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Contemporary Museum (Visit this link)
The Contemporary Museum promotes the art of our time as an educational tool
and a catalyst in processes of progressive social change in Baltimore and the
surrounding region. The Museum is the only U.S. institution exclusively
dedicated to producing and presenting new art and exhibitions immediately
relevant to local audiences by inviting artists, curators, critics and theorists
of international stature into its home city, setting them in direct dialogue
with Baltimore communities and cultural institutions, and facilitating their
collaboration on projects designed to address pressing needs and concerns of
common interest.
The Contemporary Museum was founded in 1989, on the occasion of the first Day
Without Art, as a grass-roots agency with the express purpose of offering
site-specific art with social and political intent in changing venues throughout
Baltimore City. In its first decade, the Museum presented exhibitions and events
in refurbished and temporary spaces, and in the homes of such partner
institutions as the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland Historical Society,
Peabody Conservatory and Walters Art Museum. Though the Contemporary has
maintained its regional focus, it has consistently endeavored to distinguish
itself from most community-based arts initiatives by working with artists and
other arts professionals who are vital contributors to cultural production and
critical dialogues of international import.
In September 1999, the Contemporary Museum secured and refurbished a permanent
facility in the historic Mount Vernon district of downtown Baltimore adjacent to
the Walters Art Museum. The facility was acquired to enable the Museum to
consolidate a core audience for its programming in a neighborhood long
recognized as the city’s cultural hub. It also provides the Museum with a home
base as it continues its history of presenting collaborative and community-based
exhibitions and providing educational outreach to under-served communities
throughout the city. Mount Vernon is Baltimore’s de facto cultural district, and
the Museum exists alongside ten other cultural organizations—museums, theaters,
libraries and schools—all located within three blocks of the Washington
Monument. A National Register Historic District, Mount Vernon is home to a
diverse group of residents and businesses. Annually, more than 1.2 million
visitors attend some 1,000 events there.
The Contemporary Museum and the Walters Art Museum join forces to bring the art
of Louise Bourgeois—one of today’s most important and influential female
artists—to Baltimore.
At the Contemporary Museum, the Louise Lounge features Topiary: The Art of
Improving Nature, a series of nine copperplate etchings from Louise Bourgeois’
private collection, that have never been on view in the United States. Images of
trees transforming into bodies, the portfolio draws parallels between missing
limbs and crutches, and the dismemberment and improvement of the body. Topiary
IV, a six foot sculpture related to the portfolio of etchings, will also be on
display.
To gain greater insight into the mind, life, and work of Louise Bourgeois,
visitors to the Contemporary Museum will view Bridget Cornand’s acclaimed 2003
documentary C’est le murmure de l ’eau qui chante. The film tracks a Bourgeois
work from the original drawing to the final sculpture, and depicts the artist’s
studio, apartment, assistants, family and friends in an intimate portrait of
this influential artist’s life.
A resource library containing books, articles, and short video will also be
available for visitors to explore Bourgeois, her artistic process, and her work.
Louise Bourgeois: Femme was conceived by the Contemporary Museum and is a
collaboration with the Walters Art Museum. It is sponsored by: Stanley Mazaroff,
The Wieler Family Foundation and Goya Contemporary & Goya-Girl Press.
Contributing Sponsors are: Sandra D. Hess, Ziger/Snead Architects and Charles
Brickbauer, Clair Zamoiski Segal and Thomas H. Segal, Sherry and Stuart
Christhilf, Erin and Rheda Becker and Connie Caplan. Additional Support has been
provided by: Mrs. Bodil Ottesen, The Cordish Family Fund, Laura L. Freedlander
and Gwen Davidson.
http://www.contemporary.org