Changing Exhibits

Courtesy National Museum of Mexican Art Chicago.

This exhibition examines the overlooked history of African contributions to Mexican culture. In 1609 Yanga, an African leader, founded the first free African township in the Americas- almost a century after Africans first arrived in Mexico (in 1519). Africans have continued to contribute their artistic, culinary, musical, and cultural traditions to Mexican culture. The exhibition features paintings, prints, movie posters, photographs, sculpture, costumes, masks, musical instruments, and other examples of art and popular culture. The exhibition was curated by Sagrario Cruz-Carretero of the University of Veracruz and Cesáreo Morena, visual arts director at the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago.

Exhibition organized by the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago. Sponsors–Wallace Foundation, Ford Foundation, Nathen Cummings Foundation, American Airlines. Image concept & design: Angelina Villanueva

Squeak Carnwath: Painting Is No Ordinary Object
April 25–August 23, 2009

Squeak Carnwath, In Pursuit of Happiness, 2000. Oil and alkyd on canvas (80” x 80”). Collection of Squeak Carnwath and Gary Knecht. © Squeak Carnwath/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

This survey reflects Carnwath’s groundbreaking artistry and stature as one of California’s leading contemporary artists. Karen Tsujimoto, senior curator of art at the museum, has chosen more than forty works from the past fifteen years—the period since Carnwath’s last major exhibition. As the title indicates, a painting is “no ordinary object” for the artist. Her recurring motifs reflect personal and universal themes; each meticulously applied layer of glaze carries meaning and inquiry.

The 160-page companion book, Painting Is No Ordinary Object, includes essays by Tsujimoto and art critic and poet John Yau, and eighty full-color reproductions of works from 1979 to the present (co-published with Pomegranate, 2009)

Squeak Carnwath: Painting Is No Ordinary Object is made possible by generous support from the Oakland Museum Women’s Board, the Art Guild of the Oakland Museum of California, and by exhibition sponsors and donors.