Press RoomPhoenix Art Museum premieres largest U.S. survey of Central-Eastern European art; hosts 2024 Eric Fischl Lecture featuring Matthew Ritchie
Phoenix Art Museum premieres largest U.S. survey of Central-Eastern European art; hosts 2024 Eric Fischl Lecture featuring Matthew Ritchie
Mar, 15, 2024
Media Alerts
Phoenix Art Museum premieres largest U.S. survey of Central-Eastern European art; hosts 2024 Eric Fischl Lecture featuring Matthew Ritchie
PHOENIX (March 15, 2024) – This April, Phoenix Art Museum will present special-engagement exhibition Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, a major survey featuring nearly 100 artists from six Central-Eastern European nations, including East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia. The Museum will also present the 2024 Eric Fischl Lecture featuring renowned artist Matthew Ritchie, whose artwork Something Like Day (2004) is on view now. PhxArt will host the next PhxArt Family Funday with programming drawing inspiration from fashion-design exhibition The Power of Pink. Additional April programming includes film screenings, artist talks, and much more.
FEATURED EVENTS
Women Powered: The Choices that Define Leaders April 4 | 4:30 – 7:30 pm Check-in @ 4:30 pm Sip + Share @ 5 pm // Free for the general public Panel @ 6 pm // $15 for the general public | $10 for College Students (ID Required) and PhxArt Members | $5 for youth (17 and under) Panel presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. Join PhxArt for a two-part professional development workshop that connects community members with dynamic women leaders based in Arizona. Network with dynamic women entrepreneurs and executives during a free ‘speed-dating’ style professional-development opportunity and receive a digital packet with professional-development resources following the event.
Then stay to hear from a panel of dynamic women entrepreneurs, leaders, and business executives based in Arizona, who will give deeper insights into their own journeys through their careers and the choices they made along the way that propelled them forward, or, at times, caused them to stumble. By purchasing a ticket to the panel, attendees will also enjoy access to four exhibitions highlighting women and women artists – Barbie®: A Cultural Icon, The Power of Pink, Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen, and Laura Aguilar: Nudes in Nature. Tickets are available for reservation here.
The Women Powered Sip+Share is made possible through the generosity of My Sister’s Closet and Bell Bank. The Women Powered Panel is made possible through the generosity of Desert Financial Credit Union.
2024 Eric Fischl Lecture Series: Matthew Ritchie April 10 | Lecture @ 7 pm Free for Members and MCCCD students | $5 for the general public Lecture presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. The 2024 Eric Fischl Lecture features Matthew Ritchie, renowned for his complex creative visual practice that draws upon vocabularies of science, sociology, anthropology, mythology, and the history of art. Hear from artist and Phoenix College alum Eric Fischl in conversation with Ritchie to hear how the artist’s interdisciplinary approach has evolved and transforms our perceptions of reality. Ritchie’s work Something Like Day (2004) is on view now at PhxArt and has recently been acquired into the collection. Tickets are available for reservation here.
The Pink afterpARTy April 13 | 9 pm – 1 am $125 for Members | $165 for one // $300 for two for the general public Join PhxArt for the return of The afterpARTy, the Museum’s late-night, art-and-cocktails experience. This year’s event celebrates all things pink with live music, dancing, late-night bites + pink treats, and craft cocktails. You’ll also enjoy private access to Barbie®: A Cultural Icon and its complement exhibition, The Power of Pink, featuring haute-couture fashions in every hue from petal pink to fantastic fuchsia. Tickets are available for reservation here.
Art Talk // Multiple Realities: Navigating Experimental Art in Central Eastern Europe, 1960s–1980s April 17 | 6 – 7:30 pm Free for Members | $5 for the general public Presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. Join us as Pavel Pyś, Curator of Visual Arts and Collections Strategy at the Walker Art Center, offers a broad overview of special-engagement exhibition Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, with a particular focus on the relationship between the works on view and the political climate at the time of their creation. The lecture coincides with the grand opening of the special-engagement exhibition, organized by the Walker Art Center and curated by Pyś. Tickets are available for reservation here.
Art Talk is made possible by the generosity of the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.
PhxArt Family Funday April 28 | 10 am – 5 pm Complimentary admission | Free-access event Enjoy free Museum admission all day from 10 am – 5 pm, including access to special-engagement exhibition Barbie®: A Cultural Icon and its complement exhibition, The Power of Pink. Beginning at noon, the Museum will host live performances in the galleries, art making, demonstrations, and hands-on experiences for visitors of all ages and abilities inspired by the blushing color. For more information, click here.
PhxArt Family Fundays are made possible through the generosity of Presenting Sponsor Men’s Arts Council.
EXHIBITION OPENINGS
Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s April 17 – September 15, 2024 Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s is a major survey featuring nearly 100 artists from six Central-Eastern European nations, including East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Organized by the Walker Art Center, the exhibition features rarely seen and newly reconstructed works, tracing how a generation of artists with distinct experiences of locally specific state-sanctioned control embraced experimentation and interdisciplinary practices to confront at times harsh conditions of everyday life.
Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s-1980s is organized by the Walker Art Center with major support provided by Martha and Bruce Atwater. Exhibition research was supported by a curatorial fellowship from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The exhibition is curated by Pavel S. Pyś, Curator of Visual Arts and Collections Strategy, at Walker Art Center. Its presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Rachel Sadvary Zebro, associate curator for collections. The presentation of Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s-1980s at Phoenix Art Museum is made possible through the generosity of The Opatrny Family Foundation, Joan Cremin, Men’s Arts Council, and Diana and Mark Feldman. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin. In-kind support provided by Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix and KJZZ/KBACH.
CLOSING SOON
Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen Closing April 14, 2024 Showcasing the remarkable work of global contemporary artist Manjari Sharma, who has photographically re-imagined encounters with Hindu deities in temple settings with custom fabrication.
Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen is organized by Birmingham Museum of Art. The exhibition’s presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Janet Baker, PhD, Curator Emerita of Asian Art, and Rachel Sadvary Zebro, associate curator for collections, at Phoenix Art Museum, in collaboration with Katherine Anne Paul, PhD, the Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen is made possible through the generosity of Men’s Arts Council, with additional support from E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and Vermaland, LLC. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
Art Talk is made possible by the generosity of the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.
Storytime in the Garden April 4 | 10:30 am Free for Members | Included in general admission for the general public Advance registration recommended. More information available soon at phxart.org.
Storytime in the Garden is made possible by the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for Performing Arts, The Discount Tire Endowment for Children’s Art Programs, the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs. and Legacy Traditional Schools.
Art Talk is made possible by the generosity of the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.
FILM // Now Showing: Fantastic Planet April 24 | 6 pm Free for Members | $8 for the general public Presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. More information available soon at phxart.org.
Films@PhxArt is made possible by Fit Via Vi Films.
LEARN // Color and Hue in the Lemon Library April 28 | Noon Free for Members and the general public Presented in Lemon Art Research Library. More information available soon at phxart.org
Book Club: The Secret Lives of Color April 28 | 1:30 pm Free for Members and the general public Presented in Lemon Art Research Library. More information available soon at phxart.org.
FREE-ACCESS PROGRAMS Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays Every Wednesday | 3 – 9 pm Voluntary-donation general admission SPECIAL-EXHIBITION TICKETS: $10 for adults | $5 for youth under 17 | FREE for Museum Members and Maricopa County Community College students*
Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays are made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix. *The Maricopa County Community College District program at Phoenix Art Museum (MC3@PAM) is made possible through the generosity of Presenting Sponsor Men’s Arts Council.
Free Admission for Maricopa County Community Colleges Students All Maricopa County Community Colleges students who attend any of the 10 colleges or affiliated skill centers enjoy free general admission to PhxArt, including admission into special-engagement exhibitions. Visitors must present an active student ID at the time of admission.
The Maricopa County Community College District program at Phoenix Art Museum (MC3@PAM) is made possible through the generosity of Presenting Sponsor Men’s Arts Council.
About Phoenix Art Museum Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum has provided millions of guests with access to world-class art and experiences in an effort to ignite imaginations, create meaningful connections, and serve as a brave space for all people who wish to experience the transformative power of art. Located in Phoenix’s Central Corridor, the Museum is a vibrant destination for the visual arts and the largest art museum in the southwestern United States. Each year, more than 300,000 guests engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions and the Museum’s collection of more than 20,000 works of American and Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design. The Museum also presents a comprehensive film program, live performances, and educational programs designed for visitors of all ages, along with vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.
