In This Issue: - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
In This Issue: - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
In This Issue: - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
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Photo: Kira Perov<br />
PAFA Acquires Ocean Without a Shore Video <strong>In</strong>stallation by Bill Viola<br />
Historic Landmark Building, Morris Gallery<br />
November 19, 2011 – Ongoing<br />
Curator: Julien Robson, Curator <strong>of</strong> Contemporary Art<br />
PAFA is proud to<br />
announce <strong>the</strong> presentation<br />
<strong>of</strong> Ocean Without<br />
a Shore (2007), a<br />
major video installation<br />
by internationally<br />
acclaimed artist Bill<br />
Viola and a significant<br />
new addition to <strong>the</strong><br />
museum’s collection.<br />
Exhibited in <strong>the</strong> United<br />
States for <strong>the</strong> first<br />
time, this masterpiece<br />
Bill Viola<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> genre, can be<br />
viewed, admission<br />
free, from November 19th onward, in <strong>the</strong> Morris<br />
Gallery <strong>of</strong> PAFA’s Furness-Hewitt Building.<br />
Originally shown in <strong>the</strong> 15th century Church<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Oratorio San Gallo, in Venice, Italy, Ocean<br />
Without a Shore is a complete sensory environment<br />
that combines a reverence for <strong>the</strong> traditions<br />
<strong>of</strong> figuration and realism in Western art with new<br />
and cutting edge technology. Employing three<br />
large monitors, its imagery revolves around single<br />
figures emerging out <strong>of</strong> darkness. Approaching<br />
slowly from behind an invisible wall <strong>of</strong> rushing<br />
water, <strong>the</strong>y appear hazy and e<strong>the</strong>real in grainy<br />
gray tones, and as <strong>the</strong>y come closer <strong>the</strong>y touch<br />
<strong>the</strong> unseen barrier, making it visible as a powerful<br />
broken torrent. Stepping through this wall <strong>of</strong> water<br />
By Anna O. Marley, Curator <strong>of</strong> Historical<br />
American Art<br />
As a companion to <strong>the</strong> nationally touring<br />
2012 exhibition Henry Ossawa Tanner:<br />
Modern Spirit, PAFA and <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong><br />
California Press are proud to publish a major<br />
volume <strong>of</strong> essays with <strong>the</strong> same title, presenting<br />
a complex overview <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pioneering<br />
African American artist Henry O. Tanner<br />
(1859-1937), a student at <strong>the</strong> <strong>Pennsylvania</strong><br />
<strong>Academy</strong> from 1879 to 1885. The most<br />
complete scholarly publication on Tanner, <strong>the</strong><br />
book contains <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> scholars—French<br />
and American, senior and emerging, art his-<br />
<strong>the</strong>y transform into full color, brought to life before<br />
us and made present and real only, after a while,<br />
to return into <strong>the</strong> void. <strong>In</strong>volving 24 people, this<br />
process repeats seamlessly.<br />
<strong>In</strong>spired by <strong>the</strong> writings <strong>of</strong> Senegalese poet<br />
Birago Diop, Viola’s work takes its title from<br />
Andalusian Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi, who wrote, “The<br />
Self is an ocean without a shore. Gazing upon<br />
it has no beginning or end, in this world and <strong>the</strong><br />
next.” A pr<strong>of</strong>ound and moving work <strong>of</strong> art whose<br />
simple structure belies its complex conceptual<br />
underpinnings, Ocean Without a Shore expresses<br />
this sentient self and its manifold rites <strong>of</strong> passage.<br />
Bathing <strong>the</strong> viewer in a sensorium <strong>of</strong> light and<br />
sound, it inspires us to reflect upon fundamental<br />
ideas about love, hope, sorrow, anxiety, being,<br />
death, and regeneration.<br />
Talking about Ocean Without a Shore, Bill Viola<br />
states: “Presented as a series <strong>of</strong> encounters at<br />
<strong>the</strong> intersection between life and death, <strong>the</strong> video<br />
sequence documents a succession <strong>of</strong> individuals<br />
slowly approaching out <strong>of</strong> darkness and moving<br />
into <strong>the</strong> light in order to pass into <strong>the</strong> physical<br />
world. Once incarnate, however, all beings realize<br />
that <strong>the</strong>ir presence is finite and so <strong>the</strong>y must<br />
eventually turn away from material existence to<br />
return from where <strong>the</strong>y came. The cycle repeats<br />
without end.”<br />
The Morris Gallery is open during regular<br />
museum hours and is free to <strong>the</strong> public.<br />
PAFA Offers Most Complete<br />
Scholarly Publication to Date<br />
Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit<br />
Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), A Mosque in Cairo, 1897Oil on canvas, 9 ½ x 13 in., William M.<br />
Lewis, Jr. and Carol Sutton Lewis. Photo credit: Joshua Nefsky<br />
torical and interdisciplinary—who explore <strong>the</strong> many facets <strong>of</strong> Tanner’s life and career.<br />
Seeking to place Tanner in <strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r black artists, Olivier Meslay examines those<br />
black artists working in Paris before Tanner’s arrival while Richard Powell surveys <strong>the</strong> subsequent<br />
generations <strong>of</strong> African American artists whom Tanner impacted. Tanner’s expatriate experience is<br />
<strong>the</strong> focus <strong>of</strong> four essays: Marc Simpson’s intensive study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> painting that established Tanner’s<br />
international reputation, The Raising <strong>of</strong> Lazarus; Tyler Stovall’s interdisciplinary essay on African<br />
American expatriates in Parisian culture; Jean-Claude Lesage’s presentation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> deep influence<br />
upon Tanner’s work <strong>of</strong> his thirty-four years traveling and living in nor<strong>the</strong>rn France; and Adrienne<br />
Childs’ discussion <strong>of</strong> Tanner’s unique perspective on North Africa. The catalogue also features<br />
chapters on Tanner and religion. Marcus Bruce explores <strong>the</strong> relationship <strong>of</strong> Tanner’s paintings<br />
and his religious identity, Robert Cozzolino considers Tanner’s religious imagery in <strong>the</strong> context<br />
<strong>of</strong> fin-de-siecle Symbolism in Europe, Hélène Valance analyzes Tanner’s “nocturnes” and <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
relation to contemporary innovations in science and technology, and Alan Braddock proposes<br />
Tanner’s navigation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Judeo-Christian religious identity as “<strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> race.”<br />
<strong>In</strong> a section devoted to Tanner’s style and techniques, Michael Leja examines <strong>the</strong> relationship<br />
<strong>of</strong> Tanner’s paintings to mass visual culture, and scholars Brian Baade, Amber-Kerr Allison and<br />
Jennifer Giaccai <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Smithsonian <strong>In</strong>stitution discuss <strong>the</strong> findings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first technical study <strong>of</strong><br />
Tanner’s experimentation with materials and methods.<br />
Edited and introduced by Anna O. Marley, <strong>the</strong> organizing curator <strong>of</strong> this retrospective, this lavish<br />
volume expands our understanding <strong>of</strong> Tanner’s place in art history, showing that his status as a<br />
painter was deeply influenced by his race but not decided by it.<br />
To purchase an advance copy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> catalogue for yourself or as a gift for a friend visit<br />
PORTFOLIO at <strong>the</strong> <strong>Pennsylvania</strong> <strong>Academy</strong>® in <strong>the</strong> Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building. Retail prices:<br />
hard cover edition $65 ($58.50 for members), s<strong>of</strong>t cover edition $39.95 ($35.96). You can also<br />
order online at www.pafa.org/shop.<br />
Bill Viola, Ocean Without a Shore, 2007, High-Definition color video triptych, two 65” plasma screens, one 103” screen mounted vertically, six loudspeakers (three pairs stereo sound),<br />
Room dimensions variable, Performer: Melina Bielefelt Photo: Kira Perov<br />
Hennessy Youngman & Nathaniel Snerpus<br />
Present: The Grand Manner<br />
Historic Landmark Building<br />
November 5, 2011 – February 4, 2012<br />
Curator: Julien Robson,<br />
Curator <strong>of</strong> Contemporary Art<br />
The Morris Gallery Program continues, wandering<br />
upstairs into <strong>the</strong> galleries <strong>of</strong> PAFA’s Furness-Hewitt<br />
Building, with Philadelphia based artist Jayson Musson’s<br />
presentation <strong>of</strong> a critical intervention by Hennessy<br />
Youngman and Nathaniel Snerpus.<br />
<strong>In</strong> The Grand Manner, Musson’s Hip-hop art commentator<br />
Hennessy Youngman—whose “Art Thoughtz”<br />
Hennessy Youngman<br />
videos have gone viral on <strong>the</strong> web—applies his sharp<br />
witted cultural analysis to artworks in PAFA’s collection. While viewers listen to Youngman’s<br />
take on American art history and art institutions, through both cell-phone self-guided<br />
tours and videos situated in <strong>the</strong> galleries, Musson will also arrange for his art critic-atlarge,<br />
Nathaniel Snerpus, to give a critical art historical perspective on both paintings and<br />
architecture. New large-scale didactic labels written by Snerpus will make works in <strong>the</strong><br />
collection accessible to <strong>the</strong> broadest range <strong>of</strong> museum visitors.<br />
Although best known through his popular web presence as Hennessy Youngman,<br />
Jayson Musson has been previously visible in <strong>the</strong> public domain through a column called<br />
Black Like Me that he wrote during 2007 for Philadelphia Weekly. He recently presented<br />
his work in a solo show at Marginal Utility gallery in Philadelphia. Born in <strong>the</strong> Bronx,<br />
Musson studied at <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arts</strong>, receiving a BFA in photography in 2002, and<br />
at <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> <strong>Pennsylvania</strong> where he graduated with an MFA in painting in 2011.<br />
Leading support is provided by <strong>the</strong> William Penn Foundation.<br />
PAFA’s special exhibitions in 2011-12 are supported by generous contributions from<br />
Max N. Berry, Esq, Donald R. Caldwell, and Jonathan L. Cohen.<br />
<strong>In</strong>ternational Symposium: African-American Art<br />
and France: <strong>In</strong> Henry Ossawa Tanner’s Footsteps<br />
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France<br />
November 9-10, 2011<br />
Using <strong>the</strong> career <strong>of</strong> Henry Ossawa Tanner as a starting point, this study day will explore<br />
<strong>the</strong> century-long history <strong>of</strong> African American art and France, asking how racial and cultural<br />
identities interplayed with transatlantic exchanges from fin-de-siècle cosmopolitanism into<br />
<strong>the</strong> post-colonial age. A panel <strong>of</strong> international speakers including Renée Ater, Anna Lafont,<br />
Richard Powell, Marc Simpson, Sarah Wilson, and Elvan Zabunyan will discuss <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong><br />
artists traveling to Paris specifically and France more generally. Call Monica Zimmerman,<br />
Assistant Director <strong>of</strong> Museum Education, at 215-972-2105.<br />
Organized by <strong>the</strong> Musée d’Orsay and <strong>the</strong> <strong>Pennsylvania</strong> <strong>Academy</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Fine</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> with<br />
funding from <strong>the</strong> Terra Foundation for American Art.<br />
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