BMA previews new exhibitions, series in 2016

As the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) continues to unveil exhibitions in its New Arrivals series throughout the year, many of the new exhibits will suit diverse artistic tastes.

There were several exhibitions that opened throughout last semester that continue to be displayed at the BMA. This includes Imagining Home, an exhibition that began in October 2015 and will continue until August 2018.

Although Imagining Home is intended to be a staple element of the BMA for years to come, its unique, interactive nature continues to draw museum-goers. Curated by both the Director of Interpretation and Public Engagement Gamynne Guillotte and the Associate Curator of European Painting & Sculpture Oliver Shell, this exhibition explores the vast notion of home through three thematic areas: Facades and Thresholds, Domestic Interiors and Arrivals and Departures.

Imagining Home is certain to appeal to a range of audiences with its display of broad mediums of art and its interactive elements, including works that immerse visitors in the location in which they were created through audio recordings.

As another part of the New Arrivals series, the BMA will showcase Matisse Paintings and Drawings, which opened in December 2015 and will end in July 2016. This exhibition has a more classic appeal than Imagining Home, displaying the works of world-renowned artist Henri Matisse. It includes many well-known pieces, such as The Yellow Dress and focuses on collections from the late 1920s and early 1930s. The museum continues to bring in more of Matisse’s work, making it the largest Matisse collection in North America.

One exhibition that will open this month is Maryland Artists. For this exhibition, the BMA has brought in works by several notable Maryland artists who explore a variety of themes through a variety of mediums such as paintings, drawings and photography.

Another exhibition opening this month is Gifts of Art for a New Century, which will continue until May 2016. As the final exhibition in the New Arrivals series, it will serve as another significant installation at the BMA over the next several months. Displaying about 200 works, it will feature two pieces that have been newly acquired and others that have been selected from existing collections to complement these new pieces.

It will include different art forms from different time periods and diverse locations throughout the world, assembling several rare pieces into one unique collection. These pieces include a rare pair of late eighteenth century demi-lune sideboards and a nineteenth century Japanese table screen. Visitors will find many pieces that are certain to appeal to their own artistic tastes while also being able to explore pieces from other mediums they may be less familiar with.

Though not a part of the New Arrivals series, another exhibition, a collaboration between international artists Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, will be the first of its kind in the United States. Stretching from April 2016 to September 2016, the exhibition will explore the concept of technology in warfare through photography, sculpture, copper plates and film.

The artists challenge visitors to confront their misconceptions about warfare with shocking imagery such as that of high precision prisms to scope out and attack the enemy from a great distance. Designed to be a shocking and memorable exploration of present-day conflict, it concludes with a film entitled Rudiments, which follows the lives of British cadets.