Exhibition Archive

Kirk Ke Wang (Chinese American, born 1961). GimGong Road, 2024.
Mixed media on canvas, 102 x 156 in.

Skyway 2024: A Contemporary Collaboration

July 28–October 27, 2024

In its third iteration, Skyway is a triennial exhibition celebrating the gamut of regional creativities and contemporary art practices flourishing  in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties. Originating as a collaboration among art institutions in the Tampa Bay area in 2017, Skyway has galvanized the artist community in the region, introducing artistic talents and vigorous practices to a larger audience. This year, Sarasota Art Museum proudly joins the other esteemed institutions: the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa; and the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa. With Evan Garza as a guest juror, six curators from five collaborating museums selected 66 artists from nearly 300 artists who responded to the open call.

Modern Masterpiece Uncovered:
Galloway’s Furniture Showroom by Victor Lundy

July 28–October 27, 2024

This exhibition uncovers this modernist masterpiece by first exploring the building’s architectural and cultural significance in the context of the Sarasota School of Architecture and the pioneering work of Victor Lundy. The physical and digital analysis examines the building’s wood-laminated structure and extant architectural features. The exhibition concludes with design concepts for rehabilitating, expanding, and adaptively using the former Galloway’s structure prepared by architecture students from Hampton University—a project of the Hub. Architecture Sarasota’s Hub initiative supports innovative design that helps transform places and inspire lives. 

Victor Lundy (American, born 1923). Galloway’s Furniture Store, 1959. Courtesy of Sarasota Architectural Foundation.
Victor A. Lundy (American, born 1923). Galloway’s Furniture Showroom, 1959.
Courtesy of Sarasota Architectural Foundation.
Anne Patterson. Installation view of Art for Earth for Zegna, Milan, Italy, 2020. Fabric, steel cables. Courtesy of the artist.
Anne Patterson. Installation view of Art for Earth for Zegna, Milan, Italy, 2020.
Satin ribbon, steel cable. Courtesy of the artist.

The Truth of the Night Sky: Anne Patterson and Patrick Harlin

April 21 – September 29, 2024

Multimedia artist Anne Patterson and composer Patrick Harlin, explorer of soundscape ecologies, collaborate to create an awe-inspiring immersive installation for Sarasota Art Museum. Patterson, a synesthete who sees color and shape when hearing music, has frequently collaborated with musicians, including Harlin, to design mesmerizing environments. Patterson and Harlin met at the Hermitage Artist Retreat in 2014 and recognized in each other a similar artistic affinity for drawing inspiration from nature.

Hank Willis Thomas
Ernest and Ruth (Exuberant Pink)

2018

Rolled steel and enamel paint

Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Marcy & Michael Klein Plaza

Hank Willis Thomas (b. 1976) is a conceptual artist whose work explores ideas of identity and culture. Through the presentation of recognizable symbols, such as those from popular culture and advertising, his work calls into question typecasts of race and gender present within these societal spheres. Thomas’ work is often participatory, compelling introspection through interaction.
Ted Riederer (American, born 1970). Installation view of Never Records for Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2024.
Photo: Ryan Gamma.

Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat

March 10–July 7, 2024

Does art play an active role in identifying and revealing the realities of contemporary life? Conversely, how do present-day challenges in the world affect the choices that artists make in their studios? While these questions have no clear or easy answers, the exhibition Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, presented at Sarasota Art Museum, hopes to expand upon conventional ideas of art’s impact on our daily lives through the presentation of recent works made by 10 U.S.-based artists: Diana Al-Hadid, Sanford Biggers, Chitra Ganesh, Todd Gray, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Michelle Lopez, Ted Riederer, John Sims, Kukuli Velarde, and William Villalongo.

Judy Pfaff: Picking up the Pieces

November 19, 2023 – March 24, 2024

Judy Pfaff has been a renowned multimedia artist and pioneer of installation art for over five decades. Bursting with electrifying energy, the vast immersive environment she is creating for Sarasota Art Museum will captivate audiences as they navigate this hypnotic, otherworldly space. Pfaff’s largest installation since 2017, Picking up the Pieces will defy boundaries, mixing painting, sculpture, and architecture.

Judy Pfaff (American, born 1946). Installation view of ar.chae.ol.o.gy at the Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, New York, 2021.
Mixed media. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Peter Aaron/OTTO.

Juana Valdés: Embodied Memories, Ancestral Histories

October 22, 2023 – February 11, 2024

The exhibition Embodied Memories, Ancestral Histories is Juana Valdes’ first solo museum show. It begins with early works that address Valdes’ “Caribbeanness,” her Cuban roots, and her African ancestry. These pieces serve as a prologue to the story that unravels as the visitor moves through three aspects of her work that are not necessarily exclusive: “The History of Migration,” “Representation and Subjectivity” (Gender and the Feminine Body), and “Materiality” (Working with non-traditional materials and challenging the canon of art).

Juana Valdés. Rest Ashore (video still), 2020. 4K video, loop (13:35 min). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Zachary Balber. Director and Producer: Juana Valdés; Cinematographer: Lee Burghard (Camera Operator & DP); Editor: Setty McIntosh; Assistant Editor, Sound Editor, Mix Engineer, Sound Design & Composer: Onel Mulet.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Video still from Rest Ashore, , 2020.
4K video, loop (13:35 min). Director and Producer: Juana Valdés; Cinematographer: Lee Burghard (Camera Operator & DP); Editor: Setty McIntosh; Assistant Editor, Sound Editor, Mix Engineer, Sound Design, and Composer: Onel Mulet. Courtesy of the artist.
Laura de Santillana (Italian, 1955-2019). Uran, 2014. Blown and slumped glass,13 4/10 x 25 x 7 in., 20 x 21 x 6 in., 24 x 19 x 6 in., 27 x 18 x 6 in. Collection of Richard and Barbara Basch. Image courtesy of Ringling College of Art and Design.
Laura de Santillana (Italian, 1955-2019). Uran, 2014.
Blown and slumped glass,13 4/10 x 25 x 7 in., 20 x 21 x 6 in., 24 x 19 x 6 in., 27 x 18 x 6 in. Collection of Richard and Barbara Basch. Image courtesy of Ringling College of Art and Design.

Contemporary/Traditional: Selections from the Basch Glass Collection

October 22, 2023 – February 11, 2024
Contemporary/Traditional gives a glimpse into the dynamic world of international contemporary glass art of the late 20th and 21st centuries. This exhibition showcases a stunning range of glasswork styles, ranging from delicate figural sculptures to powerful abstract shapes. There are dynamic assemblages of organic forms that resemble living creatures frozen in time; pure geometric abstractions that dazzle with their perfection; and classically inspired vessels that recapture a vanished form of artistry.

William and Steven Ladd
Cookie Monster

Dec 10, 2022 – Dec 10, 2023

Cedar, zip ties, metal, and painted wood frame

Courtesy of the artists

Great Lawn

Cookie Monster was created by Brooklyn-based artists and brothers Steven and William Ladd, accompanying their exhibitions Lead with A Laugh and Scrollathon at Sarasota Art Museum in 2022. They are an eclectic pair who have been creating art together about their shared memories and family anecdotes since 2000. Their art practice consists of a multitude of techniques and forms, including drawing, sculpture, installation, and collaborative performances.

When clearing trees on their New York property one day, the aroma from the cedar awakened a childhood memory in the Ladds, a recollection of their grandmother’s cedar chest and the textiles that lay within it. Inspired by the cedar woods’ color, scent, and the nostalgia they carried, the Ladd brothers began cutting slices of cedar and weaving them like beads into textiles which were then used to construct walls and ceilings for outdoor installations. Visitors are welcomed to engage with these cedar wood structures by walking through them under a covered pathway. This installation, Cookie Monster, debuted at Sarasota Art Museum’s Art Bash on December 10, 2022.

Chakaia Booker (American, born 1953). Handle with Care, 2010. Rubber tires, wood, and steel, 34 1/2 x 98 x 11 in. Courtesy of the artist © Chakaia Booker and Courtesy of the David Nolan Gallery; Photo: The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey.
Chakaia Booker (American, born 1953). Handle with Care, 2010.
Rubber tires, wood, and steel, 34 ½ x 98 x 11 in. Courtesy of the artist © Chakaia Booker and Courtesy of the David Nolan Gallery; The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey.

Chakaia Booker: Surface Pressure

July 16 – October 29, 2023

Chakaia Booker: Surface Pressure celebrates the diverse work of multimedia artist Chakaia Booker. Booker is renowned for her expert manipulation of unconventional materials, transforming perceived visual tensions into compellingly unified compositions. Her complex body of work challenges viewers to consider the nature of their relationships with one another and the world at large.

Reassembling Spilt Light: An Immersive Installation by Carlos Bunga

July 23 – October 29, 2023

For this solo exhibition, Carlos Bunga will create a temporary structure with common materials such as cardboard and masking tape that deploys light as his primary conceptual basis. Bunga’s transformative installation and poetic images will invite visitors to consider how we shape and are shaped by our surroundings, to contemplate their ephemerality, and to attend to light in a time of darkness.
Carlos Bunga, Photograph by Bruno Lopes, 2019. Courtesy of EDP Foundation.
Carlos Bunga. Photograph by Bruno Lopes, 2019.
Courtesy of EDP Foundation.
Sara ironed everything, including her socks. From the exhibition, Sara Berman’s Closet. Courtesy of the artists, Maira Kalman & Alex Kalman.
Maira Kalman (American, born 1949) and Alex Kalman (American, born 1985), Installation detail of socks, with Maira Kalman’s handwritten label, “Sara ironed everything, including her socks,” from Sara Berman’s Closet at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. Courtesy of the artists.

Sara Berman's Closet

February 5 – May 7, 2023

Sara Berman’s Closet is a rumination on the essential meaning of life. A recreation of a humble closet. A visual essay on the search we all engage in. For beauty, order and meaning. This faithfully presented archive serves not only to demonstrate the care Sara Berman took in organizing her personal belongings, but also the freedom she experienced in crafting her own private yet magnificent life.

The NEW BLACK VANGUARD
PHOTOGRAPHY between ART and FASHION

May 28 – September 17, 2023
The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion presents artists whose vibrant portraits and conceptual images fuse the genres of art and fashion photography in ways that break down long-established boundaries.
Tyler Mitchell (American, born 1995), Untitled (Hijab Couture), New York, 2019.
Photo print, 40 x 30 in. © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy of Aperture.
Stephanie J. Woods (American). my papa used to play checkers, 2022. Framed archival ink-jet print (watermelon, hand dyed cotton fabric, hair beads, barrette bows, and afro hair), 37 x 25 x 1.5 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Stephanie J. Woods (American). my papa used to play checkers, 2022.
Framed archival ink-jet print (watermelon, hand dyed cotton fabric, hair beads, barrette bows, and afro hair), 37 x 25 x 1.5 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Stephanie J. Woods: my papa used to play checkers​

May 28 – September 17, 2023
For her solo exhibition, my papa used to play checkers, titled after her eponymous photograph (2022), Woods presents a body of her recent work created after her life-changing artist residency at Black Rock Senegal in Dakar, Senegal in 2021. During her sojourn, she witnessed firsthand how much African culture and tradition has survived and continues to thrive in Black American communities.

A Beautiful Mess:
Weavers & Knotters of the Vanguard

February 25 – June 25, 2023

From micro artworks the size of your hand to mammoth room-sized installations, the national roster of women artists in A Beautiful Mess push the boundaries of their textile-based medium. Using rope, yarn, clay and wire, this group of conceptual artists knot and twist their media into sculptures that range from minimal and hyper-organized to utter pandemonium.
Kirsten Hassenfeld, (American, born 1971) Millefleur (detail), 2019, salvaged textiles with mixed media, 78 inches diameter, (c) Kirsten Hassenfeld
Kirsten Hassenfeld, (American, born 1971), Millefleur (detail), 2019.
Salvaged textiles with mixed media. 78 inches diameter. (c) Kirsten Hassenfeld
"Newfoundland (Green Boat)," c. 2006, by Richard Benson (American, 1943–2017). Multiple impression pigment print, image: 11 9/16 × 17 3/8 inches.; sheet: 12 15/16 × 19 inches. © Estate of Richard M. A. Benson. Collection of Barbara Benson. Image courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2021.
"Newfoundland (Green Boat)," c. 2006
by Richard Benson (American, 1943–2017)
Multiple impression pigment print, image: 11 9/16 × 17 3/8 inches.; sheet: 12 15/16 × 19 inches.

© Estate of Richard M. A. Benson. Collection of Barbara Benson. Image courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2021.

Richard Benson: The World Is Smarter Than You Are

February 5 – May 7, 2023

“Go out into the world with the camera and photograph and find out that the world is smarter than you are.” – Richard Benson

This exhibition surveys nearly fifty years of Benson’s photography, a wide-ranging body of work that reflects his humility and boundless curiosity about the world and his tireless exploration of how to make photographs. A selection of artworks by ten artists who studied and worked with Benson will also be included in this exhibition.

Xaviera Simmons

May 2021- April 17, 2023

Xaviera Simmons engages her sweeping practice of photography, painting, video, sound, sculpture, and installation to explore the construction of landscape, language, and complex histories in the United States and its empire building globally.
Xaviera Simmons, The structure the labor the foundation the escape the pause (2020) Steel, wood, concrete, and acrylic, in three parts: a. 17 × 4 × 12 ft.; b. 14.8 ft. × 10 in. × 7.5 ft.; c. 12.5 × 9 × 26 ft. Courtesy of the Artist, Socrates Sculpture Park, and David Castillo, Miami, Photo: Ryan Gamma
Xaviera Simmons, The structure the labor the foundation the escape the pause (2020)
Steel, wood, concrete, and acrylic
in three parts: a. 17 × 4 × 12 ft.; b. 14.8 ft. × 10 in. × 7.5 ft.; c. 12.5 × 9 × 26 ft.

Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo, Miami; Originally commissioned by Socrates Sculpture Park, New York, with support from the Ford Foundation
Photo: Ryan Gamma

Steven and William Ladd, "Shaboygen," 2012, Board, plywood, metal, fiber, beads, paper, tulle, Angora bunny hair, and pins, 26 3/4 x 26 3/4 x 102 1/4 in., Courtesy of the artists and Cristina Grajales Gallery
Steven and William Ladd
Shaboygen
2012
Board, plywood, metal, fiber, beads, paper, tulle, Angora bunny hair, and pins
40 ½ x 60 ¾ x 15 ½ in. (each)

Courtesy of the artists

Steven and William Ladd

September 4 – February 5, 2023

Steven and William Ladd create collaboratively, pulling from childhood stories and experiences to transform materials, such as textiles and beads, into microcosms of memory. The exhibition will include past works and new works being exhibited for the first time, including a work created with members of the Sarasota community during Scrollathon.

Journeys to Places Known and Unknown: Moving Images by Janet Biggs and peter campus

October 16 – January 15, 2023

Journeys to Places Known and Unknown looks at the contrasting ways two artists of different generations—Janet Biggs and peter campus—use moving images to explore intersections of science, philosophy, and spirituality.
peter campus, "barrier," videograph, 6:26 minutes, looped, edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof, installation view of "when the hurly burly's done" at Parrish Art Museum (Water Mill, NY), Courtesy of the artist
peter campus
barrier
videograph, 6:26 minutes, looped, edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof, installation view of when the hurly burly's doneat Parrish Art Museum (Water Mill, NY)

Courtesy of the artist and Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York

"In the Cold Edge" (video still), 2010. Single channel HD video with sound. Courtesy of the artist and Cristin Tierney, NYC
Janet Biggs
In the Cold Edge(video still)
2010
Single channel HD video with sound.

Courtesy of the artist and Cristin Tierney, New York

Katrina Coombs

I M(O)ther

Threads of the Maternal Figure

May 22 – October 2, 2022

Katrina Coombs (b. 1986, Jamaica) has a passion for fiber and an understanding of the sensitivity of threads and fabric, which she uses to bring forth unique designs and sculptural forms. Coombs’ works are inspired and guided by a quest to deepen the spiritual, emotional, and psychological understanding of the numerous conflicting roles that have been attributed to women in contemporary society.
Katrina Coombs, Oshuns Glory, 2020
Katrina Coombs
Oshun’s Glory (detail)
2020
Finger-knitted mixed fibers
Dimensions variable

Courtesy of the artist
Photo: Katrina Coombs

Lori Kella, Euclid’s Mirror, 2019, Archival pigment print Courtesy of the artist

State of the Art 2020: Constructs

April 24 – September 11, 2022

State of the Art: Constructs is an exploration into how contemporary art – produced all across the country including regions outside traditional art centers – reflects the present moment.

State of The Art 2020: Constructs is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas.

 

The national tour of State of the Art 2020 is sponsored by Bank of America with additional support from Art Bridges.

Bank of America Logo
Crystal Bridges Museum of America

Daniel Lind-Ramos: Las Tres Marías

April 2 – August 7, 2022

Daniel Lind-Ramos (b. 1953, Puerto Rico) creates assemblages from found and reclaimed objects, many of which the artist collected from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. This exhibition will include two new assemblage works created specifically for the Museum, Baño de María and María Guabancex, in addition to María de los Sustentos.

Daniel Lind-Ramos, María de los Sustentos (2020-2021). Collection of David Cancel Photo: Abby Leigh
Daniel Lind-Ramos
María de los Sustentos
2020-2021
Assemblage
121 x 91 x 42 in.

Collection of David Cancel
Photo: Abby Leigh

JPW3's Zen Jail is a site specific art installation at Sarasota Art Museum
JPW3, Zen Jail , 2016/2019

Courtesy of the artist

JPW3

Zen Jail

December 14, 2019 – July 19, 2022

Marcy & Michael Klein Plaza

Zen Jail is an open-ended work in progress, adapting to its new home in Sarasota, after time in a park in Miami. The artist, JPW3 (b. 1981, Tallahassee, FL), sourced a piece of wood from a tree that grew in Sarasota and has turned it into a scope for the viewer/participant to meditate—or spy—on passers-by from the sunken bench seat. A tea plant is growing, that will be harvested and brewed in a series of interactive performative events that will riff on tea ceremonies around the world. Passion flower (passiflora) vines grow onto the framework of Zen Jail, providing a micro-ecosystem for butterflies (especially the endangered Monarch Danaus plexippus) and other pollinators to assist in habitat restoration. Zen Jail will evolve and grow as the site responds to the community’s engagement. It may be a meditation site, a site for music and performance, a site for reflection, a playspace—how would you like to play with Zen Jail?

Carl Abbott

La Musa Azul

2019 – July 17, 2022

Marcy & Michael Klein Plaza

As one enters the Plaza, the eye is drawn toward two “Abbott Blue” walls converging in a portal. These diagonal gestures define the entrance to the site-responsive, interactive installation, La Musa Azul, featuring one of the signature blue hues that has defined Carl Abbott’s (b. 1944) creative practice since his youth, where he was captivated by the wild irises and petunias of his Georgia childhood. The sculpture defines Abbott’s intersecting attributes as both a colorist and a landscape designer, and employs his signature diagonal gesture, used as a device to lead both body and vision. Visitors are invited to wander the grove, sit in quiet contemplation or simply marvel at the musa trees (Latin name for the banana genus), and enjoy the shared etymology of “muse”, origin of the word museum—a muse in the grove. Trees have long provided our “first architecture”—providing shelter—and sacred groves throughout time and across cultures have provided a respite from the bustle of our “profane”, workaday lives—much needed during this current time.

Carl Abbott, La Musa Azul
Carl Abbott, La Musa Azul, 2019
Wood, stucco, latex paint, and banana plants

Courtesy of the artist

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

November 27, 2021 – May 15, 2022

Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996, Cuba) used everyday materials, such as lightbulbs, paper, and candy, to engage viewers in deeper consideration of intrapersonal and cultural issues. “Untitled” (L.A.) is one of the artist’s candy spill works that employs the familiar and alluring material of candy.
Installation view of Felix Gonzalez-Torres' "Untitled" (L.A.), Photo: Ryan Gamma
Installation view of Felix Gonzalez-Torres' "Untitled" (L.A.)

Photo: Ryan Gamma

Danner Washburn

Effigy: Hemric

December 8, 2021– 8 May 2022

Danner Washburn (b.1994, North Carolina) utilizes sculpture, painting, sound, and installation to study the junctures between consumerism, folklore traditions, and the built environments of rural American subcultures.
Danner Washburn, Fertile, 2021, Porcelain figurine, NC 95 tobacco seed, collards seed, summer squash seed, sweet corn seed, neutral pH adhesive, 3 x 1 ¼ x 2 in., Courtesy of the artist
Danner Washburn, Fertile, 2021
Porcelain figurine, NC 95 tobacco seed, collards seed, summer squash seed, sweet corn seed, neutral pH adhesive
3 x 1 ¼ x 2 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Judith Linhares: The Artist as Curator

November 27, 2021 – April 3, 2022

Judith Linhares: The Artist as Curator illuminates the wondrous world of Judith Linhares (b. 1940, California) and the abundance of influences that shape her artistic practice—from her time in the California Bay Area in the 1960s and 70s, to her studio space, to her dream journals, to other artists, five of whom Linhares has selected to include in the exhibition.

Judith Linhares, Cove, 2010, Oil on linen, 60 x 81 in., Adrienne and Chris Birchby Collection, Image courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles/Seoul
Judith Linhares, Cove, 2010
Oil on linen
60 x 81 in.

Adrienne and Chris Birchby Collection
Image courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles/Seoul

David Budd: Motion Within Stillness

October 9 – March 20, 2022
After painting for only six years, David Budd (1927-1991, Florida) dove into the New York art scene in the 1950s —immersing himself in Abstract Expressionism and working alongside iconic names of the movement, such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Kline. His paintings, like others of the time, relied on the bodily relationship between the artist and canvas —each stroke and mark of the artist encapsulated in viscous gestures of paint—and spontaneity; although, this is not to say that Budd painted hastily—each mark was placed with intention to animate the canvas’s surface.
David Budd, Easter Island I, 1973, Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in., Collection of Ringling College of Art + Design, Photo: Rich Schineller
David Budd, Easter Island I, 1973
Oil on canvas
60 x 60 in.

Collection of Ringling College of Art and Design
Photo: Rich Schineller

Samo Davis: Happiness in ROYGBIV

May 29, 2021 – March 6, 2022

Happiness in ROYGBIV is a vibrant sculptural installation that features a colorful and effervescent tree composed of found objects from the artist’s home, intending to spark joy within the difficult times of the last year.

Samo Davis, Happiness in ROYGBIV, 2021, Plastic, pom poms, resin, yarn, clay, recycled materials. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Sarasota Art Museum
Samo Davis, Happiness in ROYGBIV, 2021
Plastic, pom poms, resin, yarn, clay, recycled materials.

Courtesy of the artist.
Photo: Sarasota Art Museum

Charles McGill: In the Rough

29 May – 31 October

Charles McGill: In the Rough explores the assemblage works of artist, educator, and golf teaching professional Charles McGill, who physically deconstructed and repurposed the plastic, steel, leather, vinyl, and hardware from vintage golf bags to examine the racial and class inequities associated with the sport and leisure activity.

Charles McGill, Shredded Quilt II, 2016
Reconfigured golf bag parts on panel, 72 x 72 x 6 in.

Courtesy of the Estate of Charles McGill
Photo: Jenny Gorman

Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott

29 May – 31 October 

Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott is the first comprehensive retrospective of one of the United States’ most compelling and provocative artists who—through vibrant paintings laced with biting satire—confronted issues of race, gender, identity, and the uncomfortable realities of American life in the latter half of the 20th century.

Installation view of "Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott". On view at Sarasota Art Museum, May 29 - October 31, 2021, Photo: Ryan Gamma
Installation view of Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott
Photo: Ryan Gamma

Unraveling: Aranda\Lasch & Terrol Dew Johnson

12 June – 26 September

Aranda\Lasch, a New York and Tucson-based design studio, and Terrol Dew Johnson, an internationally renowned Tohono O’odham basket weaver, collaborate on exquisitely intricate sculptures that are a unique blend of traditional Native American weaving techniques and digital fabrication methods.
Aranda\Lasch and Terrol Dew Johnson, Knot #3, 2016 Aluminum, creosote, yucca, and cedar bark, 68 x 66 x 40 in. Courtesy of the artists Photo Credit: Aranda\Lasch
Aranda\Lasch and Terrol Dew Johnson, Knot #3, 2016
Aluminum, creosote, yucca, and cedar bark, 68 x 66 x 40 in.

Courtesy of the artists
Photo Credit: ArandaLasch

Janaina Tschäpe, Gush (2014), Photo: Teresa Lojacono
Janaina Tschäpe, Gush (2014)

Casein and watercolor pencil on canvas, 118 x 234 in.
Podesta Collection, Washington D.C.
Photo: Teresa Lojacono

Janaina Tschäpe

Between the Sky and the Water

13 December – 2 May 2021

Caribbean Hilltop Residence photo: Steven Brooke Studios
Caribbean Hilltop Residence
Photo: Steven Brooke Studios

Carl Abbott

Architecture for Nature

Carrie Mae Weems, RESIST COVID/TAKE 6! poster on a billboard at US301 and 17th Street, Photo: Matthew Holler
Carrie Mae Weems, RESIST COVID/TAKE 6! poster on a billboard at US301 and 17th Street
Photo: Matthew Holler

Carrie Mae Weems

RESIST COVID/TAKE 6!

Sarasota Art Museum launched its participation in Carrie Mae Weems’ public awareness campaign RESIST COVID/TAKE 6! in July of 2020. The project delivers Weems’ characteristic dual force of powerful, yet sobering image-text unions – here, concerned with COVID-19 and the disproportionate effects on Black, Latinx, and Native communities as a result of healthcare inequities.

Dogon by Harmony Hammond
Harmony Hammond, Dogon (1978/2015)

Courtesy of the artist and Alexander Gray Associates, New York
Photo: Eric Swanson
© Harmony Hammond / VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Harmony Hammond
Material Witness, Five Decades of Art

15 October - 15 November 2020

Harmony Hammond: Material Witness, Five Decades of Art is the first museum survey of the work of Harmony Hammond – subversive artist, feminist and lesbian scholar, author and curator. Through the recontextualization of a wide cast of materials and form, Hammond challenges the historical associations of painting as a male-dominated field, and combats stereotypes of feminist and queer art. Organized by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, this exhibition spans fifty years (1971-2018) of Hammond’s painting-sculpture works, drawings, and ephemera.
Harmony Hammond: Material Witness, Five Decades of Art is organized by Amy Smith-Stewart, Senior Curator, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.
Generous support for Harmony Hammond: Material Witness, Five Decades of Art is provided by Crozier Fine Arts and Diana Bowes and James Torrey. Media support is provided by Connecticut Cottages & Gardens (CTC&G). Generous support from the Wagner Foundation has helped to make it possible for Material Witness: Five Decades of Art to travel to the Sarasota Art Museum.
Crozier, Connecticut Cottages & Gardens, and Wagner Foundation logos
Pino Pascali's Bachi da setola are acrylic bristle brushes on metal supports
Pino Pascali, Bachi da setola (1968)
Photo: Sarasota Art Museum

Color. Theory. & (b/w)

14 December 2019 - 25 October 2020

This is the first installation of an ongoing investigation into the art and science of color. The subject of color theory allows us to look at wide range of ideas, from cognitive science to philosophy to literature, while marveling at the seductive and confounding ways in which artists wrestle with color. Here, we invite you to pay close attention to the artists’ use of color relative to the medium. What is the relationship of color to material? Is color applied, embedded, reflected, atomized, projected, inferred? How do colors shift in the light?  How do colors appear relative to their neighboring works? We invite you to take a closer look on the third floor galleries of the Museum, and then enjoy visiting our Conservatory to learn more about Color. Theory. & (b/w).
Artist Jean Shin poses with her installation Celadon Landscapes
Jean Shin, Celadon Landscape (2015)

Celadon Landscape

Jean Shin

14 December 2019 - 13 March 2020

Celadon Landscape is constructed from ceramic discards collected from numerous kilns in Korea. These shards are the result of potters destroying finished ceramic vessels with any minor imperfections. Shin views the celadon fragments as a metaphor of the Korean diaspora, vibrant artifacts of the Korean people, their history and culture that are scattered all over the world to form new identities elsewhere. The term celadon also refers to the soft, pale grey-green color achieved by coating the clay with an iron-rich glaze that oxidizes during the heating process.

Marat(Sebastiao)(2008) from Vik Muniz's Pictures of Garbage series
Vik Muniz, Marat (Sebastião)(2008) from Pictures of Garbage

Vik Muniz

14 December 2019 - 8 March 2020

Vik Muniz is distinguished as one of the most innovative and creative artists of our time. Endlessly playful and inventive in his approach, Muniz harnesses a remarkable virtuosity in creating his renowned “photographic delusions”. Working with a dizzying array of unconventional materials including sugar, tomato sauce, diamonds, magazine clippings, chocolate syrup, dust, and junk Muniz painstakingly builds tableaux before recording them with his camera. From a distance the subject of each resulting photograph is discernible; up close, the work reveals a complex and surprising matrix through which it is assembled. That revelatory moment when one thing transforms into another is of deep interest to the artist.