NYC Museum Exhibits: Summer 2008

Temporary Art Shows in Manhattan at Guggenheim, Met & Other Museums

May 11, 2008

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Yellow) (1994-2000), Jeff Koons/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Masterworks of art from 3000 B.C. to the modern era are on view in 17 exhibitions at nine Manhattan museums during Summer 2008.

Museums in Manhattan are a treasure trove of art from worldwide collections this Summer. All locations' admissions policies, hours and and fees are accessible through the Internet.

Guggenheim Museum

Louise Bourgeois (June 27-September 28) is the most comprehensive retrospective of the contemporary artist's career so far. Drawings, paintings, prints and sculptures in bronze, fabric, latex, marble and wood evoke the influences of her childhood memories, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Post-Minimalism, revealing Bourgeois' highly personal iconography.

The Jewish Museum

Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976 (May 4-September 21) features 50 important paintings and sculptures by 32 artists from the 1940s to the 1970s that distinguished the Abstract Expressionists and their successors on the international art scene of the 20th Century. Represented are Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Helen Frankenthaler (b. 1928), Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Philip Guston (1913-1980) and Clyfford Still (1904-1980), amongst others.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru (February 26-September 1) demonstrates the centuries-old Andean use of vibrantly colored feathers for the embellishment of apparel, ear ornaments, fans, headdresses, pectorals, ritual offerings and hangings.
Jeff Koons on the Roof (April 22-October 26): Balloon Dog (Yellow) (1994-2000), Coloring Book (1994-2007) and Sacred Heart (Red/Gold) (1994-2007) by American artist Jeff Koons (b. 1955) are three oversized sculptures reflecting aspects of popular culture and making their first public appearance at The Met's outdoor Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden.
Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy (May 7-September 1) mingles Hollywood costumes, avant-garde haute couture and high-performance sportswear to illustrate the transformative power of superheroes and their outfits' influence on contemporary fashion. Among the costumes featured are those of Batman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Ironman and the Incredible Hulk.
Medieval and Renaissance Treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum (May 20-August 17) displays 35 secular and religious works from Late Antiquity through the 16th Century. Highlights include the Carolingian ivory Front Cover of the Lorsch Gospels (ca. 810), a Winged Putto with Fantastic Fish (ca. 1435-40) by Donatello (ca. 1386-146) and the Codex Forster I (1487-90 and 1505) by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe (July 1-September 21) describes the tradition of pietre dure or hardstone carving in the decorative arts, beginning in the Italian Renaissance and across four centuries. On view are approximately 150 cabinets, caskets, pieces of jewelry, tables, sculptures and vases.
J. M. W. Turner (July 1-September 21) is an international loan exhibition of some 140 paintings and watercolors spanning the career of the British artist (1775-1851).

The Morgan Library & Museum

Illuminating the Medieval Hunt (April 18-August 10) focuses on Le Livre de la chasse (1387-89) by Gaston Phoebus, the most popular treatise on hunting in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Philip Guston: Works on Paper (May 2-August 31) presents some 100 drawings by the New York School painter, draftsman and printmaker (1913-1980) in the retrospective's only American appearance. Guston's concentration on gestural figuration and abstraction is stressed throughout this reconsideration of the artist's graphic works.
Three Gutenberg Bibles (May 20-September 28) examines the creation and decoration of Christian texts manufactured by Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400-1468), the German inventor of printing.

Museum of Biblical Art

Realms of Faith: Medieval Art from the Walters Art Museum (March 5-July 13) introduces the viewer to devotional ivory and metal objects, panel paintings and illuminated manuscripts from the Christian Middle Ages. The works are into three sections, namely the Realms of Liturgical Celebration, Private Devotion and Domestic Life.
Albrecht Dürer: Art in Transition (July 26-September 21) explores prints by arguably the greatest graphic artist of the Northern Renaissance. The influences of Late Gothic and Italian Renaissance art on Durer's works on paper are fully considered throughout this exhibition from the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, Germany.

Museum of the City of New York

New York Fast Forward: Neil Denari Builds on the High Line (June 10-September 14) assembles the Los Angeles-based architect's imaginative models, full-scale building sections and computer renderings for HL23, his first freestanding structure to be erected next to the High Line, an abandoned elevated railroad bed in Manhattan's West Village and Chelsea neighborhoods being transformed into a public park.

Museum of Modern Art

Dalí: Painting and Film (June 29-September 15) displays more than 120 drawings, films, paintings and photographs by Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí (1904-1989), illustrating cinema's inspirational role in the artist's oeuvre.

Neue Galerie

Weiner Werkstätte Jewelry (March 27-September 1) exhibits more than 40 precious pieces produced by the Vienna Workshops between 1903 and 1930, along with design drawings and client photographs.

Onassis Cultural Center

From the Land of the Labyrinth: Minoan Crete, 3000-1100 B.C. (March 13-September 13) includes more than 280 artifacts and works of art from Europe's first palatial civilization. The exhibition describes Minoan society, political structure, culture, religion and technology through ceremonial vessels, frescoes, jewelry, clay tablets inscribed with the Linear A and B scripts, metalwork and sculptures.

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