July 15–September 9, 2018
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Josephine Tota (1910–1996) was a seamstress and amateur artist who lived a conventional life among the Italian immigrant community in Rochester, New York. In her seventies, she spent countless hours painting in the privacy of her home, where she imbued over 90 small jewel-like paintings with the richness of her strange imagination. Themes of metamorphosis, family bonds, physical pain, human frailty, the natural world, loss, and tragedy dominate Tota’s obsessive and otherworldly depictions. Despite her relative isolation in producing this body of work, Tota was profoundly influenced by years of amateur art classes at MAG’s community art school, the Creative Workshop, and her personal interest in medieval and modern art.
It is this powerful body of work—dozens of intense paintings in egg tempera and gilding on board, completed at the end of her life—that The Surreal Visions of Josephine Tota explores and advocates for inclusion into the canon of self-taught, visionary art. “Unusual paintings like these,” writes Curator in Charge/Curator of American Art Jessica Marten, “near death-defying expressions of a little-known artist’s interior world, with incisive inquiries into womanhood, age, and power, rarely find their way inside an art museum’s walls.” Surreal Visions explores the “audacious and radical voice” of a singular artist almost lost to history and challenges our commonly held assumptions about female artists working outside the mainstream.
The Surreal Visions of Josephine Tota features over 90 paintings created by Josephine Tota; 14 from the collection of the Memorial Art Gallery, many never-before-seen paintings on loan from family and friends, and a small selection of ceramics and textiles.
This exhibition and its accompanying catalog published by RIT Press and is available for sale in The Store @ MAG. Memorial Art Gallery is forging new territory in the introduction and exploration of a little-known and unconventional artist of significant talent.
Read UofR’s post: “Recovering an ‘audacious and radical’ voice in art history”, July 12, 2018
Watch the installation process:
Hanging the Tota Exhibition from DeBergerac Productions, Inc. on Vimeo.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 | 6:30–8 pm | Rochester Central Library
Josephine Tota: A Visionary Rochester Artist
Come enjoy an exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming exhibition at the Memorial Art Gallery, The Surreal Visions of Josephine Tota. Curator Jessica Marten will share the life and art of Rochester artist, Josephine Tota (1910–1996).
Sunday, July 15, 2018 | 2 pm | MAG Auditorium
Josephine Tota and Grandma Moses: Unconventional Artists, Age, and Creative Agency
In the context of unconventional artists developing their unique voices later in life, MAG curator Jess Marten will present on Josephine Tota and noted art historian Karal Ann Marling will discuss Grandma Moses. A lively panel discussion will follow, in which the artist’s family members, Rosamond Tota (daughter) and great-niece (Lisa Rosica), will participate. Larry Merrill will moderate, and questions from the audience will be welcomed. The talk will be included with museum admission.
Wednesday, August 8, 2018 | 6:30–7:30 pm | Rochester Brainery
Behind the Scenes with the Curator: The Story and Art of Josephine Tota
Have you ever wondered how museum exhibitions are made? Spend the evening with MAG curator Jessica Marten and learn more about how her discovery of the work of a little-known visionary artist in storage led to a multi-year adventure uncovering the powerful story and stunning art of Josephine Tota.
Thursday, August 23, 2018 | 7–8 pm | MAG’s Green Room
Pop-Up Talk with the Curator: The Story and Art of Josephine Tota
Have you ever wondered how museum exhibitions are made? Spend some time with MAG curator Jessica Marten and learn more about how her discovery of the work of a little-known visionary artist in storage led to a multi-year adventure uncovering the powerful story and stunning work of Rochester artist Josephine Tota.
Sponsored by Todd and Stephanie Green, Paul Marc and Pamela Miller Ness, Rosamond Tota, the Gallery Council of the Memorial Art Gallery, the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Fund, and the June Alexander Memorial Fund. Additional support is provided by the James and Jacqueline Adams Fund, the Nancy E. Hyman Charitable Fund, Marguerite and James Quinn, Jane Labrum, Lisa Rosica, and The Century Club of Rochester.
Image credit: Josephine Tota, Untitled, 1984, egg tempera on panel, Collection of Rosamond Tota, daughter. Photograph by Andy Olenick, Fotowerks, Ltd.
Additional links:
RIT Press
Raw Vision (#98)
Locating American Art
Press Release
