New Winter Exhibitions @ DeCordova

Self-Evidence: Identity in Contemporary Art
Joyce and Edward Linde Gallery, Arcade Gallery, James and Audrey Foster Galleries, Media Space @ DeCordova/Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport Gallery
February 7 - May 30, 2004
Opening Reception: Friday, February 6, 5:30 - 8:30 pm
For hundreds of years, artists have rendered their likenesses in self-portraiture. Self-Evidence focuses on the ways in which contemporary artists are moving away from traditional forms of self-representation to consider the complex issue of identity and the self. Using themselves or aspects of themselves as starting points for examining their own identities, the artists in Self-Evidence explore the effect of illness or trauma on one's body and mind, aging and identity, the individual's relationship to family, cultural or ethnic identity, genetic identity and identification, sexuality and gender, the lasting evidence of one's presence or existence, and the artist's identity in relation to his or her artistic predecessors. With new technologies available to them, these artists express themselves in a diverse range of media including photography, painting, sculpture, and works on paper, as well as installation work, video, holography, and digital and Web-based art.

Participating artists include Steve Aishman, Sachiko Akiyama, Karl Baden, Gerry Bergstein, Walead Beshty, Ambreen Butt, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Harriet Casdin-Silver, Patty Chang, Chrissy Conant, Randall Deihl, Ann Fessler, Tom Friedman, Jen Hall, Susan Hauptman, Tim Hawkinson, Denise Marika, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, John O'Reilly, Danica Phelps, Barbara Poole, Gary Schneider, Duane Slick, Sage Sohier, Karin Stack, Linn Underhill, Bill Viola, and Dan Younger.

Self-Evidence is accompanied by a forty-page illustrated catalogue and is organized by Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Curator of New Media George Fifield, and Curatorial Fellow Francine Weiss.

Jirimani: An Installation by Jo Yarrington
Grand Staircase, Window Gallery, Elevator Window
February 7 - May 30, 2004
Opening Reception: February 6, from 5:30 - 8:30 pm
For Jirimani, Connecticut artist Jo Yarrington will install large-scale photographic transparencies in several prominent Museum windows, animating the spaces in unusual and provocative ways. The images-photographs of abstracted bodies with markings that are illuminated in predominantly red light-will bathe viewers in projected images back-lit by the sun. Visitors will be able to see the artist's work from both outside and inside the building. The title of this exhibition, Jirimani, means "to sing" in Australian Aboriginal language and refers to a ritual used in their religious practice called "Dreaming," which implies putting marks and names on the ground in order to lay claim to a place. Yarrington's work explores the interface of body, light, space, and spirit in sacred spaces and art-based sites. This exhibition is organized by Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo.
Ongoing Exhibitions

Joseph Wheelwright: Stone Heads and Tree Figures
June 7, 2003 - May 16, 2004

Landscapes Seen and Imagined: Sense of Place, Part II
Through summer 2004

IMPORTANT REMINDER

The Museum galleries and The Café @ DeCordova will be CLOSED January 19 through February 6 for installation of winter exhibitions. The Store @ DeCordova will maintain its regular operating hours, which appear below under "General Information."

Gallery Talks: Meet the Artists
Third Floor Lobby
Saturdays @ 3 pm
Free with Museum admission
Meet New England and regional artists to discuss their work currently on view at DeCordova.

Self-Evidence: Identity in Contemporary Art
Chrissy Conant February 7
Jennifer Hall February 28
Karl Baden March 6
Barbara Poole March 20
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons March 27
Annu Palakunnathu Matthew April 3
Gerald Bergstein May 1
Denise Marika May 15

Jirimani: An Installation by Jo Yarrington
Jo Yarrington April 10

General Information

DeCordova Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm and on selected Monday holidays. Admission is $6 per person, $4 for senior citizens, students, and youth ages 6-12. Children age 5 and under, Lincoln residents, and Active Duty Military Personnel and their dependents are admitted free. The Sculpture Park is open year round during daylight hours and is free. The Store @ DeCordova and the School Gallery are open Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, Friday through Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and Sunday 11:30 am to 5:30 pm. The Café @ DeCordova is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm. Free guided public tours of the Museum's main galleries take place every Thursday at 1 and Sunday at 2 pm. Free tours of the Sculpture Park are given on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm from May to October. Visit www.decordova.org or call 781/259-8355 for further information.

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