Future Minded: New Works in the Collection
"Future Minded," on display Friday, Mar. 1–Sunday, July 21, highlights a selection of works acquired in recent years that exemplify Harvard Art Museums’ collecting vision and strategies. Nearly all are on display for the first time. Staged across two adjacent galleries, the exhibition presents a range of drawings, photographs, prints, paintings and sculptures spanning centuries and continents. The works are by roughly 30 artists, including Jean (Hans) Arp, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Willie Cole, Pietro Damini, Svenja Deininger, Jeffrey Gibson, Baldwin Lee, Ana Mendieta, Lucia Moholy, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Noriko Saitō, Melissa Shook, Jane Yang-D’Haene and many others.
The museums are committed to acquiring art that expands the range of artists and cultures represented in the collections; that moves museum practice toward more nuanced understanding of both histories and contemporary issues; and that pushes boundaries and embraces experimentation. Many of the works on view are by living artists, an area of focused growth for the museums.