New art exhibits

Shifting forms

IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO ESCAPE THE SCORCHING HEAT, HERE ARE THREE NEW INDOOR ART EXHIBITIONS TO KEEP YOUR MIND OFF THE THERMOMETER.

21C Museum Hotel

The first new exhibition at the Oklahoma City hotel in three years, The SuperNatural features more than 80 works of art by 40 artists from around the globe.

The multimedia exhibition explores the reality and representation of nature as an organic and artificial hybrid with works ranging from the beautiful to the phantasmagoric. Realism is displayed side-by-side with surrealism with works exploring the world as it is and one that humans may inhabit if we’re not careful as well as both the beauty and terror of the digital age.

The hotel’s exhibitions are open to the general public in addition to hotel guests. Admission is free.

Ceiba Sagrada 22 by artist Eduardo Sarabia shown at 21C. Photo Berlin Green

Factory Obscura

The newest immersive art installation by Factory Obscura — SYNESTHESIA — is inspired by the work of Olinka Hrdy, who studied at the University of Oklahoma in the 1920s.

Hrdy, who was born in Prague and is buried in the Czechoslovakian National Cemetery in OKC, is known for her use of color, especially in murals. Though most of her major early works have been lost, the majority of the remaining pieces are on display in the permanent collection of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art where SYNESTHESIA is also housed.

Synesthesia is the sensation of experiencing one sense through another, a fitting term for an art collective that meshes the senses of sight, sound and feel into its series of immersive installations. This is the third temporary experience, with Mix-Tape in OKC being open year-round.

The installation is on display until mid-June 2023. Admission to the museum is free. Visit ou.edu/fjjma

Navajo Blanket Cylinders and Baskets by glass artist Dale Chihuly were inspired by western trade blankets. The works are shown at OKCMOA. Photo Berlin Green

OKCMOA

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Dale Chihuly’s glass art are synonymous, having purchased one of the world’s largest collections in June 2004.

Chihuly Then and Now: The Collection at Twenty features new works on loan from Chihuly Studio in Seattle and from the Seattle Art Museum spanning five decades in addition to the pieces already in the museum’s collection, including a redesigned version of the “Oklahoma Persian Ceiling” installation.

Featured works in the exhibition not currently owned by the museum include but are not limited to “Navajo Blanket Cylinders,” his first major glass series; “Venetians,” a series of vase-like forms; “Rotolo,” Italian for “coil,” is a series of sculptures that evolved from “Venetians;” and “Glass on Glass” which is made of glass panels painted with enamel.

While known primarily for his glass works, Chihuly has utilized a number of mediums across his career. Paintings are also included in the exhibition, which runs until mid-June 2024.

Tickets are $14.95 plus tax for adults and children ages 17 and younger get in free. Visit okcmoa.com

Ikebana by glass artist Dale Chihuly was inspired by Japan’s disciplined art of flower arranging. Photo Berlin Green