Jan. 15, 2022 — May. 1, 2022
A landmark exhibition organized by the Toledo Museum of Art will present the museum’s recent acquisitions of major works by African American artists from the southern United States. Living Legacies: Art of the African American South features 24 works, from large-scale assemblages and mixed media sculptures to paintings, textiles and works on paper acquired from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation. Artists represented are Leroy Almon, Thornton Dial, Thornton Dial, Jr., Richard Dial, Lonnie Holley, Ronald Lockett, Joe Minter, John B. Murray, Royal Robertson, Georgia Speller, Henry Speller, Luster Willis, and several generations of women quiltmakers, including Louisiana Bendolph, Mary Elizabeth Kennedy, Jessie T. Pettway, Lola Pettway, Lucy T. Pettway, Martha Pettway, Rita Mae Pettway and Florine Smith, as well as Estelle Witherspoon, one of the founders of the Freedom Quilting Bee.
Featured Exhibition
Featured Exhibition
Stan Douglas: Doppelgänger
Oct. 16, 2021 — May. 15, 2022
The science fiction-inspired film Doppelgänger (2019) by prominent artist Stan Douglas will be on view Oct. 16, 2021-May 15, 2022, at Toledo Museum of Art (TMA), its first North American museum presentation. The film centers around an astronaut named Alice who embarks on a solitary outer space mission. When Alice’s ship unexpectedly turns around, she presumes she has returned to Earth, but instead she arrives at another realm, the exact reverse of her true home. In one version, Alice is welcomed and provided support upon her return, while in another narrative, Alice is received as a potential hostile threat. The work comprises two translucent screens, which can be viewed from either side and display parallel narratives that unfold simultaneously.
The science fiction-inspired film Doppelgänger (2019) by prominent artist Stan Douglas will be on view Oct. 16, 2021-May 15, 2022, at Toledo Museum of Art (TMA), its first North American museum presentation. The film centers around an astronaut named Alice who embarks on a solitary outer space mission. When Alice’s ship unexpectedly turns around, she presumes she has returned to Earth, but instead she arrives at another realm, the exact reverse of her true home. In one version, Alice is welcomed and provided support upon her return, while in another narrative, Alice is received as a potential hostile threat. The work comprises two translucent screens, which can be viewed from either side and display parallel narratives that unfold simultaneously.
Featured Exhibition
Out of the Dark: A Historic Journey
Jun. 19, 2021 — Jun. 19, 2022
Out of the Dark: A Historic Journey, is a digital exhibition in recognition of Juneteenth, an observance acknowledging the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Juneteenth (a combination of the words June and nineteenth) is recognized in most states and the District of Columbia as a local holiday or ceremonial observance and was designated a federal holiday in 2021. TMA invited eight members of the Toledo Black Artist Coalition (TBAC) to curate an online exhibition featuring works by influential Black artists from the Museum’s collection, including sculptor Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) and photographer Gordon Parks (1912-2006) among others. TBAC guest curators are noted local artists James Dickerson, Dustin Hostetler, Audrey Johnson, Imani Lateef, Yusuf Lateef, Lydia Myrick, Simone Spruce, and Paul Verdell. The online exhibition launches on TMA’s website on June 19, 2021.
Out of the Dark: A Historic Journey, is a digital exhibition in recognition of Juneteenth, an observance acknowledging the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Juneteenth (a combination of the words June and nineteenth) is recognized in most states and the District of Columbia as a local holiday or ceremonial observance and was designated a federal holiday in 2021. TMA invited eight members of the Toledo Black Artist Coalition (TBAC) to curate an online exhibition featuring works by influential Black artists from the Museum’s collection, including sculptor Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) and photographer Gordon Parks (1912-2006) among others. TBAC guest curators are noted local artists James Dickerson, Dustin Hostetler, Audrey Johnson, Imani Lateef, Yusuf Lateef, Lydia Myrick, Simone Spruce, and Paul Verdell. The online exhibition launches on TMA’s website on June 19, 2021.
Current Exhibitions
Chameleon Effects: Glass (Un)Defined
Mar. 27, 2021 — Jun. 5, 2022Chameleon Effects: Glass (Un)Defined brings together historical and contemporary works from the Toledo Museum of Art’s collection to explore the spectrum of technical and formal possibilities of glass
Out of the Dark: A Historic Journey
Jun. 19, 2021 — Jun. 19, 2022Out of the Dark: A Historic Journey, is a digital exhibition in recognition of Juneteenth, an observance acknowledging the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Juneteenth (a combination of the words June and nineteenth) is recognized in most states and the District of Columbia as a local holiday or ceremonial observance and was designated a federal holiday in 2021. TMA invited eight members of the Toledo Black Artist Coalition (TBAC) to curate an online exhibition featuring works by influential Black artists from the Museum’s collection, including sculptor Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) and photographer Gordon Parks (1912-2006) among others. TBAC guest curators are noted local artists James Dickerson, Dustin Hostetler, Audrey Johnson, Imani Lateef, Yusuf Lateef, Lydia Myrick, Simone Spruce, and Paul Verdell. The online exhibition launches on TMA’s website on June 19, 2021.
Contrary Bodies
Apr. 2, 2022 — Jul. 3, 2022"I believe in making contradictions productive, not in having to choose one side or the other side. As opposed to choosing either or, choosing both." With these words, the activist and author Angela Davis not only foregrounds the dilemma of our historical moment, but also identifies the challenge it poses to the art museum. Global diversities are becoming more difficult to ignore, and communities are voicing their objections to a centuries-old, white-washed narrative of cultural history. At the heart of these shifts in representation, museums are working to rediscover the complexities and nuances that make up our world and recuperate voices that were previously silenced. Museums such as the TMA are taking a fresh, critical look at their collections to celebrate a broader diversity.The works in Contrary Bodies, all from the TMA’s permanent collection, feature BIPOC, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community as artists and subjects. While these works represent a spectrum of social groups and cultures, bringing them together is not just about making differences visible. The human figure is depicted according to a variety of approaches – ranging from the intimate, to the erotic, to the formal – and in each case the depiction seems to question certain racialized or gendered assumptions about how such a figure should look and/or behave. In this sense, these works reject the constraints of otherness and declare something about what it means to be an active participant in the culture of global humanity.This exhibition is curated and designed by students in the University of Toledo’s Art Museum Practices and Graphic and Interactive Design Concentrations.
Bestowing Beauty: Masterpieces from Persian Lands
Apr. 23, 2022 — Jul. 17, 2022Celebrating the rich artistic and cultural heritage of Persian civilization, Bestowing Beauty: Masterpieces from Persian Lands features over 100 works from the sixth to the nineteenth century drawn from the preeminent Persian art collection of Hossein Afshar.
