BMA OPENS NEW FRONT ROOM & BLACK BOX

MEDIA CONTACTS:
The Baltimore Museum of Art
Anne Brown / Sarah Pedroni
443-573-1870
BMA OPENS NEW FRONT ROOM & BLACK BOX
CONTEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
Exhibitions of works by American photographer An-My Lê and
Irish artist Gerard Byrne are presented in the renovated Contemporary Wing
BALTIMORE, MD (August 20, 2013)—The Baltimore Museum of Art’s changing Contemporary Wing
exhibitions continue to embrace the art and artists of our time with two new dynamic presentations this
fall. Front Room: An-My Lê, on view October 9 – February 23, 2014, investigates ideas of war and the
military through 21 large-scale black-and-white and color photographs. Black Box: Gerard Byrne on view
October 16 – February 9, 2014, uses film and photography that evoke the Loch Ness Monster to play
with the idea that the personal belief of the viewer can be as powerful as the reality captured in a
photo. The exhibitions are organized by BMA Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs Ann
Shafer and BMA Curator of Contemporary Art Kirsten Hileman.
American photographer An-My Lê’s (born 1960, Vietnam) work examines the multi-layered roles the
military plays across a variety of settings without focusing on actual combat or war zones. Regarding
herself as a landscape photographer, she frames her subjects on immense backdrops to highlight the
tension between the power of the natural world and the force of humans and their machines. Lê and
her family came to the United States as political refugees in 1975 during the final year of the Vietnam
War, which has had a strong impact on her work. Her most recent series, Events Ashore (2005-present),
features large color images taken on board aircraft carriers and hospital ships where the U.S. has
military outposts, is supporting scientific missions, or is engaged in humanitarian aid.
Works from three earlier series explore the disjunction between wars as historical events and the
ubiquitous representation of war in contemporary entertainment, politics, and collective consciousness.
Vietnam (1994-98) includes images of life in that country, such as kites flying in a large field, which could
look more ominous to someone with memories of that conflict. Small Wars (1999-2002) shows Vietnam
War reenactors in Virginia and North Carolina engaging in what some may consider a bizarre hobby. 29
Palms (2003-04) reveals preparations for deployment to Iraq amidst the grand desert landscape at the
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in 29 Palms, California.
Meet the artist! On Saturday, October 12, MacArthur Foundation grant winner An-My Lê will participate
in an artist’s talk with Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs Ann Shafer. The event will be
held at the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Brown Center Falvey Hall at 2 p.m. Admission is free. No
registration is required.
—more—
BMA Contemporary Wing Fall 2013/news release
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Gerard Byrne’s Case Study: Loch Ness (Some possibilities and problems) is drawn from 10 years of
documentation at Loch Ness in Scotland inspired by the mysterious monster that is said to inhabit the
waters there. A 16 mm film and a selection of photographs allow viewers to decide for themselves what
they are or are not viewing, and what they do and do not want to believe. The film relates the accounts
of individuals who claim to have seen the elusive creature. The photographs are fragments, showing
different angles of the mysterious lake and its surroundings: a swimmer’s cocked arm, old fence posts
lining a narrow path lakeside, and trees camouflaging the water all evoke the famous “Nessie.”
An-My Lê (Vietnam, born 1960) is a photographer that lives and works in New York. A 2012 winner of
the MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” Lê received BAS and MS degrees in biology from Stanford
University (1981, 1985) and an MFA from Yale University (1993). She has received many awards,
including fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1997) and the New York
Foundation for the Arts (1996). She has had one-person exhibitions at Dia Beacon (2006), and at
PS1/MoMA (2002), and a traveling exhibition was organized and circulated by the Museum of
Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, Chicago (2006). She was included in MoMA’s New
Photography series in 1997.
Gerard Byrne (Irish, born 1969) was born in Dublin where he continues to live and work. In 2007, he was
the Irish representative for the 52nd Venice Biennale, and has had solo exhibitions at the Institute of
Contemporary Art, Boston; the Irish Museum of Art, Dublin; the Renaissance Society at the University of
Chicago; and The Whitechapel Gallery, London. A Fulbright Scholar, Byrne was awarded the prestigious
PS1 studio award in 1997-98, and graduated from the Whitney Independent Study Program in 1999. The
artist has participated in group exhibitions including: Documenta (13), Kassel Germany (2012); Performa
11, New York City (2011); Gwanju Biennial, Korea (2008); Sydney Biennial (2008), Lyon Biennial (2007);
the 3rd Tate Triennial, Tate Britain, London; Istanbul Biennale (2003); and Manifesta 4 (2002).
ABOUT THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
The Baltimore Museum of Art is home to an internationally renowned collection of 19th-century, modern, and
contemporary art. Founded in 1914 with a single painting, the BMA today has 90,000 works of art—including the
largest holding of works by Henri Matisse in the world. The BMA has a long tradition of collecting the art of the
day, beginning with the Cone sisters, whose avid acquisitions from living artists signaled the Museum’s
commitment to collecting contemporary art. Other outstanding collections include European and American fine
and decorative arts, 15th- through 19th-century prints and drawings, works by established and emerging
contemporary artists, and objects from Africa, Asia, the Ancient Americas, and Pacific Islands. Two beautifully
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renowned American architect John Russell Pope. Two beautifully landscaped gardens display an array of 20thcentury sculpture that is an oasis in the city. Since 2006, the BMA has eliminated general admission fees so that
everyone can enjoy the power of art. NOTE: The BMA’s exciting renovation is underway! If you are visiting to see a
specific work of art or collection, please call ahead to make sure it will be on view. Contact Visitor Services at 443573-1701 during museum hours for more information.
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