UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS 4

Njideka Akunyili Crosby; I Refuse to Be Invisible, 2010; Ink, charcoal, and transfer paper; 117 3/4 x 82 inches; Art Bridges

July 15, 2021 – July 24, 2022 // Mildred Sandall Scott Galleries

Sponsors: Art Bridges, Humanities Montana The premise of I Refuse to Be Invisible is to present artworks that speak to the theme and experience of invisibility through the lenses of Black and Native American artists. The YAM is honored to display three works by nationally recognized artists, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Glenn Ligon, and Kerry James Marshall, on loan to us from Art Bridges. I Refuse to Be Invisible continues into the second gallery with work by contemporary Native American artists, selected by guest curators Michael Largo and Dr. Mara Pierce of MSUB, from the permanent collections of the Yellowstone Art Museum and the Missoula Art Museum. As a means of elevating the artists’ voices, QR codes are incorporated throughout the exhibition. Visitors are encouraged to scan the QR codes, and listen to artists’ discussions of their works.

Excerpt from essay written by Bently Spang

July 29 – October 3, 2021 // Montana Gallery

Sponsors: Diane Boyer Jerhoff, Gareld Krieg, Alex & Andrea Heyneman, Linda Snider The YAM is proud to feature one of the largest exhibitions featuring the work of both Rudy & Lela Autio. The exhibition features ceramics, prints, drawings, paintings, and mixed-media work, some of which have never been publically displayed together. From public to personal, the spotlight is on two of Montana’s celebrated early modernists and their profound influence in the region. Born in Butte and Great Falls, respectively, Rudy & Lela met one another as art students while attending Montana State College (now MSU) in Bozeman. Developing their artistic practice at the nexus of Montana’s post war modernist art movement, Rudy and Lela became highly respected artists within a supportive, fun-loving, and highly influential circle of artists. Lela continued her education at the University of Montana, receiving her MA in painting and drawing in 1961. Rudy, along with the expressionist ceramicist, Peter Voulkos, was the first resident under Archie Bray in Helena — helping to set up what would become the internationally known foundation for ceramic arts. Following his time at the Bray, Rudy established the ceramics program at the University of Montana in 1957, and taught for 28 years. Over their decades-long careers, both artists would be awarded various accolades, including Rudy receiving the first Montana Arts Council’s Governor’s Arts Award in 1981, and Lela receiving the award in 2015, shortly before her death. While Rudy’s best known work is figurative ceramic vessels, he has worked in a variety of materials and other media. In addition to commissions in ceramic relief and tile murals, he has worked in bronze, concrete, glass, fabricated metal sculpture, and design of colorful tapestries. Lela started as a painter but moved to other mediums, such as abstract soft sculptural works, a technique she pioneered before any artist in the country gained wide recognition in the medium. Over her life she created objects, usually wall hangings, and sculptural assemblages made from fabric, plexiglas, mylar, and plastic. Rudy also credited Lela with his introduction to Matisse, which would influence the three dimensional decor he added to his ceramic vessels. Both powerful artists in their own right, this exhibition explores each artist’s individual contribution to the development of Montana Modernism, as well as their influence on each other’s artistic practice.

Lela Autio; See Thru; 2006; Plexiglass; 48 x 49 inches; On loan from the Autio Family

Candace Forrette; Inside Out; 2021; Mixed media collage; 66 1/4 x 20 inches

July 1 – October 10, 2021 // Northwest Projects Gallery & Charles M. Bair Family Gallery

Sponsors: Charles M. Bair Family Trust, Hilltop Inn by Riversage, Riversage Billings Inn The YAM’s Third Annual North x Northwest juried exhibition features the theme Out of Isolation. The exhibition is intended to introduce new artists to the region, showcase regional favorites, and exhibit emerging artists alongside their more established peers. In addition to Juror’s Award and People’s Choice, the exhibition will fund $5,000 in purchase awards for the YAM’s permanent collection. The exhibition is open to artists of all genders and backgrounds, national and international, working in any fine art or craft medium. This year, the Yellowstone Art Museum asked artists to respond to their time in isolation, after isolation, and the societal changes brought on by COVID-19 and the tumultuous year of 2020. We looked forward to artists’ responses to the theme in all art media, and to their broad and personal interpretations. Work had to have been created from January 2020 to present, and not previously shown at the Yellowstone Art Museum.

Susan Hensel; Escape Capsule; 2020; digital embroidery; 24 x 52 inches