Here is a guide to the wonderful exhibitions being offered this summer by Maine’s art museums.
Maine in America 2023: Celebrating the Alex Katz Foundation (through September 24) – features a selection of more than 60 works the Alex Katz foundation has given to the Farnsworth
The Farnsworth at 75; New Voices from Maine in American Art (through December 31) – a two part exhibition in which the first part “reexamines a selection of objects that underscores Maine’s important artistic contributions to American art during its early defining moment.” The second part “unveils new acquisitions to the museum’s collection in the last two years.”
Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk (through September 29) – “more than forty works of art by Nevelson, from early paintings, drawings, and figurative sculptures, to later abstract painted wood constructions, collages, and examples of the artist’s unique handcrafted jewelry.”
Passages in American Art – “a fundamental reinterpretation of the PMA collection, platforming multiple voices, revealing new ways of looking at some of the museum’s most beloved works of art.”
Drawn to the Light (through September 10) – about 100 works illustrating the impact of Rockport, Maine on the field of photography."
Elizabeth Columba Mythologies (through September 3) – “an exploration of extravagance, femininity, and Black culture.”
Alex Katz, Wedding Dress (June 30, 2023 through June 2, 2024) – “The exhibition will display a series of large-scale paintings that highlight the artist’s interest in the intersection of art and fashion, the texture of the painted surface, and the flatness of pictorial space.”
Shifting Sands: Beaches, Bathers, and Modern Maine Art (through July 16) – “explores the unique place the beach holds in modern art.”
Networks of Modernism, 1898–1968 (through November 12) – celebrating the Museum’s 70th anniversary, “this exhibition maps the ways artists responded to the immense social, political, and economic changes affecting life in the United States over a 70-year period: from 1898—the founding of Charles Woodbury’s school in Ogunquit—to 1968.”
The Sea, Just Like Your Eyes, Became a Refuge: Joe Wardwell Mural Commission (through November 12) – a “site-specific, exterior mural—the first for OMAA, and first since 2013 for the artist.”
Counterpoint: Artist Couples on Monhegan (July 1 through September 30) – “Featuring artworks by Lynne Drexler & John Hultberg, Jan & William McCartin, Marvin Oberman & Arline Simon, and Reuben & Geraldine King Tam.”
Nick van Woert: History, Material, Environment (through June 9, 2024) – “An untitled work by American artist Nick van Woert anchors a selection of ancient and historic sculpture exploring global histories of empire-building, cross-cultural ideals of beauty, and manipulations of the built landscape.”
Mina Loy: Strangeness Is Inevitable (through September 17) – “The exhibition is the first monographic presentation of the art of Mina Loy, one of the most inscrutable artists and poets of the twentieth century.”
Figures from the Fire: J. Pierpont Morgan’s Ancient Bronzes from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (through January 7, 2024) – “This exhibition features twenty small-scale ancient bronze sculptures from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, all purchased by the American financier J. Pierpont Morgan between 1904 and 1916 and given to the museum by his son in 1917.”
Masks of Memories: Art and Ceremony in Nineteenth Century Oceania (through July 16, 2023) – “This exhibition presents extraordinary masks from the island New Ireland, part of Papua New Guinea, that residents performed in at funeral ceremonies to explore their cultural significance and collecting history connected to Maine.”
Who Are They? Who Am I? (through October 7) – “Portraits of Artists and Artist Self Portraits from the Permanent Collection.”
Selections from the Diversify the Collection Program (through October 7) -featuring works of art by “artists from underrepresented cultures and populations.”
Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change (through October 22) – “This exhibition features works by artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) focused upon urban sites undergoing rapid transformation during the Victorian era.”
Painted: Our Bodies, Hearts, and Village (through July 28, 2024) – This exhibition “ centers Pueblo perspectives on the context that informed the social and cultural landscape of Taos from 1915 to 1927.”
Alex Katz: Repetitions (through March 29, 2026) – “This installation of the Paul J. Schupf Wing for the Works of Alex Katz highlights different strategies of repetition in Katz’s art, focusing on four words that describe this defining aspect of his artistic practice: reflection, recurrence, reduplication, and re-creation.”
Ashley Bryan / Paula Wilson: Take the World into Your Arms (through July 31 at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Downtown Waterville) – “This exhibition brings together two extraordinary artists, Ashley Bryan (1923–2022) and Paula Wilson (b. 1975), whose passionate and open embrace of the world unites their multifaceted creative endeavors. Through their art they channel the beauty and spirituality to be found in humanity and nature, using texture, color, and light to convey magical lyricism.”
70s Suburban Sensibilities Friends & Family: Meryl Meisler (through August 19)
Nightlife NYC 1977-2023: Meryl Meisler (through September 2)
Gold Dust: Nathan Brad Hall (through August 19) – recent paintings and drawings by the artist
Signs of Life: 2023 Young Curators (through September 2) – selections from the museum’s permanent collection curated by high school students.
Body Language: Lesia Sochor (through September 2) – “features textile inspired works by Maine-based painter, Lesia Sochor. The daughter of Ukrainian immigrant parents, Sochor grew up in Philadelphia and studied fine art at the Philadelphia College of Art.”
Out of the Kitchen & Onto the Walls: Works from the Collection (through August 19) – a selection of food related photographs and prints from the museum’s collection.
(Portland Campus)
Rose Marasco: Camera Lucida (June 23 through October 8) – “Rose Marasco, a major voice in the world of contemporary photography, is celebrated in the solo exhibition.”
(Biddeford Campus)
Images of Neuroscience, Images of Transcendence: Work from UNE Imaging and Paintings by Honour Mack (through September 29) – “This exhibit will feature scientific (specifically, immunohistological) images produced on our campus in Biddeford, particularly focusing on images produced by undergraduates, in conversation with the work of contemporary Maine painter Honour Mack.”
Quoted language is from each museum’s website.