Art in exhibits offers messages for our time
COMMENTARY exhibit. Because its original run was cut short when museums closed during the coronavirus shutdown, I’m glad this extension will allow more people to see it — and contemplate Lehr’s important message.
The Mennello Museum is at 900 E. Princeton St., Orlando. To make a reservation to visit or for more information on the Lehr exhibit, go to mennellomuseum.org.
Let’s head back to Orlando Museum of Art for a look at coming attractions. The museum has acquired two new works by contemporary American artists Bisa Butler and Kyle Meyer.
Butler’s quilted waxprint fabric piece “Wangari Maathai” depicts that famed Kenyan environmentalist and political activist, while Kyle Meyer’s “Unidentified 105a” is one in a series of works that interweave wax-print fabric with portraits from the LGBTQ+ community in eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland.
“These works reflect OMA’s commitment to collecting the most progressive art of our time, building a collection that acknowledges and gives a voice to the diverse community served by the museum, and fostering crosscultural understanding and respect through our platform,” said associate curator Coralie Claesen-Gleyzon in a statement.
An acclaimed artist who specializes in portraying African American subjects in quilts, Butler created her piece — featured on the cover of Time magazine — to honor Maathai, the first woman of color to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Meyer, a gay photographer, shot his current series “Interwoven” in eSwatini, where homosexuality is illegal. Portraits from the series infuse digital photography with traditional Swazi art and crafts.
Both works were purchased for OMA with funds from Acquisition Trust, a membership-based organization that uses its annual dues to purchase contemporary art. Since its founding, Acquisition Trust has contributed 56 artworks to the museum’s permanent collection
Coming this fall at Orlando Museum of Art, from Sept. 24-Jan. 3, will be “JEFRË: Points of Connection,” the Central Florida artist’s first solo museum show featuring the largescale multimedia sculptures and installations that are his hallmark.
Visitors will be guided through the exhibition by JEFRË‘s poem “Heart to Heart,” the museum says, as they interact with immersive installations that explore the artist’s immigrant identity and his history with heart disease.
Through the integration of technology, the museum says, the exhibit will “illuminate our common humanity across age, gender, ethnicity and nationality.”
A Filipino American, JEFRË has designed striking artwork throughout Central Florida, including “The Beacon,” a
60-foot-tall work at the corner of the Lake Nona Town Center parking garage, that structure’s aluminum-and-numbers “Code Wall,” and the nearby “Diamond Dog.” He has been chosen to create a monumental gateway sculpture that will greet visitors at Orlando International Airport’s new south terminal.
The Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College in Winter Park has appointed Alexia Lobaina as its associate curator of education. Before joining the Cornell, Lobaina worked at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami as a learning-programs facilitator for school groups and adults. She is working toward a doctorate degree in curatorial studies at Florida State University, where she also received a master’s in art history and cultural heritage, and bachelor’s degrees in art history and photography/digital design.
“In our extensive search, Lexie stood out,” said Cornell director Ena Heller, “She combines knowledge and experience with intellectual curiosity, and a passion for teaching with a warm and engaging presence in the gallery.”
Finally, be on the lookout for a public service announcement from a trio of local artists: Harold Garde, Jason Fronczek and Boris Garbe, who own Mills Gallery Orlando. Fronczek, an artist with a bent toward social justice, recorded Garde — the legendary local abstract expressionist artist who isn’t slowing down in his 90s — delivering a message about coronavirus precautions.
I won’t give it away, but it’s snappy, to the point, and as the kids say — not safe for work.