EXHIBITIONS

Phantom Bodies: The Human Aura in Art

JUN 17 – SEP 11, 2016

The exhibition considered the relationship between mind, body, and spirit through a selection of paintings, photography, videos, sculpture and installations that are designed to inspire compassion and commemoration. The four thematically distinct sections —”Objects and Absences,” “Violence, Empathy, and Erasure,” “Sublimation,” and “The Mind-Body Problem”— include provocative artworks that address themes of trauma, loss, and transformation, while considering the possibility of an animating spirit that can exist independently of the body. The exhibition included work by 22 compelling artists of our time including Anish Kapoor, Shirin Neshat, Doris Salcedo, and Bill Viola. Organized by the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tennessee, and curated by Mark Scala, chief curator of the Frist.

Graphicstudio: Collaborating Across Borders

JUL 8 – OCT 9, 2016

Founded in 1968 at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Graphicstudio is an acclaimed workshop dedicated to realizing collaborative projects with contemporary artists. Inspired by the tradition of the printmaker’s atelier, Graphicstudio works in partnership with artists to create art work in editions. What has made Graphicstudio exceptional in its nearly 50 years of operation is the fact that it has been an innovator in both the technical practices of art, and the concept of collaboration. The workshop has pushed the boundaries of the traditional forms of graphic arts, developed new processes, and extended the concept of the auditioned multiple into mixed-media and sculptural forms. Since the 1990s, Graphicstudio has expanded its scope of collaboration in an on-going series of invitations to contemporary artists from across Latin America to work at the studio. These projects have resulted in provocative new artworks while creating meaningful connections between artists and new audiences across cultures.

Asia Under the Big Top

OCT 14, 2016 – FEB 13, 2017

Fantasies of the exotic Far East have shaped the performing and visual arts of America from the beginning of the country. Traveling circuses, exotic travelers in their own right, embraced the undeniable draw of the people and cultures of Asia, including exotic “Oriental” attractions and spectacles by the mid-nineteenth century.

Hindu snake charmers, Japanese strongmen, and Chinese strongmen were among the types of performers imported to entertain American audiences with both their skill and their foreignness. In addition to the performers, many circuses created productions around tales of the “Far East” like the Arabian Nights and Aladdin. The shows capitalized on every opportunity to promote the exotic quality of Asia. The exhibition explored how stereotypes and fantasies of Asia played to American audiences under the big top through lithographs printed to advertise American circuses from the last quarter of the 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.

Pathless Woods: An Installation by Anne Patterson

NOV 4, 2016 – APR 26, 2017

In November 2016, the new Keith D. and Linda L. Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art opened with the site-specific installation by American artist Anne Patterson. Pathless Woods is an interactive, multi-media installation in which the visitor is invited to walk through a forest of ribbons—sometimes the path is very clear and at other times it is not. The title is taken from a line of Byron’s poetry, “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods” and references that the visitor can find his or her own path through the installation with each choice determining outcome. Pathless Woods continued Patterson’s exploration into creating synesthetic environments begun with the 2013 project Graced With Light installed to great acclaim at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.

A Feast

for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe

FEB 4 – APR 30, 2017

Organized by The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, in partnership with The Ringling, this major exhibition featured more than 80 objects, many on loan from prestigious institutions across the US and Europe including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Louvre.

The exhibition focused on the late medieval and early Renaissance period in Europe (roughly 1300–1500), a time in which societal changes prompted a new interest in human experience, the enjoyment of nature and the pursuit of pleasure. As a result, the art of this period functioned in a rich sensory world that was integral to its appreciation. These works were not only seen, but also touched, smelled and heard. The exhibition brought together sacred and secular art—including paintings, tapestries, metalwork, and manuscripts—to reveal the role of the senses in courtly ritual and religious practice.

Territories: Photography, Space, and Power

FEB 10 – MAY 14, 2017

Territories: Photography, Space, and Power explored the myriad ways in which spaces are organized by cultural forces and political power. Visitors are able to study the ways in which the camera can reveal how humans organize and encode the space they inhabit but also how the camera itself organizes the space into its own logic. Several large format works from The Ringling’s collection, rarely on display, were on view, such as works by Thomas Struth and Lewis Baltz. Territories featured a wide assortment of approaches to and uses of photography in apprehending the spaces we inhabit, from military and aerial photography to contemporary fine art practice.