Fall ushers in a new art season and it is the perfect time to head to the Phoenix Art Museum and explore their incredible variety of artwork and current selection of exhibitions. They also offer an incredible variety of special events and lectures, docent lead tours throughout the week, an excellent museum restaurant and wonderful gift shop.
A must see exhibition is Masters of Spanish Colonial Art featuring a remarkable selection of 18th century in the Viceroyalty of Peru (Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, among other modern South American nations) paintings, 19th century retablos produced in Mexico and two silver and gold plaques recently acquired by Phoenix Art Museum. “Works showcase the inventiveness, originality, and skill of artists working in the Spanish viceroyalties during the 18th century illustrating religious imagery and its multifaceted meanings in the colonial world.” This exhibition affords the community the opportunity to view masterworks of Spanish Colonial art that have never before been exhibited”, states Curator, Dr. Vanessa Davidson. The exhibition will be on view until February 28, 2016 in the Orme Lewis Gallery.
There is still time to see American and European Art from the 1920’s and 1930’s, which explores these important decades that dealt critical social, economic, scientific, and political change in America and Western Europe. Artists had much to respond to WWI, Jazz, the automobile, voting rights for women, the Great Depression and tremendous political conflict. From the Phoenix Art Museum’s collection of early twentieth century featuring an excellent list of artists: Pablo Picasso, Everett Shinn, André Derain, Reginald Marsh, Kees Van Dongen, Isabel Bishop, George Grosz, and more on view until November 15th, 2015 in Lyon Gallery.
The much anticipated Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: Gold from renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. This exhibition was inspired by “the twelve Chinese zodiac bronze sculptures from those that once graced the Qing dynasty fountain, in an eighteenth-century imperial retreat outside Beijing, looted by the British and French troops in the Second Opium War in 1860.” The artist viewed these works as a symbol of “cultural theft”, deciding to recreate the sculptures as a commentary and protest “In 2010 as a subversive commentary on the nature of looting and repatriation”. This exhibition has been paired with eighteenth-century Chinese bronze works from Phoenix Art Museum’s collection curated by Dr. Janet Baker. This exhibition will be on display through January 31st, 2016 in the Art of Asia Gallery.
Opening soon on November 4, 2015 in the Steele Gallery is The White Shirt According to Me, Giafranco Ferré, which features a stunning selection of 27 of Ferré’s white shirts created over the course of his career. Showcasing a selection of photographs, sketches, technical designs, and videos from the private archives of the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation, which examine the methods, techniques and precision applied in his designs. The beautiful exhibition was curated by the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation and by the Prato Textile Museum Foundation and will be on on view through March 6th, 2016. Don’t miss the “Circles of Support Preview and Brunch” happening at 10am on October 31st, this event is only open to circles of support level members only.
The Phoenix Art Museum is located at 1625 North Central Avenue, Phoenix 85004. The museum is open 10:00am to 9:00pm Wednesday, 10:00am to 5:00pm Thursday through Saturday, and 12:00pm to 5:00pm Sunday. The Museum is closed Monday and Tuesday. General Admission is $15 for adults, $6 for children ages 6-17, $12 for Seniors and $10 for college students w/ID. Museum members and children under age 6 are admitted free. For more about these exhibitions be sure to visit the Phoenix Art Museum online at http://www.phxart.org/exhibition.
