Wilmington, DE – Delaware Art Museum 2019 Exhibition Schedule
The Lopers on Film
February 23-May 12, 2019
Gallery 9
Edward Loper, Sr. is one of Delaware’s most celebrated artists, having lived his entire life in the state and taught generations of local artists. His son, Loper, Jr., was equally prolific, taught at the Christina Cultural Arts Center, and participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the region. This presentation brings together two documentaries made of these exceptional painters. Teleduction’s 1999 Mid-Atlantic Emmy award winning Edward L. Loper: Prophet of Color will be paired with a new documentary of Loper, Jr. by Philadelphia’s Senior Artist Initiative bringing the words and pictures of father and son together on the screen.
These screenings are organized by the Delaware Art Museum.
Fairy Tales to Nursery Rhymes: The Droller Collection of Picture Book Art
March 2-May 12, 2019
Gallery 10: The Anthony N. and Catherine A. Fusco Gallery
From the Brothers Grimm and Mother Goose to Dinosaur Bob and Bumble-Ardy, engaging stories and captivating images come alive in the art of picture books. We invite children and adults to climb into the magical world of children’s literature through this stunning collection of more than 100 original and imaginative illustrations.
Fairy Tales to Nursery Rhymes features selections from favorite traditional artists such as Randolph Caldecott, Arthur Rackham, and Kate Greenaway. Luminaries from modern era include Barbra Cooney, Jerry Pinkney, and Maurice Sendak. Imaginary characters, talking animals, and fantastical adventures are captured by artists representing eight countries.
This exhibition is organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, Massachusetts.
The Loper Tradition: Paintings by Edward Loper, Sr. and Edward Loper, Jr.
March 23-August 4, 2019
Galleries 11 and 12: Ammon Memorial Galleries
Edward Loper, Sr. is one of Delaware’s most celebrated artists, having lived his entire life in the state and taught generations of local artists. His son, Loper, Jr., was equally prolific, taught at the Christina Cultural Arts Center, and participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the region. Their styles, though different, are distinct for their approach to form and color and show the acknowledgment of modernist traditions from the turn of the 20th century. This is the first comprehensive, museum exhibition to showcase the paintings of these two important artists together. Assembled from the collections of the Delaware Art Museum, other public institutions, local corporations, and private individuals, the exhibition celebrates the Loper tradition and its continued artistic impact on the region.
Research for this exhibition was conducted by Dr. Leslie Wingard through the support of the Alfred Appel, Jr. Curatorial Fellowship.
Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago
June 22-September 8, 2019
Gallery 9 & Gallery 10: The Anthony N. and Catherine A. Fusco Gallery
Curated by Tatiana Flores and organized by the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago presents 21st-century art by artists with roots in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Curaçao, Aruba, St. Maarten, St. Martin, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Trinidad, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Barbados, and St. Vincent. Acknowledging the great diversity represented by these various countries, the exhibition explores thematic continuities found among the region. Relational Undercurrents features contemporary painting, installation art, sculpture, photography, video, and performance by over 60 artists from the islands of the Caribbean.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, California for the Getty Foundation’s PST: LA/LA initiative.
Structure & Spontaneity: The Clay Monoprints of Mitch Lyons
(title and dates to be finalized)
September 7-February 2, 2020
Galleries 11 and 12: Ammon Memorial Galleries
Mitch Lyons is a well-known and important part of the local art community, who over the past five decades developed a truly innovative form of print-making. Lyons received his undergraduate degree in graphic design from the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) and continued his studies at Tyler School of Art where he received a Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics in 1971. Lyons worked as a traditional potter until 1980, the pivotal point in his career when he refined his method of printing directly from clay. Like most traditional potters, Lyons is motivated by a love for the material and describes himself as a “clay person making prints.” However instead of firing the clay to a permanent state, Lyons captures a lasting two-dimensional image of the clay’s surface. This exhibition surveys the developments and experimentations in Lyons’ 50-year-long journey to inventing the clay monoprint.
This exhibition is organized by the Delaware Art Museum.
Angela Fraleigh: Sound the Deep Waters
October 5, 2019-April 12, 2020
Gallery 9
Directly inspired by the Delaware Art Museum’s pre-Raphaelite and American illustration collections, this commission from Angela Fraleigh presents a contemporary look at gender and identity through the lens of historic narrative art. Fraleigh’s opulent paintings are populated by female figures freed from the social constructs of their time. No longer the despised witches of popular fairy tales or shunned agitators, these women are empowered to occupy their own utopian landscape. Fusing meticulous realism with gestural abstraction, Fraleigh constructs an immersive space in which reality merges with dreams and hallucinations.
This exhibition is commissioned and organized by the Delaware Art Museum.
Posing Beauty in African American Culture
October 19, 2019 – January 26, 2020
Gallery 10: The Anthony N. and Catherine A. Fusco Gallery
Curated by Deborah Willis, Ph.D., “Posing Beauty in African American Culture explores the contested ways in which African and African American beauty have been represented in historical and contemporary contexts through a diverse range of media including photography, film, video, fashion, advertising, and other forms of popular culture such as music and the Internet. Throughout the Western history of art and image-making, the relationship between beauty and art has become increasingly complex within contemporary art and popular culture.”
This exhibition is organized by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions.
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~ Delaware Art Museum
For over 100 years, the Museum has served as a primary arts and cultural institution in Delaware. It is alive with experiences, discoveries, and activities to connect people with art and with each other. Originally created in 1912 to honor the renowned illustrator and Wilmington-native, Howard Pyle, the Museum’s collection has grown to over 12,000 works of art in our building and sculpture garden. Also recognized for British Pre-Raphaelite art, the Museum is home to the largest and most significant Pre-Raphaelite collection outside of the United Kingdom.
Under the leadership of our Board of Trustees, the Delaware Art Museum is implementing a comprehensive approach to community and civic engagement. This exciting new strategic direction requires that we increase our value and relevance to all audiences. It is bearing fruit. In 2017, attendance exceeded 80,000 (the most in a decade!) and we served 29,267 youth and adults through a wide range of programs and events. Visit delart.org to for the latest exhibitions, programs, and performances or connect with us via social media.