Pablo Picasso, Spanish, 1881-1974 Head of a Girl, 1948, etching on paper Hackley Picture Fund Purchase 1960.25
Picasso in Print: 20th Century European Masters features important prints from the MMA’s own permanent collection and an anonymous loan. Four large-scale Picasso prints anchor the exhibition, accompanied by smaller works from the Spanish master and etchings and lithographs by Toulouse-Lautrec, Francisco goya, Tsugouharu Foujita, Georges Roualt, Paul Cezanne, Pierre Bonnard, and Françoise Gilot.
Pictures of the Best Kind: Treasures from the Permanent Collection
May 17 through August 12, 2018
William Louis Sonntag, American, 1822-1900 Mountain Landscape, 1854, oil on canvas Hackley Picture Fund Purchase, 1912.8
Over the past century, the MMA has built a reputation as home to one of the most renowned collections of art among small museums throughout the country. Pictures of the Best Kind will feature masterworks by legendary artists you might otherwise find in big-city art museums—Hopper, Degas, Whistler, Curry, Turner, Bonnard, Hawthorne, Sisley, Cranach, and more; including some the most important African American artists of the past century, such as Hughie Lee-Smith and Henry Ossawa Tanner; as well as showcasing major works in studio glass.
Underwritten by DTE Energy Foundation Dr. Don and Nancy Crandall Mary Price and Tom Schaub Steve and Rebecca Westphal
Perchance to Dream: The Art of Michael Peoples
June 21 through September 16, 2018
The Muskegon Museum of Art will present Perchance to Dream: The Art of Michael Peoples June 21 through September 16, 2018. Michael Peoples creates cast wax sculptures of pop culture objects and icons. His intensely colored objects celebrate nostalgia and kitsch, translating cartoon character Halloween buckets, honey bear bottles, garden ornaments, and the like into entrancing, candy-like sculptures and installations. Perchance to Dream is a gallery installation featuring hundreds of cast circus peanuts, an iconic childhood sweet. Towering structures of stacked casts of the equally iconic honey bear bottle punctuate a carpet of multi-colored peanuts in the installation. The public is invited to a free reception on the opening evening of the exhibition, Thursday, June 21, from 5:30 to 8:00 pm.
MMA Senior Curator Art Martin comments, “Michael Peoples is inspired by a love for the oddities of American culture, from roadside attractions and molded plastic collectibles to images of the Last Supper mounted on log plaques. The fantastical landscape of Perchance to Dream, a field of brilliantly colored circus peanuts broken by towering columns of similarly hued honey bear bottles, is in homage to the artist’s grandparents and the time he spent in their home as a child. The installation is a captivating tribute to American kitsch, of mass-production, repetitive and time-consuming labor, and the sugary joys of childhood. Guests are invited to explore this playful blend of mass-production, repetitive and time-consuming labor, and the sugary joys of childhood in an installation that transforms how the gallery is perceived.”
Michael Peoples lives in Grand Haven, Michigan and maintains a shared studio space in a converted warehouse in nearby Grand Rapids. Self-taught, he has avidly pursued and studied art since childhood. His art has appeared at sites throughout the West Michigan region. He is a member of the award winning and critically recognized SiTE:LAB, which describes itself as “a nomadic all-volunteer artist-led initiative focused on creating site-specific projects and events in underutilized and unique spaces.”
The 150th Anniversary of Edward Curtis: 150 Masterpieces from The North American Indian
May 24 through September 9, 2018
Edward Sherriff Curtis The North American Indian Portfolio 8, Plate 256 Chief Joseph – Nez Perce 1909, Photogravure
The 150th Anniversary of Edward Curtis: 150 Masterpieces from The North American Indian
2018 marks the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Edward Curtis. Curtis is today know best for his masterpiece, The North American Indian, a monumental project comprised of 20 volumes of text and over 723 large portfolio prints that catalogued images and ethnography of the Native American tribes of the Western United States. The MMA featured the entire collection of The North American Indian over the summer of 2017 in an exhibition that was seen by over 30,000 visitors from every U.S. State and 28 other countries. The exhibition was a celebration of Curtis’s achievement and an examination of the dual nature of its legacy, of the preservation of knowledge and culture, and the harmful perpetuations of stereotypes and prejudices that continue to affect the social and political landscape in our country.
The 150th Anniversary of Edward Curtis: 150 Masterpieces from The North American Indian presents 150 photographs that represent the breadth of subjects touched on in the project. The exhibition also examines criticism of Curtis’s works, and uses the objects themselves to present the dilemmas inherent in understanding the project’s legacy. The show will also premiere newly acquired copper plates used to create the photogravures, and several of the volumes of The North American Indian.
Opening Reception The 150th Anniversary of Edward Curtis: 150 Masterpieces from The North American Indian Thursday, May 24, 5:30 – 8:00 pm Marking the 150th Anniversary of the birth of renowned photographer Edward Curtis, the Muskegon Museum of Art will exhibit 150 photogravures from The North American Indian, Curtis’s monumental project comprised of 20 volumes of text and over 700 large portfolio prints that sought to catalogue the Native American tribes of the Western United States. The public is invited to a free reception on the opening evening of the exhibition, Thursday, May 24 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm.
The Burden of Representation: Lecture by Ben Mitchell Thursday, June 21 5:30 pm Reception, 7:00 pm Lecture Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian is indisputably an invaluable record of many aspects of early 20th century Native American culture. But important questions about his work and methods persist. Employing the voices and observations of both Native and non-Native artists and scholars, this program offers an overview of the significant and enduring critiques of The North American Indian, both as art and as ethnography. Event is admission is free and open to the public.
Screening of Rumble: Indians that Rocked the World Thursday, July 19, 7:00 pm (103 minutes running time) Rumble tells the story of the missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. The film features music icons Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Ed Davis, and many more. Film admission is free and open to the public. Visit event page to view trailer.
American Icon & Whiskey Ridge
May 17 through August 12, 2018
The Muskegon Museum of Art devotes a gallery to the American love of vintage motorcycles with American Icon: The Art of the Motorcycle and a complementary exhibition, Whiskey Ridge: The Summer of ’51, from May 17 through August 12, 2018. The exhibitions will include motorcycles from area collectors and photos of Whiskey Ridge stock car races taken by Dot Thompson in the summer of 1951. The public is invited to a free reception on the opening evening of the exhibition, Thursday, May 17 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm.
American Icon offers a glimpse at the artistry of the motorcycle over the years, through vintage and custom bikes drawn from Muskegon area collections. The display includes motorcycles from Harley-Davidson alongside early, ultra-rare examples from American manufacturers Henderson and Excelsior. American Icon also features portraits and images that highlight the artistry of customized motorcycles and the men and women who ride them by Michigan photographers Bill Chardon and Jennifer Green.
Mark Fazakerley collection
Hot Rod Harley collection
Dorothy “Dot” Thompson: Photo of Crashed Jalopies at Whiskey Ridge 1951. Photo courtesy of Dot Thompson
Whiskey Ridge features twelve photographs that Dorothy “Dot” Thompson took with her Kodak Brownie box camera in the summer of 1951 at the Whiskey Ridge Raceway, also known as the Newaygo County Speedway and, later, the Maple Island Raceway, a 3/8 mile dirt oval track located near Grant, Michigan. The photos capture a sense of the speed and dangerous thrills of early stock car races. Images include the dramatic events of the day and the faces of the drivers and spectators, providing a contemporary look at local racing history.
