Exhibition Opens at Art Museum with Focus on Sports, Culture, Self-Identity

"If I Can, You Can," by Wendy White. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 18, 2019) — The University Art Museum is set to open ACE: Art on Sports, Promise and Selfhood, an exhibition that features over a dozen emerging and internationally recognized artists.

ACE, which opens on Friday, June 28, on the University's Uptown Campus, explores sports' capacity to shape personal identity, define broader cultural codes and rituals, and engender community.

The exhibition comprises a wide-range of media, including painting, sculpture, video, works on paper and immersive installation, according to Naomi Lewis, exhibition and outreach coordinator for the museum.

"Addressing our contemporary moment and issues of our recent past, the artists' work draws parallels between physicality and performance in the arenas of art and sports," Lewis said. "ACE addresses how athletes and artists balance their passions between rigor, achievement and the complicated prospect of thwarted expectations."

ACE will be on view at the museum from June 28 through Dec. 7, with tours of the exhibition available from July 3 through Dec. 4. Learn more about ACE. 

 

Artist Residencies Bring Performances, Workshops

As part of the exhibition, the museum has invited several of the artists to activate components of their work on-site. Artists will participate in two-day residencies that will include a performance and realization of new work with the assistance of UAlbany undergraduate and graduate students, according to Lewis.

She said artists will engage students and faculty as well as the public in informal, cross-disciplinary conversations, workshops and public engagements. In addition, an Artists' Reception will take place at the museum on Friday, Sept. 13, from 5-7 p.m.

"By inviting artists to lead these programs, the audiences will be presented with the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of their work as well as to delve into the relevant and pressing issues that the exhibition raises," Lewis said. 

The museum's summer hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Participating Artists

  • Kevin Beasley
  • Petra Cortright
  • Darío Escobar
  • Radamés Juni Figueroa
  • Baseera Khan
  • Ari Marcopoulos
  • Catherine Opie
  • Sondra Perry
  • Paul Pfeiffer
  • Howardena Pindell
  • Cheryl Pope
  • Ronny Quevedo
  • Ashley Teamer
  • Hank Willis Thomas
  • Wendy White

 

Support for the University Art Museum exhibition and programs is provided by the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, The University at Albany Foundation, UAlbany Strategic Allocation of Resources Fund, University Auxiliary Services and support from John Troiano '83 and Jennifer Troiano.