 |
ROBOTS:
EVOLUTION OF A CULTURAL ICON Saturday, April 12, 2008 through Sunday, October 19, 2008 Robots: Evolution of a Cultural Icon examines the development of robot iconography in fine art over the past 50 years. In 1920, the term robot was coined from a Czech word robota, which means tedious labor. Since then, the image and the idea of a robot have evolved remarkably from an awkward, mechanical creature to a sophisticated android with artificial intelligence and the potential for human-like consciousness. As robotic technology catches up with the wild imagination of science fiction novels, movies, and animation, dreams and fears anticipated in these stories may also become reality. Artists included in the exhibition have responded to the technological innovation with optimism, pessimism, and humor, presenting work that ultimately explores our ambivalent attitudes towards robots. Traveling Info
|
 |
JENNIFER STEINKAMP
Saturday, July 1, 2006 through Sunday, October 1, 2006 Jennifer Steinkamp’s colorful digital projections envelop museum visitors in a three-dimensional sensory experience. Steinkamp, a Los Angeles-based installation artist, works with 3-D animation in order to explore ideas about architectural space, motion, and phenomenological perception. This exhibition offers a comprehensive view of this important artist’s work beginning in 1993. Steinkamp has exhibited both nationally and internationally, but never before has a group of her works been shown together. Influenced by the work of Oscar Fischinger, Marcel Duchamp, Bruce Nauman, Hollis Frampton, and others, Steinkamp uses visual illusions to generate a dialogue about the nature of cognitive experience and the psychophysical limitations of human perception. Her manipulation of images exposes the shift between objective and virtual points of view, thereby encouraging viewers to contemplate perceptual and philosophical notions of the real. Traveling Info
February 23, 2007 – May 13, 2007: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri March 14, 2008 – June 29, 2008: Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York |
 |
VISUAL POLITICS:
THE ART OF ENGAGEMENT Sunday, November 20, 2005 through Sunday, March 5, 2006 Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement examines the interconnected history of art and politics—topics especially relevant in our contemporary political climate. The exhibition focuses on the art of the West Coast, where the interchange between art and politics has been most pronounced in the last 50 years. Since the Cold War, and escalating in the 1960s with the onset of the Vietnam War, protest politics and countercultural activities have persisted in California with vigor unparalleled in other parts of the country. The exhibition traces the development of political art through the second half of the 20th century beginning with the 1940s and concentrating on the 1960s and early 1970s—the period of most intense political ferment. This was the moment when California became the national center of major political upheaval with international impact and long repercussions. The activities of the Civil Rights movement led to the Free Speech movement in Berkeley and spread from there. The period launched the beginning of feminism, Gay Rights, Chicano and Black Liberation, immigration issues, and environmentalism. Traveling Info |
Copyright © 2009 San José Museum of Art