Making plans for the summer? Consider scoping out these new exhibitions coming to San Antonio and Austin-area institutions, including the San Antonio Museum of Art, the McNay Art Museum, Contemporary at Blue Star, and the Blanton Museum of Art.
Joan Miró, “Poster for an exhibition of the artist’s work, held at the Galerie Maeght,” 1948, lithograph. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Bequest of Mrs. Jerry Lawson, 1994.142. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ ADAGP, Paris
The McNay Art Museum in San Antonio kicks off the summer with Off the Wall: Posters as Art. The show is curated by Lyle W. Williams, the museum’s Curator of Prints and Drawings, Curator of Modern Art, and Rafael Fernando Gutierrez Jr., the inaugural Douglass Foundation Intern in Curatorial Studies, and brings together posters from the early 1890s to today. With pieces by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec that promote cabaret performances to Ben Shahn’s works that reveal the atrocities of the Nazi regime in the 1940s, Off the Wall showcases the wide range of how posters have been used over time. Additionally, the exhibition will feature Charles Gesmar’s Mistinguett, an Art Deco portrait and one of the largest prints ever produced.
Off the Wall: Posters as Art will be on view at the McNay from May 10 through July 30, 2023.
“Spotlight: San Antonio’s K-12 Artists Embrace vanessa german’s BLACK GIRL WITH SNAKES” at the McNay.
Later in May, also opening at the McNay, is a showcase of student works, Spotlight: San Antonio’s K-12 Artists Embrace vanessa german’s BLACK GIRL WITH SNAKES. Since 2011, the Spotlight exhibition series has highlighted students’ work reflecting on the McNay’s collection.
Spotlight: San Antonio’s K-12 Artists Embrace vanessa german’s BLACK GIRL WITH SNAKES will be on view at the McNay from May 21, 2023 through May 12, 2024.
Big Little Stage, an exhibition of theater models and maquettes will also open at the McNay next month. The show brings together small- and large-scale pieces in a variety of mediums that artists and designers have used in their planning processes. From Victor St. Leon’s miniature Hanging Gardens of Babylon created in 1860 to a futuristic set designed by Ralph Koltai for Shakespeare’s Othello in 1985, the exhibition brings together a wide range of works.
Big Little Stage will be on view at the McNay from May 25, 2023 through February 25, 2024.
The Milwaukee Lithographing and Engraving Company, 1852–1920, Lone Star Brewing Co., San Antonio, 1903, colored lithograph on paper, 27 x 41 1/2 inches. San Antonio Museum of Art purchase, 74.93.
In June, the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) will present Still Brewing Art, an exhibition featuring historic photographs and artworks that explore the city’s brewing history. SAMA is housed in the former building of The Lone Star Brewery, which was the first large mechanized brewery in the state. When the museum opened in the castle-like historic building in 1981, its slogan was “We’re Brewing Art.”
Still Brewing Art will be on view at SAMA from June 30 through September 3, 2023.
Lhola Amira, “IRMANDADE: The Shape Of Water in Pindorama,” 2018 film, still video, HD single channel sound. Image courtesy of SMAC Gallery. copyright Lhola Amira.
In June, the Contemporary at Blue Star presents Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology, a traveling exhibition that brings together a group of eco-conscious artists who are drawing upon healing practices, science, and ancient beliefs in their work about the connectedness of our environment. The show, curated by Sharmila Wood and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York, includes a range of participatory works including video and installation pieces.
Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology will be on view at the Contemporary from June 2 through September 3, 2023.
Also this summer, the Contemporary at Blue Star will host solo shows by artists Brittany Ham, Michael Velliquette, and Adam Schreiber. Ms. Ham’s exhibition will feature self portraits completed during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and works inspired by her research during her time at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien as part of the Contemporary’s Berlin Residency program. Mr. Velliquette’s exhibition will be the most comprehensive presentation of his intricate paper sculptures to date. And Mr. Schreiber’s photo exhibition will feature pieces made during his time at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien.
Solo shows for Brittany Ham, Michael Velliquette, and Adam Schreiber will be on view at the Contemporary from July 7 through September 3, 2023.
The Blanton’s Architectural Design by Snøhetta includes new architectural features and landscaping, and mural by Carmen Herrera
In Austin, as the Blanton Museum of Art prepares for its grand reopening in May, it will be closed to the public from April 23 through May 3. The museum will reopen on Thursday, May 4 and will host a grand opening celebration on Saturday, May 13, when it will debut site specific installations by Carmen Herrera, Bill Fontana, Kay Rosen, and Gabriel Dawe.
The Blanton’s opening ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 13, from 2 pm to 8 pm.
