A Decolonial Atlas: Strategies in Contemporary Art of the Americas
January 16–April 15, 2018
Opening: January 18, 5–7pm
Aidekman Arts Center
40 Talbot Avenue
Medford, MA
Joanne Greenbaum
Things We Said Today
January 23–April 7, 2018
Opening: January 23, 6–8pm
SMFA at Tufts
230 Fenway
Boston, MA
The Tufts University Art Galleries are pleased to present our 2018 spring season of exhibitions and public programs. To initiate the Galleries’ new cross-campus reorganization at both Medford and Boston locations, several public art projects and responsive artist spaces have been developed.
On view at the Aidekman Arts Center in Medford, A Decolonial Atlas: Strategies in Contemporary Art of the Americas is a group exhibition of artists from the United States and Latin America grappling with the continued questions of colonialism and post-colonialism in an effort to locate “place” in contemporary society. The exhibition underscores the medium of video as a critical tool for expanded narratives and immersive imagery as well as painting, photography, sculpture, and works on paper. On view from January 16 to April 15, 2018, the exhibition is accompanied by a symposium, live performances, talks, and community programs. Details can be found on the event calendar, here. A Decolonial Atlas is organized by Pilar Tompkins Rivas and was previously presented at the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College.
At the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA at Tufts), the Galleries are pleased to present Joanne Greenbaum’s first solo exhibition in New England. Things We Said Today follows Greenbaum’s prodigious mark making and uncanny color sensibility across media and surface. Using a language of abstraction that toggles between chaos and order, Greenbaum takes on architecture with a suite of recent oversized canvases punctuated by a series of sculptural pen drawings, watercolors, painted ceramics, and artist sketchbooks. The exhibition is on view from January 23 to April 7, 2018 and is accompanied by a brochure that includes an essay by Kate McNamara, Director of Galleries and Exhibitions at Otis College of Art and Design.
Also on view:
Slumpies will feature Jillian Mayer’s interactive sculptures in public spaces at SMFA at Tufts and the Aidekman Arts Center. Designed to support the bodies of smartphone users, Mayer’s Slumpies and related videos prompt questions about technology’s impact on our physical experiences. Mayer will visit Tufts for a public lecture, a film screening with students, and a post-workshop screening on February 7 and 8, 2018.
Artist Response is an ongoing exhibition project outside of the University Galleries that features civic-practice artists who use creative strategies to respond to historical and contemporary social crises. This first iteration includes a wall installation from Documents of Resistance, a project by Antonio Serna, which connects the present to a history of art and activism by artists of color, shown alongside a guest-curated project by critic James McAnally on the new formations of artist-organizing in St Louis (SMFA) and a mixtape of creative-activist tactics by Houston artist Carrie Schneider (Aidekman). James McAnally will deliver a lecture, as part of the spring 2018 Visiting Artist Program, on January 30, 2018 at 6pm in the Anderson Auditorium, SMFA
Visiting Artists Program
A variety of public programs will accompany and enrich the exhibitions program, including artist talks, symposia, performances, and workshops. At SMFA at Tufts, the Visiting Artist Program lecture series will feature James McAnally, Jillian Mayer, Keren Cytter, Carolina Caycedo, Aram Han Sifuentes, and Malik Gaines, along with the annual Beckwith Lecture, delivered by Arthur Jafa and Christina Sharpe at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. For more information on the University Galleries’ programs, please visit our webpages at SMFA at Tufts, Boston and Aidekman Arts Center, Medford.
About Tufts University Art Galleries
The Tufts University Art Galleries are pedagogical spaces where exhibitions, lectures, performances, and artist residencies converge to animate the intellectual life of the greater university community. Reflecting the recent merger of the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University, Medford, the Art Galleries are located in the Aidekman Arts Center in Medford and at the SMFA at Tufts, Boston and oversee public programs, exhibitions, short-term residencies, and the permanent art collection across Tufts University’s campuses in the Boston area.
Press contact
Lissa Cramer, Exhibitions Coordinator, lissa.cramer [at] tufts.edu
Dina Deitsch, Director and Chief Curator, dina.deitsch [at] tufts.edu
