Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has announced its lineup of exhibits for 2023.
The chosen variety aims to tell a more inclusive story of American art and includes some of the most iconic artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, according to a press release, including the first major exhibition focused solely on Mexican artist Diego Rivera in more than 20 years.
Diego Rivera's America, co-organized by Crystal Bridges and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, opens March 11 and will be on view through July 31. Rivera worked in both Mexico and the United States and found inspiration in each of them. He envisioned an America where cooperation, rather than divisions, was paramount, according to a press release.
The second feature exhibit planned for Crystal Bridges this year is Annie Leibovitz: Portraits set to open Sept. 16 with a new group of photographs that highlights current events and exceptional figures. Leibovitz became Rolling Stone magazine's chief photographer in 1973 at the age of 23 and became the first female artist to have a solo show at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
The first focus exhibit of the year, Seeing One Another: New Views on the Alfred Stieglitz Collection opened Jan. 28. It features depictions of people in the Stieglitz Collection alongside modern and contemporary objects from the broader Crystal Bridges collection to tell stories about human relationships through portraiture, family and legacy.
Flagged for Discussion, a focus exhibit that features representations of the United States flag through the works of more than 20 artists, will open April 8. It will prompt visitors to reflect on what the American flag means to them.
Marie Bannerot McInerney: Trace Me Back is a site-specific project that will transform Crystal Bridges' Contemporary Art Gallery into a space that inspires wonder, contemplative stillness and reflection, according to a press release. It will open June 24.
Sonic Blossom by Lee Mingwei will involve local singers in a designed costume approaching a visitor in Crystal Bridges galleries to offer a song, one of five Franz Schubert's Lieder (songs) accompanied by piano recording. The exhibit has toured in Tokyo, London and Sydney, among others and will begin Sept. 9 in Bentonville.
Toshiko Takaezu // Lenore Tawney debuts 12 new acquisitions to the Crystal Bridges collection that tell the story of a friendship between the two artists who once shared studio space. Takaezu created in ceramics and Tawney in weaving. The exhibit opens Oct. 14.
Listening Forest by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer debuted last August and will return for two additional runs including March 1 to May 28 and Aug. 30 to Dec. 31.
Keep an eye on What's Up! for more details.