August 10, 2001
PRESS RELEASE
Albright-Knox Art Gallery Showcases
Recent Acquisitions
September 8 – October 14, 2001
Buffalo, NY---Fresh: Recent Acquisitions is a selection of more than 60 paintings, photographs, works on paper, and sculptures that have been acquired by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery during the past five years. Since the establishment of The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, the governing body of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, in 1862, acquiring art by promising young artists and the work of contemporary masters has been the lifeblood of the institution. The exhibition, which opens with a Members’ Preview Friday, September 7 from 5:30 to 8 p.m., will be on view through October 14, 2001.
"Fresh" is a word that can be used to describe the character of many of the art works in the Gallery’s collection, especially those featured in this exhibition. Modern and contemporary artists have questioned, confronted, and ultimately reinvented traditional ways of making and thinking about art for more than a century. Today, the impulse to confront and renew artistic traditions is resulting in ideas that continue to challenge authority in sometimes bold, sometimes playful, sometimes mocking, and even shocking works of art that demand us to think in fresh, new ways.
The title also reflects the method of collecting by the late Seymour H. Knox, Jr., the benefactor who helped build the Gallery’s renowned collection of abstract expressionist painting was said to have bought art while "the paint was still wet." To this day a majority of the Gallery’s collection has been acquired while still "fresh," that is, within a few years of the work’s completion. Gallery Director Douglas G. Schultz and the Gallery’s curators continually scout the newest, most exciting, and important works available in the art world today.
"One of the most dynamic facets of the Gallery is its intense commitment to acquiring contemporary art; yet, this is one of the lesser-known aspects of the Gallery’s collection," said Associate Curator Claire Schneider, who organized the exhibition. "Everyone I meet, even art insiders, is surprised by how many important new works enter the collection each year. With a finite amount of space, it is rare to see such a large number of new artworks showcased at once. This is a must see exhibition."
The exhibition includes work in a variety of media: paintings by artists such as Cecily Brown, Robert Colescott, Inka Essenhigh, Robert Mangold, Malcolm Morley, Elizabeth Murray, Sigmar Polke, and Gerhard Richter; large-scale photographs by Dawoud Bey, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sam Taylor-Wood, John Coplans, Cindy Sherman, and Olafur Eliasson; sculptures by Cathy de Monchaux, Martin Puryear, and Doris Salcedo; and mixed media works by Yayoi Kusama, Fred Tomaselli, and Udomsak Krisanamis.
For the first time at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, an e-publication with a complete set of images and texts by Schneider will accompany the exhibition. This online catalogue is available at www.albrightknox.org.