Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College

There's nothing quite like that late evening glow... Thanks to Longyear Museum of Anthropology / Picker Art Gallery for inviting us to join the #MuseumAtNight challenge! John Bentham

Jeffrey Gibson's multidisciplinary practice encompasses a wide range of mediums and draws on a variety of influences and visual languages to comment on race, sexuality, religion, and gender, among other topical issues. His work often combines popular and queer culture with references to Native American history and current events ultimately allowing Gibson to reflect on his Choctaw and Cherokee heritage and explore the significance, traditions, and rituals of personal adornm...ent and identity. In works like I WANNA GIVE YOU DEVOTION, Gibson continues his practice of including words and phrases pulled from pop culture, music, and literature. In this case, he has adapted lyrics from iconic dance and pop songs he heard going to night clubs in Korea, Germany, London in the 80s and 90s. These lyrics are both personal to Gibson's memories and suggestive of expressions of queer and pop culture. The bright bold declarations and color choices emphasize the strength and vulnerability found within queer communities while also speaking to the revolutionary act of expressing joy within a challenging larger culture. View more of Gibson's work in the Wellin Museum's collection - https://bit.ly/326mpTc Jeffrey Gibson. "I WANNA GIVE YOU DEVOTION," 2019. Digital print, silkscreen, and collage, with gloss varnish, in custom-color frame, 40 1/2 36 1/2 in. (102.9 92.7 cm). Collection of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Purchase, William G. Roehrick '34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund.

I am a stranger in all the places my family could call ‘home.' The duality and conflict of this experience is the motivation for my photographic exploration, and I am personally invested in finding points of connection and disconnection between actual and constructed memories on both cultural and familial levels. Osamu James Nakagawa (b. 1962) was born in New York City and raised in Tokyo, Japan. His work explores this biculturalism through photographs that grapple with cultural histories and alienation. The Wellin Museum is thrilled to have recently acquired "Belly Button, Bloomington, Indiana" by the artist Osamu James Nakagawa. Learn more https://bit.ly/3cETNWg

Wednesday June 16 @ 12pm ET | Join us on Instagram Live for a walk-through of Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud with artist Michael Rakowitz and curator Katherine Alcauskas. Follow the Wellin on Instagram to see when we go live bit.ly/2POjXxL

At the Wellin Museum of Art, art often extends beyond the walls of our galleries and display cases. Over the years, artists working with the museum have left an artistic impact on a variety of spaces. From these colorful shades in the second floor lounge designed by Jeffrey Gibson to Elias Sime's sculpture "Flowers and Roots" on the terrace, art really is everywhere at the Wellin. #ArtIsEverywhereMW #MuseumWeek MuseumWeek

This message that Rakowitz has found through these food wrappers also applies to the missing and destroyed objects from ancient Assyria that he has been working to reappear. While the Middle Eastern foodstuffs that form these sculptures reference the political climate surrounding Iraq, they also evoke nostalgia and a sense of cultural heritage on behalf of Rakowitz. On the # WellinBlog Lily Williams ’21 reflects on Michael Rakowitz’s discussion of his influences and the multivalent significance of the food products used in his work. Learn more about his use of food as a tool to explore social and political issues - https://bit.ly/3mcnsZa

#Throwback to Sarah Oppenheimer's Art Talk at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. The artist, whose work explores time-based choreographies of and interactions with space, will mount a solo exhibition at the Wellin in fall 2021. The upcoming show will include an ensemble of new and previously displayed works from exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland, and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. Watch the full conversation below

Conceived during the pandemic, Jeffrey Gibson's immersive video work depicts the American flag in unsettling stillness, as a marker of territory, and projected onto bodies, set to a heartrending soundtrack. Gibson renders the iconic image of the flag slowly transforming through time, changing color, and form reflecting a distillation of our social collapse and the reinvention of self and community, referencing the change that is so desired for our nation. Experience the full length work via The Wattis Institute - https://bit.ly/37oVjIO

"There is a weight of meaning behind every facet of his artwork: no decision is made without intention. In addition, his work has influenced my curatorial practice and made me see museum collections in a new light: no longer objects, as those of us in the field often refer to them, but remnantsperhaps ghosts or shadowsof our compatriots." On the #WellinBlog - Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud curator Katherine Alcauskas reflects on the process of developing the exhibition. Read more

#ICYMI: Congratulations to Deana Lawson who recently won the 2020 Hugo Boss Prize. The New York-based artist, whose 2008 photograph "Coulson Family" is part of the Wellin's collection, is the first photographer ever to be awarded the prize. "Lawson is known for staging complex and intimate tableaux that focus on scenes of Black life, venerating the commonplace and celebrating her subjects. She carefully stages the lighting and position of her subjects, working in collaboration with them to create what she describes as a 'mirror of everyday life.'" writes artnet.

How do curators go about the process of grouping objects together into a cohesive exhibition? And how does a class look that shares such skills? On the #WellinBlog - Rob Knight, Associate Professor of Art at Hamilton College, reflects on his experience collaborating with Michael Shapiro '71, Director Emeritus of the High Art Museum, on a fall 2019 course examining the development of American art museums, the process of collecting art, and the methods behind curating an exhibition. Read more about the course and view the student's virtual exhibitions - https://bit.ly/2TyqieN

Congratulations to former Wellin exhibiting artist Margarita Cabrera whose large-scale installation 'UPLIFT New York' was shortlisted for the The High Line's Plinth commissions. Representing the plight and migration of NYC’s hard working diverse communities, UPLIFT NY will offer a collaborative public art process introducing dialogues and workshops to produce bird-wing designs centering the experiences, challenges, and sacrifices facing our immigrant communities. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2JbjW3c

The Wellin Museum wants to be your art pen pal! Share your creativity with others by sending art in the mail. Mail your art back to us, or mail it to a friend! Our mail-art activity posts will give you some ideas of what to make. Sign up today - https://bit.ly/3iFFfWH

Artist Michael Rakowitz discussed his current exhibition Michael Rakowitz: NImrud at the Wellin Museum with guest curator Katherine D. Alcauskas. Rakowitz is Professor of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University. He received a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from Purchase College, State University of New York, in 1995 and a master’s degree in visual studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998. Exhibitions of his work have been organized by the M...almö Konsthall, Sweden (2019); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2019); and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2017). In 2018 Rakowitz was awarded the commission for a public project on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth, where he displayed his re-creationmade from cans of Iraqi date syrupof an ancient Assyrian lamassu figure that was destroyed by the Islamic State in 2015. See more

Earlier this month, Wellin Museum docent Fatima Oliva '23, organized "Wellin Celebrates Latinx Artists," The event was an opportunity for the Hamilton College community to visit the museum and view works from the collection by Latinx artists. In reflecting on the celebration, Fatima mentioned having a great time planning the event. "I think...it resonated with student artists and with Latinx students in particular. I had several students after the event contact me to ask for the artist's name which I'm hoping is a sign of them wanting to see other works by these artists" She hopes to host another one in the future. Curious about the Wellin's collection? Explore it online - http://bit.ly/WellinCollection

Capes on, eyes open. 160 years ago, after the Civil War, a group called the Wide Awakes formed when a political awakening around racial justice, immigration and workers’ rights coincided with a high-stakes presidential election. Today, a new, artist-founded iteration of the collective is bringing the force of history back to life. Reimagined by artist Hank Willis Thomas, the Wide Awakes seek to achieve nonviolent, entertaining, visionary work. If being civically engaged fe...els like a burden this season, we’re not going to have the level of impact we think we should, Thomas remarked. They’re called political parties. Let’s make it a party. Among collective members is upcoming Wellin collection and upcoming exhibiting artist, Yashua Klos. Follow along on Instagram for more updates about the Wide Awakes and their work (@wideawakes2020).

Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud is now on view at the Wellin Museum. Learn more about the exhibition - https://bit.ly/2Q3qocG While the Wellin Museum is closed to the public this fall, it is open by appointment to Hamilton College students, faculty, and staff. Programs will continue on a virtual basis until further notice.

Curious what our installation crew has been working on for Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud? Here's a sneak peek of the installation! Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud opens to Hamilton College affiliates by appointment only starting October 19th, 2020. Learn more about the exhibition - https://bit.ly/2Q3qocG Valerie Kane

"Rakowitz, a descendant of Iraqi Jews, takes on the region’s history of cultural abuse from both Western relic hunters and Muslim extremists using the once magnificent Room H from the Northwest Palace of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (formerly known as Kalhu) as his example." Read more about how exhibitions this year, including Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud, explore the social impact of cultural production from the areas surrounding modern-day Iraq and Iran (via Forbes)

Ever wonder how an exhibition moves from an idea to installation? On the #WellinBlog - Hear Katherine Alcauskas, curator of Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud, reflect on how she came to know the artist’s work and what inspired the exhibition. Read on - https://bit.ly/2SYgVVy

Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud | October 19, 2020 - June 13, 2021 Curated by Katherine Alcauskas, Chief Curator, Chazen Museum of Art at University of WisconsinMadison Video by Brett Novak For Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud, the Iraqi-American artist has recreated Room H from the well-known Northwest Palace in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (Kalhu), located near Mosul in present-day Iraq dating from 883-859 B.C.E. To make his colorful reproductions of the ancient carved-stone relie...fs, Rakowitz uses packaging for food products imported from the Middle East to the U.S. and sold in local Middle-Eastern groceries in Chicago, where the artist lives and works. In the mid-nineteenth century, many of the palace’s reliefs were removed by archeologists and acquired by private collections and public institutions throughout the Western world, including Hamilton College. While Rakowitz’s materials reference the current Middle Eastern diaspora, the content of his work is a reaction to centuries of looting ancient sitesboth legally sanctioned and illegal, often occurring in times of foreign occupation. His work implicates the museum as a colonial entity and calls attention to the problematic and pervasive practice of removing cultural artifacts from their original context. Alongside Room H, the artist will debut a new group of small sculptures representing objects looted, destroyed, or at risk of loss due to political violence. See more

Thanks to Hyperallergic for sharing an excerpt of Lowery Stokes Sims' essay "Jeffrey Gibson: Culture, Materials, Identity and Trade," from our 2018 publication for the exhibition Jeffrey Gibson: This Is the Day. Read on

As we enter the last week of Hispanic Heritage Month, we are highlighting the Argentine artist Raul Schurjin whose lithograph Costeritas De Santa Fe is in the Wellin Collection. While Schurjin was born in Mendoza and taught in Buenos Aires, he spent most of his artistic career working in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Through his expressive, caricature-like works, he is able to bring together traditions from both Argentina and the Southwestern United States. Explore the Wellin's Collection online - https://bit.ly/2DiDqPc Raul Schurjin (Argentinian, 1907 - 1983). Costeritas De Santa Fe, 1963. Color lithograph on paper, 22 in. 17 3/4 in. (55.9 45.1 cm). Gift of Elbert Lenrow, Class of 1923.