Exhibits

A selective guide to the many Smithsonian exhibitions currently on view. For a complete listing, please visit our calendar.

In the Realm of the Buddha

March 13, 2010 - July 18, 2010
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Sublevel 1, Main Gallery & Northeast Galleries
Two distinct exhibitions offer fascinating encounters with the sacred art of Tibetan Buddhism.

• Lama, Patron, Artist: The Great Situ Panchen: In studying the sacred arts of Tibetan Buddhism, we seldom know who the artist was, let alone his life story. Through new scholarship and recently discovered paintings, this exhibition focuses on an extraordinary Tibetan artist Situ Panchen (1700-1774), who was not only a renowned painter and designer of paintings, but also a revered scholar, teacher, and the founder of Palpung monastery. By bringing together thangkas painted and designed by Situ, sculptures of his chosen deity Tara, and Chinese works from the Freer Gallery of Art collection, this exhibition reveals not only Situ Panchen's genius and enduring influence, but also his engagement with transnational Buddhist culture.

• The Tibetan Shrine from the Alice S. Kandell Collection: On public display for the first time, this privately held reconstructed shrine room features Tibetan Buddhist sacred art created between the 13th and 19th centuries. Works of art on view include bronze sculptures, thangkas (scroll paintings), ritual objects, textile banners, and painted furniture, all presented in a religiously correct manner. This shrine is acknowledged by practicing Buddhists as a sacred place.

The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins: What Does It Mean To Be Human?

March 17, 2010 - Permanent
National Museum of Natural History
1st Floor, Northwest Wing (Halls 11 & 12)
Exhibit hours:
• March 17 and 18: 12 Noon-3 PM
• Starting March 19: regular museum hours

This major new exhibition hall focuses on the story of human origins and probes the ecological and genetic connections that human beings have had with the natural world over time. It examines the shared framework of humankind -- the biological and cultural history we all share -- as well as the differences that exist and preoccupy us today.

The Modern Gown Gallery: A First Lady's Debut

March 10, 2010 - New Permanent
National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
2nd Floor, West, First Ladies at the Smithsonian's new gallery
This new gallery features 11 inaugural gowns from the country's contemporary first ladies, beginning with Mamie Eisenhower to Michelle Obama. It focuses on the public interest and media coverage of the first lady's "debut" during the inauguration, using contemporary accounts to relay first impressions of each woman and the role she might play in the White House. The white chiffon, one-shoulder, floor-length gown that Jason Wu designed for Michelle Obama to wear to the 2009 inaugural balls is displayed in a case in the center of the gallery. Also on view are watercolor sketches of 14 gowns from the collection. This gallery is an extension of the First Ladies at the Smithsonian exhibition and collectively the two galleries feature a total of 24 dresses and more than 100 other objects.

YouTube Video: Museum staff members provide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the work involved in conserving the first ladies' dresses and accessories.

For more information on First Ladies at the Smithsonian, see separate listing.

Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Highlights

May 18, 2009 - Indefinitely
National Museum of African Art
Sublevel 1
On view are 60 objects and 4 in the lobby from this comprehensive 525-piece collection of African art representing 20 African countries and 75 peoples and covers 5 centuries of African art, including most major styles ranging from a highly abstract Cameroon mask to a naturalistic carved wooden male figure from Madagascar. Many of the works inspired such 20th-century artists as Picasso and Juan Gris.

Catalogue: $39.95 (paper)

Framing the West: The Survey Photographs of Timothy H. O'Sullivan

February 12, 2010 - May 9, 2010
Smithsonian American Art Museum
1st Floor, West Galleries
Timothy H. O'Sullivan (1840-1882) spent six seasons between 1867 and 1874 in the mountain and desert west as photographer for government-sponsored geological surveys and expeditions led by Clarence King and Lt. George Wheeler. His photographs go beyond mere documentation of newly explored landscapes; they show a forthright and rigorous style formed in response to the American West. This first major look at O'Sullivan's photographs in more than 25 years features more than 80 of his photographs and sterographs and explores the artist's images, the conditions under which they were made, the influences that shaped his work, and his continuing influence on American photography.

Artful Animals

July 1, 2009 - July 25, 2010
National Museum of African Art
Sublevel 1
Dedicated to young audiences, this exhibition explores how African artists create striking works of art using images from an array of domestic and untamed animals. On view are approximately 125 works that capture not only the physical characteristics of animals but also the many ways that animals, from spiders to leopards, act out our human shortcomings and successes. From rock art to contemporary painting, animals are used as symbols of royal arts and in masquerades for the ancestors. Many of the elements of design are derived through direct observation of the animals in their natural habitat. It is the animal's conduct and distinct behaviors that carry the messages in performances, stories, and proverbs. Themes include notions of nurturing, power, wisdom, transformation, beauty, and aggression.

Graphic Masters III: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

January 15, 2010 - August 8, 2010
Smithsonian American Art Museum
2nd Floor, South Wing, Graphics Gallery
On view are watercolors, pastels, and drawings from the 1960s to the 1990s to celebrate the extraordinary variety and accomplishment of American artists' works on paper. The works on view reveal the central importance of works on paper for American artists, both as studies for creations in other media and as finished works of art. Artists represented include such masters as Robert Arneson, Jennifer Bartlett, Philip Guston, Luis Jimenez, and Wayne Thiebaud.

Catalogue: $19.95

Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America

January 15, 2010 - April 25, 2010 (new closing date)
S. Dillon Ripley Center, International Gallery
International Gallery
Rare artifacts and photographs from more than 400 communities are on view to explore the role of Catholic sisters in American life. From the time they first arrived in America nearly 300 years ago, sisters built schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages, homeless shelters, and many other enduring social institutions. As nurses, teachers, and social workers, they entered professional ranks decades earlier than most other women. They shared common experiences of immigration and migration and endured the same national crises as other Americans. Despite being considered "weak women" by some, these sisters have made a lasting contribution to American life.

One Life: Echoes of Elvis

January 8, 2010 - August 29, 2010
National Portrait Gallery
1st Floor, East Side
The One Life gallery within the museum is devoted to the exploration of the life of one individual.

This exhibition features Elvis Presley and celebrates the 75th anniversary of his birth. Although Elvis died more than 30 years ago, the world remains fascinated with his image and music. His records have continued to sell by the millions and public interest in his music, career, and life has yet to subside. During the last half century, Elvis became part of the artistic discourse as well. Early in Elvis's career, Andy Warhol illuminated the role he played in the new and youth-powered popular American culture; later, Ralph Wolfe Cowan, Red Grooms, and others created mythical, spiritual, and earthly images of the man whose legacy includes multiple superlative moments in music, entertainment, life, and afterlife. To this day, both the historical Elvis Presley and the fantasy-based vision of Elvis are the subject of poetry, literature, music, film, and the visual arts.

Cornucopia: Ceramics from Southern Japan

December 19, 2009 - January 9, 2011
Freer Gallery of Art
Galleries 6a, 6, & 7 (Japanese Art)
This exhibition illuminates the engaging variety of local styles of glazing and decoration invented by Kyushu potters over three centuries. Around the year 1600, a heightened fascination with the design and uses of ceramics combined with new access to advanced technology launched an era of extraordinarily diverse and accomplished ceramic production. Southern Japan -- in particular, the island of Kyushu -- was the center for this efflorescence, which included both stoneware coated in muted glazes and porcelain ornamented with cobalt blue or multicolored enamels. Hundreds of kilns produced vessels for the domestic market (with a focus on utensils for dining and for the tea ceremony) and also for export to Europe and Southeast Asia.

The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present

November 8, 2009 - July 4, 2010
Anacostia Community Museum
Main Gallery
This traveling exhibition looks at the history, culture, and art of Afro-Mexicans, beginning in the colonial era and continuing to present day. Highlights of the exhibition include "casta" paintings -- paintings used to delineate racial categories and the ever-increasing complexity of racial mixture -- and discussions of African slavery in Mexico and the hero/slave rebel Yanga; artifacts related to the traditions and popular culture of the Afro-Mexicans; and many paintings, masks, photography, and other works of art.

The African Presence in Mexico also includes a section on "Who Are We Now? Roots, Resistance, and Recognition," which charts the history of the relationship between Mexicans and African Americans in the United States, as well as the relationship between African Americans and the country of Mexico.

Black Box: Phoebe Greenberg

November 30, 2009 - April 11, 2010 Rotating Exhibiti
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Lower Level
The Black Box theater showcases rotating exhibitions of contemporary artists who use film or video as their creative medium. Films or videos run continuously.

November 30, 2009-April 4, 2010:
Curator and arts advocate Phoebe Greenberg worked with Caroline Binet, Denis Villeneuve, Jacques Davidts, and a feature film-style team to bring this part dream, part morality tale scenario to life.

Next Floor (12 min., 2008, created and produced by Phoebe Greenberg) -- part nightmare, part morality tale -- is inspired by the lavish cinematic tableaux associated with Peter Greenaway and responds to the endless appetites of pre-economic crash consumerism. The themes suggested in this film continue to resonate during a time of global struggle to regain economic equilibrium. In 2008, it was awarded Best Short Film in Cannes, France.

A Song for the Horse Nation

November 14, 2009 - July 7, 2011
National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center
George Gustav Heye Center, Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
This exhibition presents the epic story of the horse's influence on American Indian tribes from the 1600s to the present. It features approximately 100 works from the museum's collection to reveal how horses shaped the social, economic, cultural, and spiritual foundations of American Indian life, particularly on the Great Plains. Highlights include historical ledger drawings, beaded bags, hide robes, and paintings, including new works by contemporary Native artists. Also on view is a Hunkpapa Lakota winter count by Long Soldier (c. 1902) that depicts the horse's first appearance in the community.

Yinka Shonibare MBE

November 10, 2009 - March 7, 2010
National Museum of African Art
Sublevel 1, Sylvia H. Williams Gallery; Sublevel 2
On display is the most comprehensive exhibition of works -- including dramatic sculptural tableaux, paintings, photographs, and film -- by this internationally renowned Nigerian, London-based artist to date.

IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas

November 10, 2009 - May 31, 2010
National Museum of the American Indian
2nd Level, Sealaska Gallery
Compelling text with powerful graphics on 20 banners discusses the cultural integration and diffusion of African American and American Indian people, especially those of blended heritage. This exhibition also sheds light on the dynamics of race, community, culture, and creativity and addresses the human desire to belong.

Related publication
10-minute video

Directions -- John Gerrard

November 5, 2009 - May 31, 2010
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
3rd Floor
As part of the Directions series, this exhibition features works by Irish artist John Gerrard (b. 1974, Dublin) who photographed actual sites of farms and oil fields from 360 degrees and then simulated cinematic movement around the sites using the computer, complete with shifting, natural lighting effects.

With new technologies offering artists opportunities to create works with dimensions no one has seen before, he uses customized 3-D gaming software to re-imagine landscape art. A former student of the Art Institute of Chicago, Gerrard is inspired by the look, the history, and politics of the Dust Bowl region. He creates contemplative, vivid scenes of farms and oil fields that raise questions about the effect of human progress on the environment.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009

October 23, 2009 - August 22, 2010
National Portrait Gallery
2nd Floor
The National Portrait Gallery presents 49 of the finalists' works that were selected from the second triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Dave Woody, winner of the competition, received the grand prize of $25,000 and an opportunity to create a portrait for the Portrait Gallery's permanent collection. The competition invited artists working in the figurative arts to submit portraits of people close to them. Submissions were accepted in all visual arts media, including film, video, and digital animation. Through January 18, 2010, the public can vote online or on-site for the artwork to receive the People's Choice Award.

Related catalogue: $13.95

Brian Jungen: Strange Comfort

October 16, 2009 - August 8, 2010
National Museum of the American Indian
3rd Level, W. Richard West Jr. Contemporary Changing Gallery
This major survey features iconic works by Brian Jungen (Dunne-za First Nations/Swiss/Canadian), as well as major pieces never before seen in the United States. Jungen is widely regarded as the foremost Native artist of his generation; his art transforms the familiar and banal into exquisite objects that reference themes of globalization, pop culture, museums, and the commodification of Indian imagery. He first came to prominence with Prototypes for New Understandings (1998-2005), which fashioned Nike footwear into masks that suggested Northwest Coast iconography. Later works have included a pod of whales made from plastic chairs, totem poles made from golf bags, and a massive basketball court made from 224 sewing tables.

Whether it's your first visit, or your 51st, there's always something new to see. Don't miss these featured exhibits - and check each museum for their complete schedule of special collections.