The Albright-Knox Art Gallery will be opening a trio of new exhibits for museum-goers over the summer. The gallery is located in nearby Delaware Park and features works from artists both near & far, with its new offerings this summer being no different.
In May, the Albright-Knox opened an exhibit with a distinctly local flavor, “Shark Girl: Never Quite There.” The new exhibit is based on the work of Casey Riordan Millard, an American-born artist whose “Shark Girl” structure downtown has brought delight to Buffalonians in the past few years.
The exhibit spans “from some of her earliest representations of her signature character to newly imagined diorama-style installations,” according to a press release from the Albright-Knox. Millard’s famous feminized sea creature has made its way to the Ohio River as well as being embellished on everything from stuffed animals to teeth.
Aside from her various arrangements of “Shark Girl,” Millard’s other work has dove into the fantastical, tackling the world with a nearly childlike approach toward art.
Millard’s paintings – like “Baby-Mouthed Potato Buns in Orbit” and “You're Going to be Okay” – are un-lifelike in nature but draw viewers in through their various fun elements. Likewise, sculptures such as “Come Follow Me” dazzle through their crafty and cartoonish approach to constructing artistic animals.
On June 24, the work of American artist Joe Bradley went on public display at the Albright-Knox. The exhibition is the “first large-scale museum exhibition in North America devoted” to Bradley’s art, according to the Albright-Knox’s website.
The Maine-born artist shows sparks of the abstract and minimalism, drawing to mind color field-esque works through his creations.
In 2017’s “Good World” and 2016’s “Mother and Child,” Bradley’s work boasts abridged qualities with primary colors as well as converging shapes and lines. In his 2013 work “Love Boat,” the artist’s oil-based creations feature spotted yellow dots, rigid blue waves and a potpourri of browns & blacks – all in separate panels on the canvas.
Dr. Cathleen Chaffee, Senior Curator at Albright-Knox, said Bradley’s work reliably surprises viewers with his inspiration from comics, graffiti, old yearbooks and more.
“We’ve been working on the exhibition for three years in order to make sure the [art] loans represent nearly every major body of Bradley’s work over the past decade,” Chaffee said. “I’m pleased with how the show really celebrates the different facets of his art, and embraces the way his deep appreciation of art history is paired with an unexpected sense of humor.”
Bradley is no stranger to prominent displays either, having his work included in exhibits such as 2014’s “The Forever Now: Contemporary Paintings in an Atemporal World” at the MoMA and exhibits across the world like Rome and London.
After the exhibition closes on October 1, Bradley’s work will be on display at Brandeis University.
Beginning on July 8, “Drawing: The Beginning of Everything” will be featured at the gallery. The exhibit in the gallery’s 1905 Building hopes to shine a light on “the ways in which drawing is employed as a means to push the boundaries that traditionally separate one artistic discipline from another,” according to Albright-Knox’s website.
The exhibit will feature a wide range of internationally recognized artists.
British artist Tacita Dean is featured in the exhibit and is most known for her visual art with projects like FILM and other photographed, trace-based work seen in her project “Still Life.” Dean has been honored over her career with the Hugo Boss Prize in 2006 and has been elected a member of London’s Royal Academy of Arts.
Others like Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and Vietnamese-born artist Tam Van Tran will have works in the exhibit.
Eliasson’s use of colors and earth elements in works like “Your rainbow panorama” and “The weather project” have made him a hit, winning Germany’s Quadriga award in 2010.
Tran’s fashioned canvas offer wonky blends of lines, curvatures and colors, with works that have been featured in spaces as far away as Germany and Belgium.
“The Albright-Knox has a rich and varied collection of contemporary drawing, and the artists selected for this exhibition push the boundaries of the medium to create imagery that is simultaneously subtle and detailed,” said Holly Hughes, Godin-Spaulding Curator & Curator for the Collection at the Albright-Knox. “It is my hope that the inviting nature of these works will result in extended observation, slowing the pace at which viewers experience each piece.”
“Drawing: The Beginning of Everything” will be on display through October 15.
Benjamin Blanchet is a co-senior arts editor and can be reached at benjamin.blanchet@ubspectrum.com.
Benjamin Blanchet is the senior engagement editor for The Spectrum. His words have been seen in The Buffalo News (Gusto) and The Sun newspapers of Western New York. Loves cryptoquip and double-doubles.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
