In 1989 a group of Deaf artists and a Deaf art historian convened to discuss contemporary art by Deaf artists. Recognizing a growing body of work that explicitly explored Deaf culture and Deaf experience, the group issued a manifesto that proclaimed a new genre of art, articulated its defining features, and named it: De’VIA: Deaf View/Image Art.
The Memorial Art Gallery will exhibit De’VIA: The Manifesto Comes of Age. Featured will be work by the genre’s precursors, founders, and artists whose work, while they may not specifically identify with De’VIA, reflect the movement’s enduring influence. The exhibition draws principally from the permanent collection of RIT’s Dyer Arts Center, which is located on the campus of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. In a city that is home to one of the largest and most dynamic Deaf communities in the country, MAG is honored to celebrate De’VIA’s significance during the movement’s 30th anniversary year.
shown: Nancy Rourke, Second Wave of Milan, (detail) 2015
Ja’Tovia Gary’s Giverny I (NÉGRESSE IMPÉRIALE) film installation re-contextualizes archival images by combining documentary elements and direct animation, connecting the artist’s everyday experience as a Black woman with art history. By contrasting the luxury of Claude Monet’s historic gardens with the vulnerability of her own body, Gary shows how connections between colonialism, state violence, and media shape visual perception: how we see, experience, and understand the visual world.
Shown: Ja’Tovia Gary (American, b. 1984) Still from Giverny I (NÉGRESSE IMPÉRIALE), 2017 © Ja’Tovia Gary. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.
now on view in the Hurlbut Gallery
Rochester has its own graffiti legends, none more esteemed than the collective FUA (pronounced “fwah”) Krew. Though many members of FUA Krew have dispersed over the years, becoming ambassadors for Rochester and building their international recognition, our city remains the center of their work.
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Argentum: Double-Positive by Jim Sanborn consists of two bronze projection cylinders in front of MAG’s 1913 building. These cylinders are perforated with a series of texts that light up at night and project onto the facade and surrounding landscape at MAG. The texts highlight the creativity and invention that have been the core industry of the City of Rochester for decades.
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Fall Children’s Student Show
November 7–22, 2019
Text & Texture: Adult Student Show
December 5, 2019–January 15, 2020
Inspired: Teen Show featuring artwork from area high school students
January 20–February 8, 2020
Always open – always free.
Four major artists were commissioned to create site specific work for Centennial Sculpture Park. Wendell Castle’s Unicorn Family provides an outdoor grouping of chairs, a table, and a lamp for visitors who like to sit and enjoy the passing scene. Jackie Ferrara created Marking Crossways, geometric pathways and cameos leading from the ‘quarry’ area to the front entrance of MAG. Tom Otterness, known internationally for his engaging installations created Creation Myth, two heroic figures at the corner of Goodman and University Street as well as 17 diminutive bronze muses scattered throughout the Park. Albert Paley installed Soliloquy, a colorful 25-foot stainless steel sculpture at the Goodman Street entrance. shown: detail, Albert Paley, Soliloquy (2013). Gift of the Cameros Family and Ann Mowris Mulligan, with additional support from Bank of America Charitable Foundation, FULL MEA5URE, the Herdle-Moore Fund, the Rubens Family Foundation, and the Clara and Edwin Strasenburgh Fund.
photo: Brandon Vick.
