The exhibition “Inside Look: Selected Acquisitions from the Georgia Museum of Art”(opens in new tab) highlights works of art recently added to the museum’s permanent collection, many of which are on view for the first time. The exhibition, shown throughout five galleries, was a collaboration among four of the museum’s curators: Nelda Damiano, Shawnya L. Harris, Asen Kirin and Jeffrey Richmond-Moll.
The gallery of Russian works, which are gifts from the Belosselsky-Belozersky family and recent acquisitions added to the collection of Bill Parker, displays portraits ranging from miniature to large and from formal to intimate. The display features paintings, prints and photography. Kirin, the Parker Curator of Russian Art, said the variety of types of portraits allows for the “opportunity to look into the phenomenon of the portrait and see its broader cultural meanings.” In developing his part of the exhibition, Kirin explained that his main priority was to “always opt for the display that provides the richest context to appreciate the complexity of the meanings conveyed by portraits.” For this reason, the exhibition includes photographs next to the portraits, adding to the art historical study of portraiture.
Another section of the exhibition highlights some of the museum’s works by Black artists. The works range in style from abstraction to folk art. “The variety reflects the growth of interest in those [African American] artists in private collections over the last few decades,” said Harris, the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art. The commentary accompanying these works expands this sentiment, emphasizing the museum’s efforts to share diverse traditions in American art, which has involved increasing its collection of work by Black artists.
“Inside Look” marks the first time a large selection of photographs by Arthur Tress and Milton Rogovin donated in 2020(opens in new tab) are on view at the museum. Collectively titled “Images of Appalachia,” they document similar communities in Appalachia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Richmond-Moll, curator of American art, said he chose to display the photographs by Tress across the gallery from those by Rogovin “as it allows for paired perspectives of a particular place in time, while also allowing viewers to discern the nuances and differences in their photographic style and approaches to the same subject matter.”
The exhibition also features photographs by Lewis Morley that capture well-known names and faces of the 1960s, such as Eartha Kitt, Anthony Hopkins and Peter O’Toole. These photographs are surrounded by 21st-century contemporary works, all of which have some sort of 3D element to them. Damiano, the Pierre Daura Curator of European Art, explained that she approaches curation as crafting a visual argument and the idea of putting celebrities who construct their public perception in dialogue with contemporary art was “visually very compelling.” Damiano also spearheaded the acquisition of 10 Sophie Taeuber-Arp prints(opens in new tab), made possible by funds given by Martha Randolph Daura, which are also included in “Inside Look.” The exhibition will be up through Sunday, January 30, 2022.
By Kaitlyn page
