Maryland Art Place (MAP) Announces Fall Exhibition, Repurposed with Purpose: Meaning in the Materials of Making, Curated by Doreen Bolger
On View: September 20 to November 10, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 20, 2018, 6-9pm
September 6, 2018 — Repurposed with Purpose: Meaning in the Materials of Making is a thematically arranged exhibition that features over forty artists who reuse and combine materials intentionally and imaginatively, creating impactful works of art that speak to social and political issues facing the world today. The exhibition provides opportunities for reflection, personal expression, understanding, change, and advocacy for improved environmental stewardship. The exhibition will connect to a digital citywide tour highlighting related public art throughout Baltimore city. Curated by Doreen Bolger, retired Director of The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), the exhibition is sponsored by the William G. Baker, Jr., Memorial Fund.
Maryland Art Place’s gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, from noon to 4pm. MAP is located at 218 West Saratoga Street in downtown Baltimore, between Park and Howard Streets. Parking is available on the street and at the Arrow Parking Lot at 229 West Saratoga Street., which is open until 9 pm.
Repurposed with Purpose aims to enrich the experience of visitors—and their understanding of contemporary art—by encouraging them to look for greater variance and nuance in the meaning of materials. The choice of materials holds different significance for each artist, sometimes reflecting larger societal issues and at others, more personal interests, concerns, or priorities. The show is organized thematically under broad headings—Balance, Unity, Legacy, Re-Creation, and Activism. Many artworks reach across these themes and could have been placed in more than one of them, suggesting the depth and complexity of thought that artists dedicate to the meaning of their work.
Balance: Artists connect with the environment as they choose their materials, commenting on its fragility and alerting us to the impact of its degradation on the earth and on mankind, now and in times to come. They celebrate reuse while mourning waste, creating compelling works of art, sometimes interactive and experiential. Among those featured are Jim Condron, Lisa Dillin, Alex Ebstein, Linda Franklin, Alex French, the late Alice Gadzinsky, Andrew Laumann, Leigh Maddox, Mary Opasik, David Page, Stefan Ways, and Jacob Zimmerman.
Unity: For many artists, the use and meaning of the materials allows them to reach across boundaries of race, class, gender orientation, and social or work status to remind us that we are unified by our humanity. Artists represented in this theme include Laura Amussen, Michael Benevenia, Hoesey Corona, Maren Hassinger, Minas Konsolas, Caryn Martin, Joshua Wade Smith, and Adam Zynger.
Legacy: Some artists intentionally reference or incorporate historic found objects that take us from the present moment to the past and memory, reminding us that time is a continuum. Artists such as Jude Asher, Mark Eisendrath, Annie Farrar, Shaun Flynn, Ben Hamburger, Lat Naylor, Lauren Schott, and Stewart Watson illustrate this theme in a dynamic way.
Re-creation: Artists repurpose their own creations, giving them new expression and meaning. Among them, artists Edna K. Emmet, Sanzi Kermes, Joyce J. Scott, and Maxine Taylor will be fulfilling this exhibition theme. Mina Cheon and Gabriel Kroiz exemplify this powerfully in their semi-permanent installation on MAP’s façade.
Activism: Artists often embrace a more evident position of social activism or political statement, making work where their choice of materials raises issues specific to the time and place in which we live. Exhibiting artists include Sera Boena, Ram Brisueno, Rebecca E. Burr, Schroeder Cherry, Sonya Clark, David Hess, Charles Mason III, and Victor-Edward Sanchez that illustrate this theme.
All artists featured in Repurposed with Purpose share a connection to Maryland in their life stories—birth, residence, education, and/or work history, reflecting MAP’s mission to support and promote visual artists throughout the state. Public programs include a digital city-wide tour that will enable Baltimore residents and visitors to traverse the city to view public art related to the subject of the exhibition. Recorded by sound artist Andrew Keiper and developed with the advice of digital expert Nancy Proctor of MuseWeb, the tour encourages place-based story-telling and will enable residents and visitors to appreciate the city’s artistic riches through narration by artists and supporters.
About the Curator: Doreen Bolger served as the Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) for 17 years, retiring in 2015. The BMA is recognized as a center for 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. There, she redefined the Museum’s artistic focus, placing greater emphasis on its world-class collection, initiating major exhibitions, and expanding educational programs. An enthusiastic supporter of Baltimore's emerging art scene, in 2016-17 she co-curated the graduate exhibitions of the Maryland Institute College of Art. Bolger, who received her Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of The City University of NY, was previously the Director of the RI School of Design Museum, Providence, and served as a curator of American Art at the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.
About Maryland Art Place (MAP): MAP inspires, supports, and encourages artistic expression through innovative programming, exhibitions, and educational opportunities while recognizing the powerful impact art can have on the community. Among its longtime continuing and recurring programs are the Maryland Artists Registry, which since 1998 has documented over 2,000 visual artists throughout the State; the annual group exhibition Young Blood, which highlights several emerging MFA artists in the community; and Out of Order, MAP’s annual benefit exhibition and silent auction. With its robust exhibition and performance program, MAP has become an anchor organization for the Bromo Tower Arts & Entertainment District, established on the city’s west side in 2012, to realize the area’s potential as a thriving downtown arts neighborhood.
MAP was founded in 1981 as an arts organization serving the region’s visual and performing arts communities. Initially peripatetic, in 1986 it leased 218 West Saratoga Street, previously a commercial sales venue, purchasing the site two years later. This bold move secured a 20,000-sq.-ft., five-story building that MAP completely renovated by 1991, creating first-rate gallery space and a permanent and central base from which to develop its programming. A decade later, MAP temporarily relocated many of its exhibitions and programs to the Power Plant Live! complex in the Inner Harbor while still maintaining its Saratoga Street 14 Karat Cabaret as a performance venue. In 2014, MAP returned all its operations to its original site, which now also houses additional artist studios and creative businesses, functioning as a much-needed cultural incubator in the Bromo District.
www.mdartplace.org | 410 962 8565 | map@mdartplace.org
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