Press RoomPhoenix Art Museum premieres major Amalia Mesa-Bains exhibition; hosts in-person programming in November
Phoenix Art Museum premieres major Amalia Mesa-Bains exhibition; hosts in-person programming in November
Oct, 30, 2023
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Phoenix Art Museum premieres major Amalia Mesa-Bains exhibition; hosts in-person programming in November
PHOENIX (October 30, 2023) – This November, Phoenix Art Museum will unveil special-engagement exhibition Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory, highlighting the artist’s signature large-scale altar-installations and lesser-known works. PhxArt will also host art talks inspired by Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory. Additional November programming includes the fall Lenhardt Lecture featuring artist Leonardo Drew, a National Theatre Live simulcast screening, film screening of Koyaanisqatsi, and much more.
OPENING SOON Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory November 5, 2023 – February 5, 2024 Organized by Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory is the first major retrospective to explore the historically significant work and career of Amalia Mesa-Bains, who has been heralded as a pioneer of feminist and Chicanx art. Mesa-Bains’ artistic contributions have been well recognized, including by a MacArthur “Genius” Grant in 1992. Archaeology of Memory brings together for the first time nearly 60 works created over 45 years, including the artist’s renowned altar-installations, in a long-overdue celebration of her enduring impact on contemporary art both within and beyond the United States. Visitors can also examine the artist’s lesser-studied handmade books and palimpsest prints characterized by her signature archeological aesthetic of layering and excavation.
Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory is organized by Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) in collaboration with the Latinx Research Center (LRC) at UC Berkeley. The exhibition is co-curated by María Esther Fernández, Artistic Director, The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum, and Laura E. Pérez, PhD, Professor of Chicanx, Latinx and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Latinx Research Center, UC Berkeley. Its presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Christian Ramírez, the Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary and Community Art Initiatives.
Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory is made possible by generous lead support from the Henry Luce Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The exhibition’s presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is made possible through the generosity of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Exhibition Endowment Fund. 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.
CLOSING SOON Fashioning Self: The Photography of Everyday Expression Closing November 5, 2023, Fashioning Self: The Photography of Everyday Expression explores the long-intertwined relationship between fashion as a tool for self-expression and photography’s role in chronicling it. Organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography (CCP), the exhibition features 54 works of street, documentary, and self-portrait photography from 1912 to 2015. Iconic views by Dennis Feldman, Laura Volkerding, Linda Rich, John Simmons, David Hume Kennerly, Teenie Harris, and more illuminate the dialogue that occurs between photographer and subject—the give-and-take between self-performance and art making. Alongside these works, Fashioning Self also features a rotating display of social media images shared by community members and individuals from across the United States via the hashtag #FashioningSelf.
Fashioning Self: The Photography of Everyday Expression is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography. It is made possible through the generosity of the Museum’s Circles of Support and Museum Members.
FEATURED NOVEMBER EVENTS Art Talk: Amalia Mesa-Bains November 4 | 1 pm Free for Members | Lecture admission + early access to the exhibition during Members’ Preview Day included with general admission for the public Presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. Artist, activist, and scholar Amalia Mesa-Bains has produced a powerful body of artistic work that has worked to help define a Chicana/o/x, Latinx, and Latin American aesthetic in the United States and Latin America. Hear from Mesa-Bains about her life, art, and creative vision in conversation with Director Emerita of El Museo del Barrio Susana Torruella Level. Tickets are available for reservation here.
Art Talk is made possible by the generosity of the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.
Lenhardt Lecture: Leonardo Drew November 8 | 6:30 PM Free for Members | $5 for the general public Presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. Join PhxArt for the fall Lenhardt Lecture featuring artist Leonardo Drew. Drew is known for his contemplative abstract sculptural works that play on the tension between order and chaos. Both monumental and intimate in scale, his works recall post-minimalist sculptures that allude to America’s industrial past and the plight of African Americans throughout U.S. history. Drew transforms accumulations of raw materials such as wood, scrap metal, and cotton to articulate overlapping themes from the cyclical nature of life and decay to the erosion of time. Tickets are available for reservation here.
The Lenhardt Lecture series is made possible through the generosity of The David and Dawn Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative.
Creative Saturday November 11 | 10 am – 2 pm Free for Members | Included with general admission for the general public Join us for a fun-filled Creative Saturday celebrating the opening of newest special-engagement exhibition Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory. This exhibition explores the historically significant work and career of acclaimed multimedia artist, scholar, and activist Amalia Mesa-Bains, who has dedicated her practice and advocacy work to underscoring the value and legitimacy of Chicanx art within the contemporary art world. Families and friends can enjoy:
Opening ceremony, community dance, and closing ceremony by Teatro Meschico, a cultural and art non-profit organization based in Phoenix. The traditional ritual dates back many years in Mexican Indigenous communities and will purify the space, honor the memory of the departed and living who provide wisdom, and share communal sustenance and symbolic regeneration.
Dr. Sandoval’s Pop-up Lectures highlighting the life and work of Amalia Mesa-Bains, Día de los Muertos, and altares (home altars) and ofrendas (offerings to the dead) inside special-engagement exhibition Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory.
Mexican art-making activity with Kathy Cano-Murillo (aka @CraftyChica)
Creative Saturday is made possible by Carolyn Dunkin Schulte Educational Endowment Fund, The Discount Tire Endowment for Children’s Art Programs, William Randolph Hearst Endowment Fund for Educational Programs, and Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for Performing Arts.
Now Showing: Koyaanisqatsi November 15 | 6 PM Free for Members | $8 for the general public Presented in Whiteman Hall. Koyaanisqatsi captures natural landscapes and elemental forces, showing viewers the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. Containing neither dialogue, nor a vocalized narration, the film’s tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and exceptional music by American composer Philip Glass. Not Rated. Estimated runtime: 1.2 h. Tickets are available for reservation here.
Films@PhxArt is made possible by Fit Via Vi Films.
Arizona Costume Institute Presents: Lloyd Kiva New, Pioneer of Modern Indigenous Fashion November 15 | 12:30 pm Free for Members | Included with general admission for the general public Presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. Join Scottsdale historian Joan Fudala, for an engaging presentation featuring the art and fashions of Cherokee fashion designer Lloyd Henri “Kiva” New, highlighting his broad Southwestern influence. New was an innovator of Indigenous Modernism and charter member of the Arizona Craftsmen cooperative, which aided the development of Scottsdale into a center for hand-crafted arts and fashions. For more information, click here.
National Theatre Live: Good November 19 | 1 – 4 pm $10 for Members | $15 for the general public Presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder, a good, intelligent German professor, finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences. David Tennant (BBC’s Doctor Who) makes an anticipated return to the West End in a blistering reimagining of one of Britain’s most powerful political plays. Rated R. Estimated runtime: 3 h. Tickets are available here.
National Theatre Live screenings are made possible by the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for Performing Arts.
Art Talk: Amalia Mesa-Bains’ Domestic Landscapes November 22 | 6 pm Free for Members | $5 for the general public Presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity. Artist and scholar Amalia Mesa-Bains coined the term domesticana (also known as Chicana rasquache) to describe her work and that of other Chicana artists and activists. Architectural historian Kathryn E. O’Rourke explores the meaning of domesticana in Mesa-Bains’ installations, looking at the ways her work and ideas relate to land, residential interiors, and gender in dialogue with and distinct from rasquachismo, an aesthetic expression derived from discarded everyday materials, that is often associated with city life, outdoor spaces, and masculinity. Tickets are available for reservation here.
Art Talk is made possible by the generosity of the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.
Weekly Virtual Mindfulness Sessions November 2, 9, 16, 30| Noon Free for Members | $5 suggested donation for the general public Scientific studies show the art of mindfulness can relieve anxiety, depression, pain, and stress and actually change the way we feel, think, work, and play by opening new pathways in the brain. Presented in collaboration with Hospice of the Valley, this free, 30-minute, at-home mindfulness session promotes living in the present. This session is hosted live on Zoom, a video-conference platform. For more information, click here.
PhxArt Educator Workshop: Memory Makers November 8 | 5 pm Free for Members | $10 for Non-Members Presented in the Education Building. Limited capacity. Advanced registration required. Inspired by exhibition Amalia Mesa Bains: Archaeology of Memory, join interdisciplinary artist and educator Diana Calderon in an exploration of storytelling and archiving through the blending of traditional and contemporary techniques of relief printmaking and bookmaking. Tickets are available for reservation here.
Lemon Library Lecture: Chicano/a/x/e + Latinx Book and Magazine Collection November 11 | Noon Free for Members and the general public Presented in the Lemon Art Research Library. Join librarian Jesse Lopez for a presentation on Chicano/a/x/e and Latinx art books from the Latin American collection in the Museum’s Lemon Art Research Library. Examine rare Lowrider, Lowrider Arte, and Teen Angels magazines and ephemera from the 1970s on, in addition to rare tattoo flash books from artists like Chuco Moreno. The Lemon Art Research Library’s Latin American art book collection is home to nearly 5,000 art books representing many different artists and schools of art from across the Americas. Publications are printed in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and some Indigenous languages. These selections are in celebration of the opening of special-engagement exhibition Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory. More information available soon at phxart.org.
Lemon Library Book Club: Chicano Movement for Beginners by Maceo Montoya November 11 | 1:30 PM Free for Members and the general public Presented in the Lemon Art Research Library. Join librarian Jesse Lopez for the next installment of the Lemon Art Research Library Book Club, featuring Chicano Movement for Beginners by Maceo Montoya. Chicano Movement For Beginners seeks to shed light on the multifaceted civil rights struggle known as the Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento, that galvanized the Mexican-American community, from laborers to student activists, giving them not only a political voice to combat prejudice and inequality, but also a new sense of cultural awareness and ethnic pride. The selection of this book is in celebration of special-engagement exhibition Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory. 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: $6 for adults | FREE for Museum Members and Maricopa County Community College students* From 3 – 9 pm every Wednesday, the Museum offers voluntary-donation general admission and reduced rates to view special-engagement exhibitions.
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.
PhxArt AfterHours December 1, 2023 | 5 – 9 pm Complimentary admission | Free-access event At select times throughout the year, Phoenix Art Museum opens for free after dark for PhxArt AfterHours, activated by live music, art-making workshops, specialty food and drink experiences, and other performances and entertainment. Visit the Museum during an AfterHours event to expand the way you interact with art.
PhxArt AfterHours are made possible through the generosity of Corporate Partner Sponsor APS with support from the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for Performing Arts.
Free Admission for Maricopa County Community Colleges Students Through the MC3@PAM program at PhxArt, all Maricopa County Community Colleges students who attend any of the 10 colleges or affiliated skill centers will 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.
SCHOOL AND ADULT TOURS On-site school and adult tours have returned to Phoenix Art Museum. To learn more about school-tour offerings and planning a school visit, click here. For adult and college group tour requests, click here.
In addition, Phoenix Art Museum offers live virtual presentations for school classrooms and community organizations. For more information on Virtual Classroom Visits, click here. For more information on Virtual Presentations for Adults, click here.
School Tours and Virtual Classroom Visits are made possible in part by Carolyn Dunkin Schulte Educational Endowment Fund, The Discount Tire Endowment for Children’s Art Programs and William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.
PHXARTIST SPOTLIGHTS Presented by Phoenix Art Museum, PhxArtist Spotlight is a monthly series that explores what inspires and motivates Valley creatives, while leveraging the Museum’s reach in its community to support and expand awareness of working artists. Each month, the Museum highlights a different artist working in Arizona, posting a Q&A with the artist and images of their work on the Museum’s Instagram and Facebook channels and on the Museum’s bilingual blog. The artist is also highlighted in a monthly email sent to Museum Members, Circles of Support donors, and a subscriber list of more than 65,000 followers.For more information on the series, click here. For recent spotlights on Armida Kielty and Blaise Danio, click here.
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.
