Free Love
In the mid-1960s, San Francisco was a sanctuary for an international counterculture movement, the birthplace of “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.” Hippies lived communally, preaching about harmony and independence, and from this atmosphere sprung a new kind of music. Folk and blues artists began experimenting with electronic sounds, creating songs free from rules. Two exhibits at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this month examine and celebrate this significant and groovy time in history. San Francisco Psychedelic comprises 60 mostly black-and-white photographs of the important rock groups of the day, including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin. In an adjacent gallery, San Francisco Psychedelic Posters showcases 28 concert posters from two important venues: the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore Auditorium. Continuing. 2400 Third Avenue S., Minneapolis, 612-870-3131, www.artsmia.org
Photograph by Wing
Young Huie
Searching for True Colors
More alike genetically than any other living species, humans still possess many different ideas of race, and how it separates us. People may think race means one thing, but in reality scientific understanding of race may be completely different. RACE: Are we so different?, a new exhibit that made its world premiere at the Science Museum of Minnesota in January, examines the idea of race through three separate avenues: the everyday experience of race, contemporary science that’s challenging race ideas and the history of race in the United States. Visitors explore race through social and personal experiences such as in the home, in medicine, in education and how race is built into our laws and traditions, plus exhibit-goers also take a trip back in time and learn how sorting people by physical appearance is just a few hundred years old. Continuing.
120 W. Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul, 651-221-9444, www.smm.org
© Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Courtesy of Photofest
There’s Something About Greta
Founded in 1929 by a Swedish immigrant newspaper publisher, the America Swedish Institute celebrates Swedish culture through a variety of exhibits and programs. The museum’s latest exhibit displays photographs of Sweden’s first international film star: Greta Garbo. Born Greta Gustafsson in Stockholm in 1905, Garbo was an aspiring actress in Europe until she moved to Hollywood in 1925 and became a star. One of the few silent film stars to successfully transfer to sound motion pictures, Garbo starred in 27 films, her last in 1941. Glamorous Garbo: International Film Star showcases more than 40 photographs that helped make Garbo the Hollywood icon she was. On loan from the Greta Garbo Society of Sweden, the photographs not only show her striking beauty, but also provide a glimpse at her private lifestyle and early retirement. On April 22, catch the screening of Queen Christina (1933) starring Garbo as a Sweden’s famous 17th-century queen. Continuing. 2600 Park Avenue, Minneapolis, 612-871-4907, www.americanswedishinst.org
© 2006 Estate of Reginald
Marsh/Art Students
League, New York/Artists
Society, New York
Body of Work
The images any society uses to represent the human body, such as fashion ads, presidential portraits, news photos or works of art, say something significant about the society during that time in history. Body Politics: Figurative Prints and Drawings from Schiele to de Kooning features nearly 60 works of art made in Europe, Mexico and the United States during the first half of the 20th century, when revolution, economic depression, labor struggles and wars made their way through Europe and North America. At the end of World War II, massive change, such as the collapse of gender roles and the percolating racial strife, made an impact on all aspects of life. Artists demonstrated these harsh struggles through figure images, and some of these works, by more than a dozen artists, are displayed in Body Politics. Divided into four sections, the works examine such issues as sexuality, the customs of African and Oceanic tribal cultures, the vitality of the modern city and the inhumane actions of certain political regimes. Continuing. Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, 612-375-7600, www.walkerart.org
Courtesy of the Museum of
Russian Art
Winter Scenes
As the only museum in the United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of 20th-century Russian art and artifacts, The Museum of Russian Art (TMORA) takes it upon itself to showcase a country and a culture many of us may know little about. Colors of a Russian Winter, an exhibit featuring 52 colorful paintings, presents a cross-section of winter landscapes and activities that exist within Russia, from the coastal to the desert climates. “The exhibit is structured to bring life and color to the cold season, and to dispel the notion that winter in Russia is simply a panorama of white ice and snow,” says Bradford Shinkle, IV, president and director of TMORA. Winters have historical significance to the country in terms of the development of the Russian psychic character and in shaping major events. Historians credit the severity of the winter season for helping the Russians defeat both the invasions of Napoleon and Hitler. Several paintings included in the exhibit refer to these events, in addition to happy images of sledding, skiing and other winter activities. Through April 21. 5500 Stevens Avenue S., Minneapolis, 612-821-9045, www.tmora.org
From the Collection of
Joseph & Deborah Goldyne
Drawing the Centuries
During the past 40 years, Joseph and Deborah Goldyne developed one of the largest and most diverse private collections of master drawings in the country. Rarely does one collection contain works as wide-ranging, from the old Renaissance masters to the popular 20th-century contemporary artists, as well as those in between. With Judging by Appearance: Master Drawings from the Collection of Joseph and Deborah Goldyne, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts marks the first public tour showcasing selections from the couple’s collection. Divided into 13 categories, including portraits, landscapes and abstraction, the exhibit presents 100 drawings from artists such as Rembrandt, Degas and Matisse. An artist himself, Goldyne’s works, from monoprints to oil paintings, can be found at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., and the New York Public Library. Through April 29. 2400 Third Avenue S., Minneapolis, 612-870-3131, www.artsmia.org
