COLLECTIONS

Hank Willis Thomas: Branded/Unbranded

FEB 11 – JUN 10, 2018

In 2016 The Ringling purchased eleven photographs from Hank Willis Thomas’s provocative series Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915–2015. The entire set of 100 digital chromogenic prints by Thomas, the internationally celebrated conceptual artist, reconsiders classic advertisements over the last 100 years—minus their original text. Released from any context, brand, product, or messaging, the previously subliminal images are free to speak more directly to what is being sold: the constructed identity and reinforced stereotypes of white women in the U.S. over time. To make the archival ads he has photographed even more accessible, Thomas has added new captions—some funny and irreverent, some ironic and pointed. By mining the past to create regrettably timeless representations of disempowered white women, Thomas confronts issues that continue to inform and circulate throughout our culture today. As Thomas commented in an interview with Time in 2011, “Part of advertising’s success is based on its ability to reinforce generalizations developed around race, gender and ethnicity which are generally false, but [these generalizations] can sometimes be entertaining, sometimes true, and sometimes horrifying.”

Toni Dove: Embodied Machines

FEB 25 – MAR 20, 2018

Toni Dove: Embodied Machines, was the first survey of Dove’s pioneering work which operates at the crossroads of live performance, interactive narrative, and virtual reality. The exhibition explored more than 20 years of the artist’s projects, from early installations through her interactive cinema and stage performances and concluding with her most recent experiments at the forefront of digital technology and robotics. Based in New York, Dove has been credited as being one of the innovators of “interactive cinema.” Since the early 1990s, she has been interested in creating immersive experiences where the boundary between viewer and performer is blurred and the history of consumer culture and capitalism is examined. Dove’s collaborative practice brings together vanguard visual artists, filmmakers, fashion designers, robotics engineers, computer programmers, musicians, actors, and writers. Dove, acting as the creative architect of experience, transforms the traditional artist studio system into a 21st-century idea incubator, using the work of art to inform technology.

A Kaleidoscope of Color: The Costume Designs of Miles White

APR 22 – AUG 5, 2018

Elephants transformed into swans, beautiful girls turned into birthday cakes, and clowns became kings. These whimsical visions are captured in the drawings of the talented costume designer Miles White (1914-2000). Paired with original costumes and contemporary photographs, White’s spectacular drawings evoke the adventurous era of design that emerged in mid-century American performance. This exhibition included original sketches, watercolors, swatchbooks, and other production documents. Some drawings were paired with actual wardrobe pieces and historical photographs. Over 500 of White’s original sketches and watercolors are in the Tibbals Circus Collection at The Ringling.

The Ringling is committed to being the center of excellence not only in its research and education but in its diverse collections that represent European, Asian, and Contemporary/Modern Art as well as historic objects from the Ca’ d’Zan estate and circus artifacts and posters.

In alignment with the 2013–2018 strategic plan, the collections department remains focused on collection accessibility, best practices in object preservation and conservation, and the establishment of partnerships/collaborations to stimulate collection-based research and learning opportunities. The collections staff also continues to promote The Ringling as a progressive institution by implementing current trends, exploring new techniques, actively participating in conferences, and serving on professional committees.

At the end of the fiscal year, The Ringling collections included 36,181 objects and 485 new acquisitions were accepted in FY 2017–18. More specifically, the museum received 451 gifts, 3 bequests, and 4 purchases. To ensure that prominent pieces are added to the collection, The Ringling Board of Directors recently approved the purchase of an 18th Century Japanese painting by Mori Tetsuzan and photographs by South African artist, Zanele Muholi, to enhance the Asian and Contemporary/ Modern collections. The total value of acquisitions received in this fiscal year is $1,184,537.50 with $751,537.50 as gifts, $400,000 as bequests and $124,000 as purchases.

36,181 OBJECTS

485 NEW ACQUISITIONS

451 GIFTS

3 BEQUESTS

4 ITEMS PURCHASED

3,330 OBJECTS DISPLAYED 140 OBJECTS LOANED

355 OBJECTS BORROWED

Collection accessibility is paramount to the museum experience. The Ringling displayed 3,330 objects or 9% of the collection through scheduled gallery rotations, object displays, and exhibitions. To attract a global audience to view and research objects, The Ringling continues to populate eMuseum with digital collection records and images. Currently, 87% of the collection has been digitized and 54% of these object records include digital images. The Ringling has also loaned a total of 140 objects to stimulate more interest in the permanent collections both nationally and internationally. The collections staff completed 13 courier trips to museums in the United States, England, France, and Italy, which included the Royal Academy in London, England and the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, France. They also escorted artwork to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Met Breuer in New York, and the Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, NC. To showcase selected pieces from the European Collection and to reinforce our role as the State Art Museum of Florida, The Ringling organized, Dangerous Women: Selections from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and offered it at cost to the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in Miami, FL and to The Cornell Fine Art Museum in Winter Park, FL. As the State Art Museum of Florida, The Ringling maintains 16 loans at the Florida State University President’s House and 13 works at the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee, FL.

In collaboration with artists and other museums, The Ringling continues to host and curate exhibitions that complement its diverse collections and promote cultural and social viewpoints through artistic expression. The museum borrowed 355 objects. For the opening of the new KotlerCoville Glass Pavilion in January, the collections staff completed within two months the exhibit fabrication and installation of 48 glassworks from the museum’s Contemporary/Modern Art collection and private loans.