Robert Davidson
dal 15/11/2013 al 15/2/2014
Segnalato da
15/11/2013
Robert Davidson
Seattle Art Museum Downtown - SAM, Seattle
Abstract Impulse. With 45 paintings, sculptures and prints, this exhibition features Davidson's recent works, as well as key pieces from early in his career. Images are pared to essential lines, elemental shapes and intense colors in the creation of a personal iconography.
Beginning mid-November, the Seattle Art Museum will present the works of Robert Davidson, who has been pivotal in the revitalization of Northwest Coast Native art. Robert Davidson: Abstract Impulse will be on view from November 16, 2013 to February 16, 2014.
Offered for the first time in the United States, this exhibition features Davidson’s recent works, as well as key pieces from early in his career. Following its visit to Seattle, Abstract Impulsewill travel to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, New York, from April 12, 2014 to September 28, 2014.
In 1969, Davidson erected the first totem pole in nearly a century in his ancestral Massett village in British Columbia. Since then, he has worked for over 40 years to absorb the bedrock art traditions of Haida art and craft. He began by learning the ancient forms of his great-grandfather, the influential Haida artist Charles Edenshaw. Gradually, he explored new directions within the highly disciplined structure of the old Northwest Coast models - in wood sculpture, ceremonial arts, jewelry, and prints. Abstract Impulse gathers Davidson’s recent forays into abstraction, explored in boldly minimalist easel paintings, graphic work, and sculpture. Images are pared to essential lines, elemental shapes and intense colors in the creation of a personal iconography.
This evolving use of non-traditional media, colors and forms pushes the boundaries of the Haida art form forward and makes Davidson one of the most important Northwest Coast Native artists working today.
"The Seattle Art Museum has remarkable holdings of historic Haida art, including key pieces by Robert’s ancestors, and so we are especially pleased to present Davidson’s contemporary work and connect it to the culture that he has worked so hard to revitalize," said Kimerly Rorschach, SAM’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director. "The works of the past 10 years that are shown here, along with some pivotal earlier pieces, demonstrate that art can embrace the ethos of tradition and at the same time be envisioned for the present."
The exhibition will feature 45 paintings, sculptures and prints created since 2005, as well as works from earlier years that capture the trajectory of Davidson’s impulse towards abstraction and an elemental language of form. This exhibition is the first major show of his work in the United States; Davidson has participated in numerous public and private commissions including a retrospective exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (1993).
Robert Davidson: Abstract Impulse is curated by Barbara Brotherton, Curator of Native American Art at the Seattle Art Museum.
The exhibition has been organized by the Seattle Art Museum in collaboration with the Smithsonian, National Museum of the American Indian, New York. Lead grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Major support provided by The MacRae Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional support provided by The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, Port Madison Enterprises, the Eugene V. and Clare Thaw Charitable Trust and Contributors to SAM's Annual Fund.
The exhibition has been organized by the Seattle Art Museum in collaboration with the Smithsonian, National Museum of the American Indian, New York.
Lead grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
Major support provided by The MacRae Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional support provided by The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, Port Madison Enterprises, the Eugene V. and Clare Thaw Charitable Trust and Contributors to SAM's Annual Fund.
Image: Green Tri Neg, 2009, Robert Davidson (Haida, born 1946), acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 in., Private Collection, courtesy Kinsman Robinson Galleries. Photo: Kenji Nagai.
Press contact:
Wendy Malloy, SAM Public Relations (206) 654-3151; email: PR@SeattleArtMuseum.org
SAM Third Floor Galleries
Seattle Art Museum Downtown
1300 First Avenue - Seattle, WA 98101-2003
Hours
Wednesday–Sunday: 10 am–5 pm
Thursday & Friday: 10 am–9 pm
Monday & Tuesday: closed
October 11, 2012–January 13, 2013
Tuesday–Sunday: 10 am–5 pm
Thursday & Friday: 10 am–9 pm
Monday: closed
Tickets
Suggested General Admission Prices
$17 Adult
$15 Senior (62+), Military (with ID)
$11 Student (with ID), Teen (13–17)
FREE for children (12 and under)
FREE for SAM Members