Fall 2023 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) Newsletter
Exhibitions, activities, education programming and more! Exhibitions, activities, education programming and more!
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS FEDERICO URIBE METAMORPHOSIS | METAMORFOSIS State Street Gallery, The Shop, and the Lobby September 30, 2023–May 26, 2024 2 MMoCA presents Metamorphosis | Metamorfosis, featuring the Colombian-born, Miamibased artist Federico Uribe’s magical, colorful, and sculptural menagerie of plants and animals made of ordinary materials. Multi-colored shotgun casings and golden, varying caliber bullets are brought together to form a lion; saddles and horseshoes are fashioned into a horse; and scissors, zip ties, and wool become a sheep. Uribe fills a former MMoCA office space adjacent to The Shop with his magical ecosystem depicting the flora and fauna found in a coral reef. A farm scene and a family of immigrants are among the worlds in which visitors can become immersed. One might think that Uribe intends to alert viewers to the exploitation of animals and the environment. But, instead, Uribe aims to use everyday and sometimes provocative materials to challenge associations; the goal is against the grain and utopian—or, as he explains, to “make people happy”—in spite of preconceived connotations. Uribe shape-shifts feelings of sorrow, rage, and despair to create positive, immersive environments. Metamorphosis | Metamorfosis is Guest Curated by Laura Dickstein Thompson, EdD. RELATED EVENT SAVING CORAL REEFS FROM CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH SCIENCE AND ART Saturday, October 22 • 2–3 PM MMoCA Lecture Hall At first look, Federico’s Uribe’s Plastic Reef (2018-2023) appears to be an underwater world filled with corals, mussels, and schools of fish. However, everything is created and replicated using thousands of pieces of upcycled plastic carefully cut, dyed, and arranged. Discarded plastic bottles, cutlery, flip flops, and other plastic detritus that highlights the damage done to the oceans by pollution. Pupa Gilbert is a Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a visiting faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This talk is presented in conjunction with the Wisconsin Science Festival. FREE ADMISSION COVER: Federico Uribe, Panda Bear (detail), 2018. Bullet Shells, 60 x 52 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Adelson Galleries. PAGE 2: Federico Uribe, The Immigrant, 2021. Suitcases, 61 1/2 x 104 x 44 1/2 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Adelson Galleries.
FLOYD NEWSUM Evolution of Sight Main Galleries • On view through October 8 Featuring works created over the past 50 years, Floyd Newsum: Evolution of Sight offers opportunities to look closely and explore the personalized signs and imagery utilized throughout Newsum’s artistic career. Each work captures a deeply personal history of the artist, with family photographs and symbols veiled with richly layered colors and textures that create tactile surfaces. When placed in context with each other, themes of community, family, spirituality, and transcendence emerge. AVA WANBLI Sertraline Dolls Imprint Gallery • On view through October 8 RECOLLECT Sam Gilliam Henry Street Gallery On view through March 3, 2024 For over forty years, Sam Gilliam traveled between his home in Washington, D.C., and Madison every summer. Each trip was marked by a whirlwind of artistic activity as well as friendship, mentorship, and transformation. Sertraline Dolls is a first-person, single-player video game in which the player encounters multiple representations of the artist’s body taken from 3D scans that include various poses, guises, and personas. Visitors encounter these renderings as they complete tasks on each of the four levels, collecting various objects needed to move on to the next level. The work reflects on the complexities of what it means to be a trans woman in sex work, providing a meditation on self-production through sexual expression and consumption of the body. RECOLLECT: Sam Gilliam invites visitors to celebrate the connections found in his art and through his art. Guided by stories shared by those who knew Gilliam, the exhibition is a meditation on individual and extremely personal ties to the artist and his works. The show is an opportunity to reflect on the innovative production of an internationally recognized artist and his impact on the development of Madison, Wisconsin’s creative culture. PAGE 3: Floyd Newsum, Sirigu Janie’s Journey, 2018. Acrylic and oil on paper with collage elements, 55 x 95 inches. Courtesy of the Artist. • Ava Wanbli, Sertraline Dolls (screenshot), 2021–22. Installation, variable. Courtesy of the Artist. • Installation view of RECOLLECT: Sam Gilliam, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 2023. 3
- Page 1: FALL 2023
- Page 5 and 6: EDUCATION PROGRAMS MMoCA CINEMA FAL
- Page 7 and 8: PROGRAMS& EVENTS centering on Sam G
- Page 9 and 10: FELINE FELICITY A Behind-the-scenes
- Page 11 and 12: BUSINESS, FOUNDATION, & GOVERNMENT
FLOYD NEWSUM<br />
Evolution <strong>of</strong> Sight<br />
Main Galleries • On view through October 8<br />
Featuring works created over the past 50 years,<br />
Floyd Newsum: Evolution <strong>of</strong> Sight <strong>of</strong>fers opportunities<br />
to look closely and explore the personalized<br />
signs and imagery utilized throughout Newsum’s<br />
artistic career. Each work captures a deeply personal<br />
history <strong>of</strong> the artist, with family photographs<br />
and symbols veiled with richly layered colors and<br />
textures that create tactile surfaces. When placed<br />
in context with each other, themes <strong>of</strong> community,<br />
family, spirituality, and transcendence emerge.<br />
AVA WANBLI<br />
Sertraline Dolls<br />
Imprint Gallery • On view through October 8<br />
RECOLLECT<br />
Sam Gilliam<br />
Henry Street Gallery<br />
On view through March 3, 2024<br />
For over forty years, Sam Gilliam traveled between<br />
his home in Washington, D.C., and <strong>Madison</strong> every<br />
summer. Each trip was marked by a whirlwind <strong>of</strong><br />
artistic activity as well as friendship, mentorship,<br />
and transformation.<br />
Sertraline Dolls is a first-person, single-player<br />
video game in which the player encounters<br />
multiple representations <strong>of</strong> the artist’s body<br />
taken from 3D scans that include various poses,<br />
guises, and personas. Visitors encounter these<br />
renderings as they complete tasks on each <strong>of</strong> the<br />
four levels, collecting various objects needed to<br />
move on to the next level.<br />
The work reflects on the complexities <strong>of</strong> what<br />
it means to be a trans woman in sex work, providing<br />
a meditation on self-production through<br />
sexual expression and consumption <strong>of</strong> the body.<br />
RECOLLECT: Sam Gilliam invites visitors to celebrate<br />
the connections found in his art and through<br />
his art. Guided by stories shared by those who<br />
knew Gilliam, the exhibition is a meditation on individual and extremely personal ties to the artist and<br />
his works. The show is an opportunity to reflect on the innovative production <strong>of</strong> an internationally recognized<br />
artist and his impact on the development <strong>of</strong> <strong>Madison</strong>, Wisconsin’s creative culture.<br />
PAGE 3: Floyd Newsum, Sirigu Janie’s Journey, 2018. Acrylic and oil on paper with collage elements, 55 x 95 inches. Courtesy <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong>ist. •<br />
Ava Wanbli, Sertraline Dolls (screenshot), 2021–22. Installation, variable. Courtesy <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong>ist. • Installation view <strong>of</strong> RECOLLECT: Sam Gilliam,<br />
<strong>Madison</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Contemporary</strong> <strong>Art</strong>, <strong>2023</strong>.<br />
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