National Gallery of Canada Shows
Major 2008 Exhibitions on Art of the 1930s, Canada and Baroque Rome
Three exhibitions in 2008 at the National Gallery of Canada focus on the "new man" in 1930s art, Canadian contemporary sculpture and Roman Baroque portrait busts.
Three major special exhibitions in 2008 will grace the halls of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. They deal with the idea of the "new man" in the art of Europeans and Americans during the 1930s, participatory sculpture by 10 Canadian contemporary artists and collectives and the portrait busts of Roman Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini and his peers.
The 1930s: The Making of "The New Man" (June 6-September 7, 2008) examines the crucial connection between art and biology during the Fascist period between the two World Wars. More than 200 paintings, photographs and sculptures by 103 artists from Europe (Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, among others) and North America (including Thomas Hart Benton and Walker Evans) describe biology as a force for change. This often destructive notion pitted the Nazi regime's idea of the "degenerate" or "mentally ill" artist against that of a "superman" or "new man" achieved through racism and eugenics. The exhibition is arranged thematically into nine sections: Genesis, Convulsive Beauty, “The Will to Power”, The Making of “The New Man”, Mother Earth, The Appeal of Classicism, “Faces of Our Time”, “Crowds and Power” and The Charnel House. Private and public collections in 12 countries have loaned works to this profound exhibition.
Caught in the Act: The Viewer as Performer (October 17, 2008 to February 15, 2009) presents sculptures by 10 Canadian contemporary artists and collectives from Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg. The art of Max Dean, Mowry Baden, Rebecca Belmore, Jana Sterbak, BGL, Geoffrey Farmer, Massimo Guerrera, Rodney LaTourelle, Kent Monkman, Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins challenges the viewer to interact with it, thus illustrating a recent participatory trend in contemporary works.
Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Sculpture (November 26, 2008-March 15, 2009) describes the sculpted portrait's rise to prominence in early 17th-century Rome. Revived first by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and then further developed by Alessandro Algardi, Giuliano Finelli, François Duqesnoy and Francesco Mochi, the portrait bust took its proper place as a respected art form in Baroque Italy. The virtuoso Bernini and his peers surpassed the mere reproduction of their sitters' physical features by successfully imbuing their stone sculptures with a sense of life and animation.
Previously on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California (August 5-October 26, 2008), the international loan exhibition is the first of its kind in North America about this artist and his renowned Roman peers. Arranged chronologically, it traces the evolution of Bernini's career as a sculptor. The presentation illustrates the complex relationship between Baroque painting and sculpture through some 50 marble, bronze and porphyry statues as well as relevant paintings and drawings. A number of the portrait busts have never left Italy before this remarkable presentation, making the exhibition a rare opportunity to study Bernini's works in light of those produced by his contemporaries.
