite challenges due to the renovation of the University Art Museum and the move of the Jonson Gallery into storage, brought together one of the Museum’s most successful exhibitions to date.

Thank you for your continued support. (Be a FOA friend today.)

Happy autumn!
E. Luanne McKinnon
Director

exhibitions

at UNM

landartnm.org
smudge studio blog

Dispersal/Return:
Land Arts of the American West
2000-2006
August 28 - November 25, 2009

The University of New Mexico Art Museum presents twenty artists from Land Arts of the American West, an interdisciplinary field program in the Department of Art and Art History at UNM.

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Bill Gilbert:
Physiocartography 2005-2006
August 28 - November 25, 2009

A one person exhibition of works created by Land Arts of the American West program founder Bill Gilbert at various sites along his journeys from 2005-2006.

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On the Road

Significant works of art from the permanent collections are sought for a variety of important, national exhibitions. We’d like to share the news about these shows with you to keep in mind as you art lovers travel the country. Some of the museum’s treasures which are On the Road are:

Dennis Hopper: Chiaroscuro

Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Melborne, Australia
Nov. 12, 2009 - Apr. 25, 2010

Georgia O’Keeffe: Abstraction

Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York
Sept. 17, 2009 – Jan. 15, 2010

The Phillips Collection,
Washington, D. C.
Feb. 1 – April 30, 2010

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe
May 15 – Sept. 10, 2010

Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage

The Art Institute of Chicago
Oct. 10, 2009 – Jan. 3, 2010

Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York
Feb. 2 – May 9, 2010

news

UNM Art Museum Open Again

After a brief closure for the first phase of construction, the UNM Art Museum has reopened to the Public, showcasing our contribution to the state-wide LAND/ART initiative. Please join us for the OPENING RECEPTION on Friday, September 25, 5:00 - 7:00 PM. This event is FREE and open to the Public.

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Construction continues on the second phase of the museum expansion. An additional 8,000 square feet of museum space, located directly above the main gallery, is underway. When completed the museum will boast several new features including an elevator which will serve all three floors, a reconfigured, state-of-the-art Prints and Photographs Study Room, a 3,000 square foot gallery intended for new media and video art installations. As a result of the expansion the Jonson Gallery will move to the museum complex in the Center for the Arts and will occupy the Lower Level Gallery. We are anticipating a GRAND reopening fete in 2010. Updates will be posted as we progress with the expansion.

Bravo Bruce!

The UNM Art Museum salutes the internationally renowned, New Mexico-based artist, Bruce Nauman, who won the Golden Lion Award at the 53rd Venice Biennale in June. This is the first time since 1990 that an American has won the prestigious award. In its citation, the Biennale stated that Nauman’s work “reveals the magic of meaning as it emerges through relentless repetition of language and form.” The artist, who is perhaps best known for his neon sculptures and playful use of language, worked with the Philadelphia Museum of Art to organize the exhibition, which is being shown at three venues at the Biennale through November 22, 2009.

On the University of New Mexico main campus, Nauman’s large-scale outdoor sculpture, “The Center of the Universe,” is unknown to many residents of New Mexico and visitors to the state. Located near the Yale Avenue Mall off Redondo Drive parallel to Central Avenue, this public work of art is available to be experienced year round.

Major Gift to UNM

E. Gerald Meyer, (UNM ’51, PhD) from Laramie, Wyoming, has generously bequeathed an extraordinary gift of art valued at approximately $6.2 million for the UNM Art Museum. The gift includes over one hundred Taos School paintings, European and Modern American paintings, drawings and prints, and contemporary Western art, including works by Thomas Moran, Nicholai Fechin, and Charles M. Russell.