SEPTEMBER 17, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Matt Montgomery
401 454-6348
mmontgom@risd.edu

The RISD Museum presents Crisis Response
Friday, November 8, 2002, through Sunday, January 12, 2003

PROVIDENCE, RI – One year after the harrowing events of Fall 2001, The RISD Museum presents Crisis Response, an exhibition of artwork from the past forty years that reacts to national and global conflicts and catastrophes. Organized by the Department of Contemporary Art, Crisis Response incorporates works from a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, textile design, and video.

Several issues emerge from the juxtaposition of works selected from the Museum’s collection augmented by objects borrowed from artists and private collections: the challenge of rendering a visual reaction to historical events and political conditions; the tension between engaging in what’s immediately relevant and what’s more universal; the role of national icons and symbols in the process of recovery.

Many of the artists in the show – including Carolee Schneemann and Rhode Island artist Dave Cole – work from immediately catastrophic events, such as 9/11. Other artists represented respond to ongoing conditions of strife; their own struggles and the suffering of those around them color their aesthetic. This crisis mentality can be seen in the visceral paintings of Luis Cruz Azaceta and Josè Bedia.

Crisis can also trigger a broadening of art’s perceived purpose – how art can contribute to political debates and social concerns. We see this expansion in the work of many artists living with HIV and AIDS. For example, the sculpture and painting of David Wojnarowicz, the videos of Greg Bordowitz are, in part, intimate self-portraits of living with a disease, but they address political issues surrounding the global epidemic with equal force and eloquence.

Another group of works explores the dependence and meaning of national symbols – such as the U.S. flag – in times of conflict. Seen together, these varied works – including Jasper Johns’s Flag, Enrique Chagoya’s Les Aventures des Cannibales Modernistes, and David Hammons’s African American Flag – emphasize differing investments of individuals and groups in popular icons of patriotism.

In the assemblage sculpture T.K.O., Pepon Osorio places toys, trinkets, and icons that he associates with his native Puerto Rico in a velvet-lined box. Alongside these tiny objects, Osorio inserts images of the political figures who he holds responsible for decades of political corruption and violence. Andy Warhol’s intensely graphic silk-screened prints entitled the Flash series, created in response to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, are also included in this group of works.

Other artists included in the exhibition: Ross Bleckner, Lee Bontecou, Jim Dine, Leon Golub, Richard Hamilton, Yvonne Jacquette, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Morris, Catalina Parra, Arnaldo Roche-Rabell, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Edward Ruscha, and Mai Vang.

This exhibition has been supported by the Bafflin Foundation. NBC-10 is the media sponsor for Contemporary Art Program at The RISD Museum, 2002-2003. The following programs are made possible by Sally and Howard Lepow.

RELATED PROGRAMS:

Wednesday, November 20, 6:30pm
Panel Discussion: How do tragic conditions influence the work of artists? A panel of artists and historians will discuss the choices artists make as they react to personal, social and political adversity. Moderator: Karl Schoonover, Curatorial Assistant, The RISD Museum Panel: Painter Ruth Dealy; Robert Dilworth, Professor of Art and African-American Studies at the University of Rhode Island; Adriana Cavala, Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art, Tufts University; Lynne Joyrich, Professor of Modern Culture and Media, Brown University; and Judith Tannenbaum, Richard Brown Baker Curator of Contemporary Art, The RISD Museum.

November 21, 6:30pm
Gallery Talk: A discussion with artists and architects working on visual responses to 9/11, including proposals for rebuilding the World Trade Center.

December 4, 6:30pm
Greg Bordowitz, video artist, speaks about his work, including his personal documentaries about living with HIV and AIDS.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2002, The RISD Museum was founded as part of Rhode Island School of Design in 1877. Today, its permanent collection consists of nearly 80,000 works of art from diverse periods, cultures, and genres. Located on the edge of downtown Providence, the Museum showcases an array of ever-changing exhibitions, which encompass a range of areas and periods of world culture.

HOURS AND ADMISSION
Tuesday-Sunday, 10am-5pm; third Thursday monthly until 9pm. Admission: $6/adults; $5/senior citizens; $2/children, 5-18; $3/college students with valid ID. Free: Friday, 12-1:30pm; Sunday, 10am-1 pm; third Thursday monthly, 5-9 pm; Free-For-All Saturdays (last Saturday of the month). Information: 401 454-6500.

NOTE TO REPORTERS: Judith Tannenbaum, Richard Brown Baker Curator of Contemporary Art, and Karl Schoonover, Curatorial Assistant, is available for interviews about this exhibition and related issues. Please contact Matt Montgomery at 401/454-6348 or mmontgom@risd.edu.