UMMA Magazine | Fall 2017 by UMMA MusTech

f a l l 2 0 17

from the director Along with the festivities celebrating the University of Michigan’s Bicentennial, this fall will be an exciting time of transition for the Museum. I am happy to introduce UMMA’s new director, Dr. Christina Olsen. Olsen will join us on October 30 from the Williams College Museum of Art in Massachusetts, where she served as director since 2012. In addition to her deep passion for art, she will bring tremendous warmth, knowledge, and thoughtfulness to UMMA’s work and mission. She is a champion for collaboration, inclusion, and student engagement—–ideals that our Museum holds in high regard. You can learn more about Olsen on our News page at umma.umich.edu/news. Here at UMMA, we are celebrating the Bicentennial in several ways—–the most noteworthy being the Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors exhibition. Part II, Abstraction, is now on view, and we added Random International’s Swarm Study / II in August (see p. 10). We are also releasing our Victors for Art commemorative publication this fall.

I hope you will join us for this year’s UMMA GLOW, taking place Friday, October 6. This biennial event honors U-M alumni who have made an impact in the arts. This year, we celebrate the many U-M alumni who loaned the works on view in Victors for Art. Reserve your event ticket at umma.umich.edu/glow. Also, please stop by UMMA during our second Nights at the Museum initiative, from September 15–22. Once again, we will display art and performances on the facade of the Frankel Family Wing (see p. 18). It has been a great privilege to serve as UMMA’s interim director in this transitional period. As you will see in the following pages, the Museum is doing great things on campus and in the community, and will continue to do so during Dr. Olsen’s leadership as our new director. Please help me welcome her in the months ahead! Thanks!

Kathryn Huss Interim Director

CONTENTS From the Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

UMMA News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

UMMA Happenings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Exhibitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

In Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

UMMA Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

umm a .umic h.ed u

umma news

“MEET ME” EARNS NEA AWARD UMMA has received a two-year $40,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support and expand the Museum’s popular Meet Me at UMMA program. Meet Me at UMMA provides a guided gallery experience for people living with memory loss and their care partners. The program’s expansion will build and innovate on UMMA’s current efforts by recruiting and training community volunteers who will infuse new perspectives through personal or professional experiences related to memory loss and the arts. The project will also integrate new research on the role of the arts and the senses to engage adults with memory loss, allowing UMMA to further develop collaborative learning partnerships in the community. Participants in Meet Me @ UMMA view works in the Museum’s Modern and Contemporary Gallery.

YOU’RE INVITED... ...to UMMA’s third biennial signature event, UMMA GLOW, taking place Friday, October 6. UMMA GLOW is an evening celebrating the luminous arts leadership of Michigan alumni and lenders to UMMA’s exhibition Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors. Co-chaired by Catherine & Nathan (AB ’85) Forbes and Cathy and Charles (BS ’90) Schwartz. RSVP by Friday, September 22. Purchase your ticket for this special event at umma.umich.edu/glow. UMMA GLOW, 2015

UMMA STORE EXCLUSIVE Own a piece of the University of Michigan’s Bicentennial with UMMA’s book, Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors, a 136-page, full-color commemorative publication celebrating the important role that the University’s alumni have played in the international arts landscape. This publication features art from UMMA’s two-part Bicentennial exhibition, with fully-illustrated color plates of 115 works of art spanning the centuries across all media. Edited by former UMMA Director Joseph Rosa and designed by Franc NunooQuarcoo, Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors will be available for $35 in the UMMA Store starting this September.

Pages from the Victors For Art catalogue come off the press at the printer. fa l l 2017

exhibitions

MATISSE DRAWINGS

CURATED BY ELLSWORTH KELLY FROM THE PIERRE AND TANA MATISSE FOUNDATION COLLECTION ABOVE: Henri Matisse, Sketch for the painting “Lemons and Mimosas on a Black Background”, 1944, ink on paper, 12 5/8 x 16 5/8 in. © 2017 Succession H. Matisse/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy American Federation of Arts OPPOSITE: Ellsworth Kelly, Lemon (Citron), 1965–66, lithograph in black ink on handmade Arches paper, 35 1/4 x 24 in. Collection of the artist. Courtesy American Federation of Arts 4

umm a .umic h.ed u

a. alfred taubman gallery | november 18, 2017–february 18, 2018

exhibitions

atisse Drawings: Curated by Ellsworth Kelly from The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation Collection provides viewers with a rare opportunity to experience the master draftsmanship of two of the most significant artists of the twentieth century: famed French artist Henri Matisse (1869– 1954), and the avant-garde American Ellsworth Kelly (1923– 2015). While Matisse is typically associated with his vibrant, emotionally embroiled canvases and Kelly is noted for his abstract compositions with emblematic shades that inspired such phrases as “Kelly red,” this exhibition provides new insight into both artists’ profound interest in drawing and its centrality in their artistic practices. In 2014 Kelly chose forty-five seldom-exhibited drawings by Matisse created between 1900 and 1950 and designed their display. From detailed studies to animated sketches, the Matisse works reveal his process and creative use of the line. To accompany the Matisse selection, Kelly added nine of his own lithographs from a suite of botanical drawings he made during his travels in France in the mid-1960s, a time when he became enthralled with the influential European’s work. This second, integral component of the exhibition sheds light onto Kelly’s relationship with Matisse’s work. As Kelly remarked (in an interview with John Stomberg), “Picasso made me want to paint, but Matisse drawings made me want to draw.” Together, the works by Matisse and Kelly form a thought-provoking, visually striking artistic dialogue, allowing viewers to experience one artist through the eyes of another. The practice of “drawing from life” has been historically integrated into formal artistic training and has served as inspiration for artists across generations, geographical regions, and stylistic traditions. Matisse and Kelly appreciated the primacy of drawing and its capacity to articulate—–in the most intimate, immediate, and direct manner—–the world around them. Formally trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Matisse rejected the meticulous imitation of nature taught in his drawing classes and instead embraced a more lyrical, passionate, and candid style that has become representative of modern drawing. For Kelly, a member of the second generation of American modernism, drawing was foundational for his paintings and sculpture. He once stated, “All my sculptures as well as paintings come from drawing. It’s like the support for my art.” Kelly’s groundbreaking mode of abstraction, characterized by monolithic shapes, took root in France, where he studied Matisse’s effortless ability to translate nature and human figures through the use of line alone. Inspired by Matisse’s bold handling of line, Kelly’s visual language flourished in his drawings of the natural world.

fa l l 2017

Although the artists never met, their lives overlapped at a significant point in time for modern art. Matisse was nearing the end of his illustrious career in the 1950s, when Kelly was honing his signature abstract style that would take off in the second half of the twentieth century. Viewers are invited to appreciate this intriguing artistic rapport between the drawings of Matisse and Kelly, and to immerse themselves in the pleasures of close looking. Lehti Mairike Keelmann Assistant Curator of Western Art This exhibition is organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in collaboration with The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation.

This exhibition was made possible by the generous support of the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust and The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation. Additional support provided by the JFM Foundation and Mrs. Donald M. Cox. Lead support for the local presentation of this exhibition is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Michigan Medicine, the Richard and Rosann Noel Endowment Fund, and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and the Department of the History of Art.

exhibitions

VICTORS FOR ART: MICHIGAN’S ALUMNI COLLECTORS– PART II: ABSTRACTION

RANDOM INTERNATIONAL SWARM STUDY / II T

he symbiotic relationship between human beings and technology inspires the experimental art practice of Random International, the world-renowned artist collaborative based in Berlin and London. This fall, as part of the exhibition Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors—Part II: Abstraction, UMMA presents a site-specific installation by Random International to be viewed on the exterior windows of the Irving Stenn, Jr. Family Gallery from August 19 through November 26. The work, Swarm Study / II, is a dynamic, interactive sculpture combining artificial lights with digital motion-sensing technology. Viewable along the State Street facade of the Museum’s Maxine and Stuart Frankel and Frankel Family Wing, the installation will consist of LED lights clipped onto 128 vertically suspended brass rods aligned in multiple rows. Each light turns on and off in response to motion sensors controlled by the artists’ proprietary behavioral algorithm. As people walk, run, and ride by the Museum, the individual lights will appear to react to the movement of passersby in the immediate environment. These shifts of light animating the work are reminiscent of the movement patterns of bird and insect swarms. And similar to the behaviors of biological swarms, the lights in the installation respond not only to exterior stimuli but also to each other; their patterns are guided by a set of self-generated instructions as well as the interactions of people.

multisensory experiences dependent on viewer interactions. The group’s work gives visual form to the interdependency of humans and technology. Swarm Study / II, for example, as its components perform in ways that are simultaneously contingent on, yet disassociated from, the presence of people, encourages audiences to consider how artificially intelligent technologies are increasingly designed to act with minimal human intervention. Even the name of the collective is a clever nod toward the global condition of the human-technology dynamic. On loan from the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, Swarm Study / II, as a site-specific artwork, will give visitors a sense of this sometimes random, sometimes connected experience on a very local scale—–offering a unique study of U-M’s own community as it swarms by the Museum. Jennifer M. Friess Assistant Curator of Photography Lead support for Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan Office of the President, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the University of Michigan Bicentennial Office.

Informed by innovative research from multiple, intersecting disciplines—–including art history, design, architecture, engineering, computer science, and biology—–Random International creates art installations that immerse viewers in 6

umm a .umic h.ed u

irving stenn, jr. family gallery | august 19–november 26, 2017

exhibitions

Random International, Swarm Study / II, 2011, LEDs, polished brass rods, custom circuit boards, custom driver software and hardware, behavioral algorithm, motion sensors, computer and interface. Maxine (AB ’66, DFAHon ‘16) and Stuart (BBA ’61) Frankel Foundation for Art. Image courtesy of Random International fa l l 2017

exhibitions

POWER CONTAINED

THE ART OF AUTHORITY IN CENTRAL AND WEST AFRICA

efore colonization, a select few—–kings, chiefs and their courtiers—–headed the complex hierarchical societies that flourished in Africa. These rulers were set apart from the rest of their communities through visual means: their dress, behavior, and accessories signaled their out-of-the-ordinary status, and wherever they went, they were accompanied by attendants, musicians, and performers. To behold them was to witness true spectacle. It was imperative to showcase a ruler’s abundant wealth, which was emblematic of the vibrancy of the entire society. Objects signaling royal authority were made of rare and costly materials, and kings were covered in so many layers of textiles, furs, beads and gold that the weight of their regalia sometimes rendered them immobile. In the Kuba Kingdom of Central Africa, for example, the king’s costume could weigh 150 pounds, which severely constrained his movements and thus demanded that he behave in the calm, collected, and thoughtful manner associated with kingship. The rulers of the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria were so draped in textiles and beaded accessories that it was difficult to distinguish their individual features. This was intentional: what was meant to be seen when these rulers appeared in public ceremonies was not a person, with human flaws and desires, but the very institution of kingship.

Both kings and minkisi derived their power from their direct access to the otherworld of the spirits and ancestors, who had to be approached carefully. When properly revered, they could provide great wealth and prosperity, but when disrespected they could cause hardship and misery. Draping kings in layers of gold and framing the space they occupied with textiles and woven screens, or wrapping minkisi in furs and beads, was certainly meant to signal their authority, but it also contained and controlled their potentially overwhelming force. This exhibition presents material culture from kingdoms in Nigeria, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon, many of which still exist today. Drawing on examples from UMMA’s collection of African art, complemented by loans and contextual photographs, it gives a sense of the spectacle that accompanies authority, both political and spiritual, in Central and West Africa, and the material forms through which it is expressed. Laura De Becker Helmut & Candis Stern Associate Curator of African Art Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost and the African Studies Center.

While the accumulation of materials transformed rulers into almost sculptural bodies, similar practices transformed Central African minkisi (power figures) into containers for a society’s ancestors, who were believed to have the power to influence the lives of their descendants. The wooden core of these sculptures (often the only remnant in museum collections) formed a base to which powerful organic materials were added by a ritual specialist. By wrapping the sculptures in animal skins, beads, and cowrie shells and adding metal tacks, medicinal plants, and animal horns, these lifeless wooden carvings were activated, becoming objects with agency that could resolve conflicts, exact punishment, and impart riches. Certain minkisi were consulted by individuals to cure illness or to ensure success in trade, while others were reserved for communal matters: the forging of treaties, the judgment of criminals, and the protection of villages. 8

umm a .umic h.ed u

jan and david brandon family bridge | august 19â&#x20AC;&#x201C;december 31, 2017

exhibitions

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Thomas Edward Bowdich, The First Day of the Yam Custom, 1818, printed 1819, colored aquatint. Special Collections Library, University of Michigan Library Artist unrecorded, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bembe peoples. Male figure, ca. 1870, wood, tukula powder, vegetable fiber, shell, resin. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Candis and Helmut Stern, 2005/1.196.2 Artist unrecorded, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Songye peoples. Power figure (nkisi), ca. 1940, wood, civet skin, monkey skin, woven vegetable fiber, feathers, seed pods, animal teeth, antelope horns, glass beads, metal. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Candis and Helmut Stern, 2005/1.229 Eliot Elisofon. Oba Ademuwagun Adesida II, the Deji (ruler) of Akure, on throne in courtyard of Akure palace, Akure, Nigeria, 1959, photograph. Courtesy of Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, EEPA EECL 2087 fa l l 2017

umm a .umic h.ed u

photography gallery | august 26, 2017–january 7, 2018

exhibitions

GLOSS MODELING BEAUTY photography—–namely, impeccably styled models—–with seemingly serendipitous encounters in posh urban environments. The ambiguous narratives present in the serial work of Newton and Bourdin aim to shock and titillate viewers, who experience these staged fantasies through the voyeuristic lens of the camera.

loss explores the shifting ideals of female beauty that pervade European and American visual culture from the 1920s to today. Focusing on the prominent presence of women as the subject of photography, the exhibition features images of sleek and poised female models and celebrities destined for the glossy pages of fashion magazines and catalogs. Gloss considers the ways in which standards of physical and sartorial beauty are represented, and in turn generated, by the medium of photography.

OPPOSITE: Eduardo Paolozzi, Astute sizing up perfume trends, 1965–70, photolithograph. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Professor Diane M. Kirkpatrick, 2000/2.14.7, © Trustees of the Paolozzi Foundation, Licensed by DACS / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York ABOVE: Philippe Halsman, Halle, 1942, gelatin silver print. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Hans Neukomm, 1996/2.7, Photo © Philippe Halsman Archive

In the commercial studios of prominent midcentury photographers Edward Steichen, James Van Der Zee, and Philippe Halsman, famous actresses and anonymous models from Hollywood to Harlem demonstrate contemporary comportment and style trends. Beyond commercial advertising practice, documentary photographers Elliott Erwitt, Joel Meyerowitz, and Ralph Gibson portray candid images of fashionable women on city streets and dressed mannequins in shop windows, resulting in intriguing juxtapositions of haute couture and everyday life. In the mid-1970s, two photographers emerged at the fore of avant-garde fashion photography practice: Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin combined elements of studio fa l l 2017

Pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Eduardo Paolozzi frequently appropriated visual approaches and images from consumer culture, creating works that conveyed new perspectives on fashionable female subjects. Warhol’s practice of using a Polaroid camera resulted in hundreds of one-of-a-kind photographs of the famous and, in some instances, now-anonymous devotees of his studio, the Factory. Warhol subsequently used some of these photographs to develop large-scale lithographic portraits of women, which retain the candid qualities of the original Polaroids. Paolozzi’s photolithographs overlay images culled from mass media sources with vibrant patterns of color that engender comical and uneasy analogies. Photographs from the last fifteen years by Nikki S. Lee and Josephine Meckseper offer alternative narratives to mainstream and often maleproduced notions of female beauty. Lee employs the visual strategies of fashion photography in her self-portrait in the guise of a glamorous bourgeois, emphasizing the performative aspects of representing beauty. Finally, Josephine Meckseper’s inclusion of advertisements in her seamless collages turns the fashion industry on its head (literally). The photographs on view in Gloss offer a multitude of eye-catching visuals from a long history of depicting female beauty over the last 100 years and mark shifting tastes of designers, photographers, and consumers alike. Jennifer M. Friess Assistant Curator of Photography Lead support for this exhibition is provided by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. Additional generous support is provided by the University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

exhibitions

Daniel Rozin, Mirror No. 10, 2009, computer, custom software, video camera. Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul. Photo courtesy of bitforms gallery, New York

MOVING IMAGE: PORTRAITURE

oving Image: Portraiture offers a culturally timely spin on a traditional genre of art. Three innovative portraits by artists Hannu Karjalainen, Daniel Rozin, and Marina Zurkow, working with software and video, challenge the definitions of an art form that is still closely associated with painting and photography. As contemporary viewers increasingly filter personal identity through the prism of social media, an examination of the digital or time-based portrait has never been more relevant. Some of the earliest and most influential experiments in moving-image portraiture were Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests, made at his New York studio, the Factory, in the mid-1960s. Warhol used silent black-and-white film, and his subjects most often remained expressionless and nearly motionless; he referred to these works as “living portraits.” The sitters were 12

also often categorized by type, arranged in compilations such as 13 Most Beautiful Women or 50 Personalities. Warhol’s Screen Tests find an unusual legacy in Finnish artist Hannu Karjalainen’s Towards An Architect. This video portrays a fictional architect—–an architect “type”—–slowly being doused in paint as he stares motionless at the camera. The depiction is based on the true story of French architect Guillaume Gillet, who in the 1960s designed the largest prison in Europe, built to rehabilitate convicts via its harmonious design. The design was a failure in the overpopulated prison, and Karjalainen imagines the architect’s punishment, as he is covered in paint with colors selected for their presumably serene qualities. Mirror No. 10, by New York-based Israeli artist Daniel Rozin, uses custom software to generate a live reflection of the environment in which a screen is displayed, in this case a live umm a .umic h.ed u

exhibitions

media gallery | july 29–november 26, 2017

Hannu Karjalainen, Towards An Architect, 2010, HD video, edition of 2/5+2AP. Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul. Photo courtesy of Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska and Hannu Karjalainen

Marina Zurkow, Mesocosm (Northumberland UK), 2011, custom software-driven hand-drawn animation, edition of 5. Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul. Photo courtesy of bitforms gallery, New York

sketch of the viewer approaching the frame in UMMA’s gallery. Mirror No. 10 is mesmerizing as an exercise in expanding the possibilities of real-time self-portraiture. However, the work’s intent—–as art or entertainment—–is complicated by its engagement of an audience already living in an imageobsessed “selfie” society. American artist Marina Zurkow interprets a work by painter Lucian Freud, a portrait of performance artist Leigh Bowery famed for his role in the experimental art scene in 1980s London. In Mesocosm (Northumberland, UK) we see an animation of a figure resembling Bowery in the moors of Northeast England. One hour of world time elapses in each minute of screen time; one year lasts 146 hours. Seasons unfold, moons rise and set, animals come and go, in this portrait of an individual experiencing the passage of time. fa l l 2017

These works are currently on loan from the media arts collection of Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul. This exhibition is the last in a suite of three presentations of work drawn from the collection, addressing traditional categories such as portraiture, landscape, and performance—–all of which find new resonance when explored through the strategies of time-based technology. Kathleen Forde Adjunct Media Arts Curator Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment and the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities and Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design.

umm a .umic h.ed u

the connector | july 25–december 10, 2017

in focus

RECENT ACQUISITION:

SAM NHLENGHETHWA

he Museum recently acquired two prints by the contemporary artist Sam Nhlengethwa (b. 1955) to complement its growing collection of African art. Nhlengethwa, one of South Africa’s most prolific and versatile artists, rose to prominence in the 1990s, and his collages, paintings, and prints have enjoyed international acclaim ever since. In his Tribute series, Nhlengethwa pays homage to artists who have influenced his own creative practice, including both close colleagues and historical figures. In the two color lithographs acquired by UMMA, Nhlengethwa honors the works of David Goldblatt and Romare Bearden, a South African photographer and American painter, respectively, who have significantly impacted Nhlengethwa’s work in terms of subject matter and technique.

TOP: Sam Nhlengethwa, Tribute to Romare Bearden, 2014, color lithograph on paper, edition 12/50. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Museum purchase made possible by the Director’s Acquisition Committee, 2016/2.8 BOTTOM: Sam Nhlengethwa, Tribute to David Goldblatt, 2014, color lithograph on paper, edition 49/50. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Museum purchase made possible by the Director’s Acquisition Committee, 2016/2.6

Romare Bearden (1911–1988), a master of collage, has been a source of inspiration for Nhlengethwa since the 1970s, when he was first introduced to Bearden’s work at a local art center. By explicitly making this connection, Nhlengethwa not only aligns his own works in collage with those of Bearden; he also links his personal experiences as a black South African with those of African-American artists, particularly surrounding issues of racial segregation and the fight for civil rights. Nhlengethwa also found resonance with Bearden’s art through their shared love for jazz, which permeates every aspect of both artists’ work. David Goldblatt (b. 1930), a celebrated documentary photographer known for capturing both the tumultuous history and astonishing landscapes of South Africa, is also honored in this series. In their portraits of miners and migratory laborers, Goldblatt and Nhlengethwa, though fa l l 2017

working in very different media, share a concern for the harsh realities that many of their fellow South Africans experience. In both prints Nhlengethwa recreates the works of Bearden and Goldblatt in his own unique style and places them on the walls of empty living rooms. Before becoming a full-time artist, Nhlengethwa worked as a set designer for the South African Broadcasting Company (famously designing the set for the historic televised debate between President De Klerk and Nelson Mandela in 1994), where he undoubtedly developed his affinity for arranging and curating interior spaces. Although void of people, the interior scenes still come across as intimate and personal. Some art historians have interpreted these domestic images as a reflection of how our “inner selves have been shaped by those who raised us.” In a similar way, Nhlengethwa has been shaped by the artists featured in his Tribute series. Acquiring these works strengthens the Museum’s holdings in South African art and reflects its more recent focus on collecting and presenting contemporary African art. Additionally, they underline the global context that contemporary African artists operate in today: Nhlengethwa’s images demonstrate how artists from all over the world can and do interact, exchange, influence, and respond to each other. Laura De Becker Helmut and Candis Stern Associate Curator of African Art The purchase of this work was made possible through the generosity of the UMMA Director’s Acquisition Committee.

programs

ENGAGING WITH ART – DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION Since 2012, when the Mellon Foundation first began funding positions at UMMA whose main task is working with university classes, UMMA has made engagement with classes that address issues such as race, class, and gender a central priority of our contribution to university learning. As the University of Michigan nears the end of the first year of its five-year Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) initiative, UMMA wanted both to evaluate and share its own contributions to undergraduate learning in these areas. In many respects, UMMA has placed itself on the leading edge of these campus efforts. In any given semester, over one quarter of all classes visiting UMMA address DE&I-related topics. In order to evaluate UMMA’s contributions to the DE&I initiative beyond these numbers, however, we decided to survey students in several classes about their study room experiences. The responses show that students find UMMA’s contributions to the DE&I initiative to be engaging and substantial. Students identified the selection of art and especially the teaching style of UMMA staff as key ingredients of their experience. UMMA practices a pedagogy of engaged learning that works especially well for addressing topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We primarily ask students questions that get them to look closely, analyze what they are seeing, and make connections to the themes being considered in their class. UMMA’s sessions for DE&I-related classes encourage students to think critically about the ways different groups of people have been represented and are represented in visual culture. Numerous students remarked in the survey that this teaching approach enabled students to bring their own personal experiences and their knowledge from class to the discussion. One student in Cecilia Morales’s class, “Communities, Borders, Identities,” wrote, “The leader did a great job of asking the class questions and allowing us to connect the dots about the meanings of the art and connections to topics in class.” Dana Nichols, the instructor for one of the classes, commented, “While I certainly knew [my students] were learning a great deal about visual culture and American history, you never really 16

know exactly what they're making of everything. It was a pleasure to hear them bring those ideas together into insightful and thoughtful comments about the artwork.” Students appreciated the fact that the study room sessions did not shy away from addressing how difficult and painful such issues can be. In the session for the class “Africa and Its Diaspora,” for instance, the class looked at objects from the past that propagated hurtful stereotypes about AfricanAmericans and at art by black artists who are responding directly against those stereotypes. One student remarked, “I really liked that as a class we didn’t shy away from any intense topics and the facilitator was also really willing to go there with us.” Another student elaborated, writing, “The artifacts that we saw teach about the dark past of race science and popular perceptions of African-Americans, as well as celebrate the history and art made by people in the black community actively fighting against these harmful stereotypes. I think this balance of unedited history and recognition of the positive work and commentary of these artists is a good way to start a conversation on diversity, equity, and inclusion and offers important insight into how to approach this type of initiative.” The results from the survey suggest that from the perspective of students UMMA is making substantive and powerful contributions to student learning and experiences. Asked to evaluate how this kind of study room session helps students engage with topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, one student summed up their remarks by saying, “It creates a safe space to talk about these topics. Using art is also a really interesting form to talk about these topics because it makes you really think about diversity, equity, and inclusion and how it can shape all forms of our life including art and art can help create diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Dave Choberka Andrew W. Mellon Manager of Academic Outreach & Teaching

umm a .umic h.ed u

“

If minorities and oppressed people are not seen—–whether that’s in society in general or through art—–then society is lesser for not benefitting from their rich culture and contributions. Engaging in sessions such as the one we had on Friday for African Studies 111 reaffirms the fact that African and African-American art occupies the space of fine art in spite of classic notions holding otherwise. These sessions are bringing artists of color into popular consciousness. That’s powerful.

”

–Brittany Boyle, undergraduate in Sandra Gunning’s class, AAS 111–Introduction to Africa and Its Diaspora

“

DE&I initiatives can seem a little hollow. While everyone is for them, it’s debatable how much (and what) they actually accomplish. Study room sessions like ours are where some of the real work happens. We had an enlightening conversation about how race, gender, and class are explored in some strikingly beautiful artwork. The opportunity to see this work up close helped students encounter those issues in a new way.

”

–Dana Nichols, instructor of English 232– Race and Visual Culture

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Heidi Morse’s class, AAS 104–Black Women, Black Arts in The Ernestine and Herbert Ruben Study Center for Works on Paper Students in AAS 111–Introduction to Africa and Its Diaspora discuss Harlem Dancers by Elizabeth Olds with Mellon Manager of Academic Outreach and Teaching, David Choberka Students respond to art in Dana Nichols’s class, English 232–Race and Visual Culture Students get up close and personal with art in Sandra Gunning’s AAS 111–Introduction to Africa and Its Diaspora

fa l l 2017

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: UMMA PROGRAMS FALL 2017 Artists, curators, filmmakers, dancers, choreographers, and musicians, bring UMMA to life this fall. Here are a few highlights. Visit umma.umich.edu to see more.

AN UMMA + KELSEY DIALOGUE:

TRANSMISSIONS ACROSS THE GAP: COSMOGONIC TATTOOS WITH ARTIST JIM COGSWELL THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 6:45 P.M. HELMUT STERN AUDITORIUM Artist Jim Cogswell will explore his work in Cosmogonic Tattoos, an exhibition on view at both UMMA and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology which celebrates the power of architecture, ornament, and material objects to shape knowledge, historical memory, and cultural identity. He will be joined by Terry Wilfong, Kelsey Museum Curator of Graeco-Roman Egyptian Collections, and Franc Nunoo-Quarco, Stamps School of Art & Design Professor, moderated by Jennifer Friess, UMMA Assistant Curator of Photography, for a discussion. Reception to follow at the Kelsey Museum.

NIGHTS AT THE MUSEUM ARTIST TALK: CHRISTO SEPTEMBER 15-22, DUSK TO DAWN By popular demand, UMMA’s exterior media art initiative returns this fall to showcase digital art, feature films, live music and dance, and more on its State Street facade. Highlights include: U-M Bicentennial documentary on September 15; Pixar’s WALL-E on September 16; Heart of Tones live dance event on September 17; live simulcast of the New York Philharmonic performing Mahler’s 5th Symphony on September 19; and a screening of Wilson/Glass’s seminal opera Einstein on the Beach on September 22. Complete details at umma.umich.edu/nights Nights at the Museum is presented in partnership with the University Musical Society, the University of Michigan Bicentennial Office, School of Music, Theatre & Dance and Department of Screen Arts & Cultures, the Ann Arbor District Library, and the Neutral Zone.

PRESENTED BY THE PENNY STAMPS SPEAKER SERIES AND UMMA

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 5:10 P.M. MICHIGAN THEATER, 603 E. LIBERTY ST, ANN ARBOR Christo and Jeanne-Claude are best known for their large-scale environmental works such as the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin (1995) and The Gates (2005) in New York City’s Central Park. Join this artist talk to learn about recent and current projects including The Floating Piers, Lake Iseo, Italy, 2014-16 and Work in Progress: The Mastaba, Project for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This program is presented on the occasion of the UMMA exhibition Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors—Part II: Abstraction (on view through October 29, 2017) which includes one of Christo’s drawings related to The Gates project. LEFT TO RIGHT: Jim Cogswell installs Cosmogonic Tattoos at UMMA UMMA’s Nights at the Museum, 2016 Christo in his studio, 2012. Photograph by Wolfgang Volz

umm a .umic h.ed u

programs

ENGAGING AUDIENCES THROUGH PUBLIC PROGRAMS: 2016–2017 Public programs at UMMA, including performances, readings, artist and curator talks, symposia, film screenings, student programs, and programs for families, are designed to welcome and engage audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

In 2016–17, UMMA Education delivered 138 public programs with a total attendance of OVER 21,500. An additional 1,800 people enjoyed Nights at the Museum, the week-long series of outdoor events and screenings launched in fall 2016, bringing the total audience served by public programming to nearly 23,300.

U-M PARTNERS

14,500 people attended 69 student programs—programs organized by U-M students, featuring students as performers, and/or designed for the student audience. The UMMA Student Engagement Council, whose diverse members are majoring in over 25 different areas of study, plays an important role in the success of UMMA’s public and student programs. Our work with 75 different campus, student, and community partners broadened the impact of public programs across audiences.

Arts at Michigan ArtsEngine Bentley Historical Library Bicentennial Office

Rackham Graduate School School of Education School of Information

Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies

School of Kinesiology School of Music, Theater and Dance

Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies

School of Public Health

Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

College of Engineering

University of Michigan Medical School

Confucius Institute

University of Michigan Library

Department of Afroamerican and African Studies

Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies

Department of English Language and Literature

Women’s Studies

Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

Department of Near Eastern Studies Duderstadt Gallery Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies Helen Zell Writers Program History History of Art Institute for the Humanities Institute for Research on Women and Gender Islamic Studies Program Kelsey Museum of Archeology Language Resource Center Liberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies

School of Social Work

Bronze Elegance EnspiRED Helicon LSA Student Government Middle East and Arab Network Michigan in Color Michigan Refugee Assistance Program MOSAIC MUSIC Matters Multi-Ethnic Student Association NOiR SHEI Magazine UMMA Student Engagement Council WCBN 88.3FM

Life Sciences Institute

COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND BEYOND

Lloyd Hall Scholars Program

Ann Arbor Art Center

MLK, Jr. Symposium Committee

Ann Arbor District Library

Medieval and Early Modern Studies program

Ann Arbor Film Festival

Michigan Community Scholars Program

Alzheimer’s Association

Michigan Law Educational Environment Committee

Literati Bookstore

Middle East and Arab Network

SafeHouse Center

Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs Museum Studies Program

fa l l 2017

Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design

Center for Japanese Studies

International Institute

Student Late Night was organized by the UMMA Student Engagement Council and is one of many events and initiatives the SEC is involved in creating each year.

Office of Research

Nam Center for Korean Studies

Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum

Kerrytown Concert House University Musical Society The Romanian Film Center in Bucharest, Romania

Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

umma happenings

Tiny Buddha Yoga conducts a class on UMMA’s Forum Court during the May 12 Fridays After 5.

Ernestine Ruben (BSDes ’53) with her brother, Harry Winston, Jr., in the Yankee Air Museum’s storage as they look over bomber planes created at Willow Run. 20 Ruben’s photographs of Willow Run were on view during Ernestine Ruben at Willow Run: Mobilizing Memory.

umm a .umic h.ed u

U-M students present final project dance pieces in the UMMA Apse for their “Engaging Performance” class. Each performance was inspired by works in the UMMA collection.

Children assemble artwork in UMMA’s Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery during the My Turn event on July 9.

Jim Cogswell gives a tour of his Cosmogonic Tattoos exhibition in the UMMA Commons during the June 9 Fridays After 5.

A visitor takes a closer look at a Tibetan book cover, on view in Protecting Wisdom, during “Framing the Word of the Buddha” with Donald Lopez on March 26.

Laura De Becker, Helmut & Candis Stern 21 Associate Curator of African Art, talks Victors For Art during the April 23 In Conversation.

campaign

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

As UMMA enters the last 16 months of the Victors for Michigan campaign, we are pleased to report that the Museum has made significant progress on its goal to advance a university art museum for the world. As of June 30, UMMA has raised over $33.9 million—85% of its campaign goal. These gifts will have a deep and lasting impact on our community—–elevating the Museum’s role as the cultural heart of the University of Michigan. As we approach the final phase of the campaign, there are still many opportunities to invest in UMMA and its next stage of growth. Endowment support in the following areas will enable UMMA to become THE MODEL FOR UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUMS NATIONWIDE.

DEVELOP EXHIBITIONS AND PROGRAMS Support for UMMA’s award-winning, multidisciplinary exhibitions and programs will enable compelling encounters with art that ignite creativity and forge connections across diverse disciplines, geographies, and cultures. Artist Ernestine Ruben discusses UMMA’s exhibition Ernestine Ruben at Willow Run: Mobilizing Memory at the March 2017 UMMA After Hours

SUPPORT CURATORIAL AND LEADERSHIP POSITIONS Endowment funding for curatorial positions and the directorship will strengthen scholarship and attract and retain the brightest leaders in the museum field far into the future.

UMMA Curator of Asian Art Natsu Oyobe, PhD

CHAMPION NEW INITIATIVES UMMA is recasting the role of art in the community through innovative programs like Nights at the Museum that reach beyond the walls of the Museum to engage and inspire; utilizing traditional partnerships and emerging technology to connect the rich artistic legacy of the past with today’s avant-garde.

Audiences enjoy the inaugural Nights at the Museum in September 2016

YOU CAN PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE MUSEUM’S BRIGHT FUTURE. Learn more at umma.umich.edu/funding-priorities or call Carrie Throm, Deputy Director, Development and External Relations at 734.763.6467. 22

umm a .umic h.ed u

Handmade fine jewelry by Ruth Taubman, graduate of the University of Michigan’s Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing program

Hand-printed textiles and unique ceramics by local esteemed fiber artist, Urban Jupena

JEWELRY AND HOME DECOR MADE BY ANN ARBOR ARTISTS GIFTS INSPIRED BY THE MUSEUM’S COLLECTION

Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors

Joseph Rosa

Colorful ceramic gifts inspired by the Museum’s collection

Handcrafted wooden corkscrews made from a repurposed campus cherry tree removed for North Campus construction in 2016

Adams Alinari Amaral Arneson Artschwager Ashevak Avery Baldessari Baril Bengston Bochner Bridges Calder Campus Cartier-Bresson Chagoya Chamberlain Christo Close Condo Crewdson de Middel Delaney Deschenes di Suvero Diebenkorn Dijkstra Dine Dubuffet Eagles Eisenstaedt Friedman Gérôme Giacometti Greuze Grotjahn Hartigan Hayter Hockney Hodgkin Hofmann Houck Johns Jongkind KAWS Kerstens Kishimoto Krasner Kruger Lichtenstein López Ma Ke Mandell Matisse Max Meier Meyerowitz Murillo Murray Nevelson O’Keeffe Oka Doner Oldenburg Parlá Penn Peyton Picasso Prager Price Ramos Random International Rauschenberg Richter Ritts Rockman Rosanjin Saenredam Schneider Schorr Scott Shapiro Shunk-Kender Sietsema Simpson Sisley Smith Stanczak Stark Suh Takara Tansey Thomas Thompson Turner Tuttle Vanmechelen Vigée Le Brun Warhol Wegman Wesley Whistler Winters Wood Woodman Ye Guohua

Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors This 136-page, full-color catalog documenting the Museum’s recent two-part exhibition is only available for purchase at the UMMA Store.

EXHIBITION-RELATED PUBLICATIONS UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN GIFTS FREE GIFT WRAPPING Sign up to be an UMMA Free Member and receive

20% OFF in the UMMA Store!

Sweetwaters Coffee, Tea, and Baked Goods Available Daily

SHOP ONLINE! STORE.UMMA.UMICH.EDU STORE HOURS MON–SAT 11 A.M.–5 P.M., SUN 12–5 P.M.

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PA I D Ann Arbor, MI Permit No. 144

525 South State Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1354 734.764.0395 umma.umich.edu

For up-to-date details on UMMA exhibitions and programs, visit umma.umich.edu or follow UMMA on Facebook or Twitter! connect online facebook.com/ummamuseum twitter.com/ummamuseum instagram.com/ummamuseum

make a gift umma.umich.edu or umma-giving@umich.edu

gallery hours September–April Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Sunday 12–5 p.m. Closed Mondays

store hours Monday through Saturday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Sunday 12–5 p.m.

building hours September–April The Forum, Commons, and selected public spaces in the Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing are open daily 8 a.m.–8 p.m. The Museum is always free. $10 suggested donation appreciated.

april 22–december 3, 2017 Jim Cogswell: Cosmogonic Tattoos july 1–october 29, 2017 Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors— Part II: Abstraction july 25–december 10, 2017 In Focus: Sam Nhlengethwa july 29–november 26, 2017 Moving Image: Portraiture august 19–december 31, 2017 Power Contained: The Art of Authority in Central and West Africa august 19–november 26, 2017 Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors— Part II: Abstraction | Random International: Swarm Study / II august 26, 2017–january 7, 2018 Gloss: Advertising Beauty november 18, 2017–february 18, 2018 Matisse Drawings: Curated by Ellsworth Kelly from the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation Collection december 2, 2017–may 13, 2018 Tim Noble and Sue Webster: The Masterpiece december 12, 2017–april 15, 2018 In Focus: Paul Rand december 16, 2017–april 15, 2018 Patricia Piccinini: The Comforter

university of michigan board of regents: Michael J. Behm, Grand Blanc; Mark J. Bernstein, Ann Arbor; Shauna Ryder Diggs, Grosse Pointe; Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms; Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor; Andrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe Park; Ron Weiser, Ann Arbor; Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor; Mark S. Schlissel, ex officio contributors: Lisa Bessette, Lisa Borgsdorf, Dave Choberka, Laura DeBecker, Katie Derosier, Kathleen Forde, Jennifer Friess, Mark Gjukich, Kathy Huss, Lehti Mairike Keelmann, Ruth Keffer, Stephanie Rieke Miller, Anna Sampson, Levi Stroud, Nettie Tiso editor: David Lawrence designers: Paul Koob + Angie Stranyak