Henry Louis Gates Jr. co-curates Frederick Douglass show at Wadsworth

George Kendall Warren, ‘Frederick Douglass,’ 1879. Albumen print on Cabinet Card. The Amistad Center for Art & Culture. Courtesy of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
George Kendall Warren, ‘Frederick Douglass,’ 1879. Albumen print on Cabinet Card. The Amistad Center for Art & Culture. Courtesy of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
George Kendall Warren, ‘Frederick Douglass,’ 1879. Albumen print on Cabinet Card. The Amistad Center for Art & Culture. Courtesy Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

HARTFORD, Conn. — A new exhibition exploring the reflections of Frederick Douglass on image-making, race and citizenship has opened at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and the Amistad Center for Art & Culture. Co-curated by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, the exhibition brings together rare 19th-century daguerreotypes — on public view for the first time — with an immersive film work by contemporary artist Sir Isaac Julien that meditates on Douglass’ life and times. I Am Seen…Therefore, I Am: Isaac Julien and Frederick Douglass is on view through September 24.

Continue reading

Wadsworth Atheneum ‘Fired Up’ for contemporary glass show

Alex Bernstein, ‘New Spring Blue Group,’ 2021. Cast, carved glass and steel, 25 by 45 by 6in. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Habatat Galleries.
Alex Bernstein, ‘New Spring Blue Group,’ 2021. Cast, carved glass and steel, 25 by 45 by 6in. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Habatat Galleries.
Alex Bernstein, ‘New Spring Blue Group,’ 2021. Cast, carved glass and steel, 25 by 45 by 6in. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Habatat Galleries.

HARTFORD, Conn. — More than 50 contemporary glass artists breathe new life into nature’s most volatile medium in Fired Up: Glass Today, opening at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art on September 16. Of more than 150 works on view, approximately half were created exclusively for this exhibition or will make their public debut at the Wadsworth. Special live events including glass working demonstrations at an on-site hot shop feature artists who will bring the magic of glass to Hartford this fall. Fired Up will be on view through February 5, 2023.

Continue reading