LEGACY:
Selections from Emily Fisher Landau’s Gift
to the Whitney Museum
1st floor
ALTERED APPEARANCES
2nd & 3rd floors
January 28th - March 28th, 2016
Fisher Landau Center for Art is excited to announce LEGACY: Selections from Emily Fisher Landau's Gift to the Whitney Museum of American Art, on view through March 28th, 2016. Occupying the first floor gallery of the Center, the installation includes artwork by Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Agnes Martin, Mark Tansey, Richard Artschwager, Susan Rothenberg, John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, Ed Ruscha, Annette Lemieux and Rudolf Stingel, curated from Mrs. Landau’s historic pledge of over 400 artworks by nearly 100 artists.
On view in the 2nd & 3rd floor galleries, ALTERED APPEARANCES is an exhibition dedicated to images that are not always what they appear to be. Utilizing experimental photographic processes & digital manipulation, the installation presents 67 artworks by 28 artists from the Collection. Emily Fisher Landau’s passion for seeking out alternative visions is highlighted through the presentation of discrete themes focusing on ephemeral subject matter, innovative image processing & the construction of elusive architectural landscapes. Selections from Gregory Crewdson’s “Twilight” and Matthew Barney’s “Cremaster” series are juxtaposed with close cropped portraits including Andres Serrano’s haunting image of “Klanswoman (Grand Klaliff II)" (1990), and Inez Van Lamsweerde’s otherworldly depiction of “Kirsten” (1996). James Casebere, Keith Cottingham, & Fariba Hajamadi create artificial interiors that are presented on a grand scale and form a complimentary dialogue with the exterior imagery of Lynn Davis, Michel Francois, Vera Lutter and Shirin Neshat. The 3rd floor gallery presents photographs by Adam Fuss featuring snakes, infants and moving water utilizing a photogram process whereby the image is created entirely without a camera, accompanied by the ethereal depictions of Barbaba Ess, made with a pinhole camera then printed to a format that is larger than life.
Housed in a former parachute harness factory, Fisher Landau Center for Art was designed by Max Gordon in association with Bill Katz and is devoted to the exhibition and study of the contemporary art collection of Emily Fisher Landau. The core of the 1500 work collection spans 1960 to the present and contains key works by artists who have shaped the most significant art of the last 50 years. Emily Fisher Landau's insightful selection of works by contemporary masters, many of which she purchased from the artists at the outset of their careers is reflected in exhibitions presented at Fisher Landau Center for Art. Her ongoing commitment to emerging artists extends to the annual presentation of the Columbia University School of Visual Arts MFA Thesis Exhibition. In May of 2010, Mrs. Landau made a historic pledge of over 400 artworks by nearly 100 artists to the Whitney Museum of American Art, with a curated selection touring the United States through 2015.