Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) opens Shapeshifting exhibition
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) presents, Shapeshifting, one of the largest Native American Art exhibitions to open in North America in more than 30 years. Exhibition on view January 14 through through April 29, 2012.
Double sided-drum, Peabody Essex Museum
Nearly 80 works from public and private collections worldwide offer a far-reaching exploration of Native American art as a continuum, juxtaposing historic and contemporary artworks. Through constellations of objects created in a range of media – sculpture, painting, ceramics, textiles, photography, drawing, film, video and monumental installation – visual and conceptual connections are drawn between generations of Native people, art traditions and cultures.
“Typically arranged chronologically, geographically, or by medium, exhibitions of Native Art have almost exclusively focused on either historical or contemporary works, with very little mixing of the two,” says Karen Kramer Russell, exhibition curator and PEM’s curator of Native American Art and Culture. “Shapeshifting will prompt visitors to see the links and continuities within the vast panorama of Native American art, and to consider it with fresh eyes. Our intention is to shift how Native Art is exhibited and discussed.”
Spanning vast cultural, historical, intellectual, and aesthetic terrain, Shapeshifting offers a new approach to Native American art by exploring the conceptual underpinnings and artistic intent of contemporary and historic artworks alike.
“We have been especially fortunate to have the wise counsel, creativity, and expertise of a stellar group of advisors, authors, and artists from a wide range of disciplines and experiences, including many from Native American and other cultures,” said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, The James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Chief Curator at PEM.
Shapeshifting is organized into four thematic sections: Changing, Knowing, Locating, and Voicing. Two monumental contemporary installations that compellingly address familiar icons and materials-Kent Monkman’s 2007 Théâtre de Cristal and Brian Jungen’s 2002 Cetology-begin and end visitors’ journey through the exhibition.
INFO: Call 866‐745‐1876 or visit www.pem.org
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