The BMA and The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University Announce Collaboration On U.S. Pavilion Presentation of Mark Bradford at 2017 Venice Biennale

BMA will gain international recognition at the “Olympics of the art world”

BALTIMORE, MD (October 27, 2016)—The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University today announced that they will collaborate on the presentation of Mark Bradford as representative for the United States for the 2017 Venice Biennale. The Venice Biennale is the oldest and most prestigious international exhibition of visual art showcasing leading contemporary art from around the world. It is often referred to as the Olympics of the art world. The two institutions will work in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The new work being created by Bradford will be on view in Venice from May 13 to November 26, 2017.

Since its founding in 1895, the Venice Biennale has attracted millions of visitors from around the world who come to see the most innovative art of their time. In 2015, the Biennale had more than 500,000 visitors over nearly seven months and young people and students made up 31% of the total number of visitors. Additionally, more than 670 international media visited the U.S. Pavilion, garnering more than 1.5 billion print and online media impressions by media from over 30 countries.

The 2017 U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is being commissioned by BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director Christopher Bedford and co-curated by Bedford and Katy Siegel. Bedford served as director of the Rose Art Museum until August 1 and was appointed director of BMA effective August 15. Siegel was recently appointed Senior Programming and Research Curator at the BMA and also serves as a professor at Stony Brook University.

“The U.S. Pavilion is a high-profile platform for highlighting the innovation, ingenuity, and diversity of the American arts community. This wonderful collaboration enables us to dedicate the resources of two outstanding institutions in realizing Mark Bradford’s installation and related programming,” noted Bedford. “Mark’s focus on under-represented urban communities and social justice aligns with the interests of both the BMA and Brandeis, so our working together with him to advance these goals will
enhance the impact of this major new work.”

Based in Los Angeles, Mark Bradford’s sweeping canvases recapture mid-century American art’s capacity to conjure the sublime and evoke deep feeling, while incorporating layers of social comment. In parallel with his work in the studio, Bradford maintains a social practice, anchored by his Los Angeles-based non-profit, Art + Practice, an educational platform that emphasizes practical skills for foster youth and stresses the cultural importance of art within a larger social context. These equivalent commitments to formal invention and social activism anchor Bradford’s contribution to culture at large, embodying his belief that contemporary artists can reinvent the world we share.

This will be the second time the BMA has served as commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion. In 1960, the BMA was invited to organize the pavilion by Porter A. McCray, Chairman of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibition was co-curated by BMA Director Adelyn Breeskin and Chief Curator Dr. Gertrude Rosenthal, featuring four New York School abstract expressionist artists: Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, and Philip Guston, and sculptor Theodore Roszak.

ABOUT MARK BRADFORD

About the Baltimore Museum of Art

Founded in 1914, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) inspires people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, programs, and collections that tell an expansive story of art—challenging long-held narratives and embracing new voices. Our outstanding collection of more than 97,000 objects spans many eras and cultures and includes the world’s largest public holding of works by Henri Matisse; one of the nation’s finest collections of prints, drawings, and photographs; and a rapidly growing number of works by contemporary artists of diverse backgrounds. The museum is also distinguished by a neoclassical building designed by American architect John Russell Pope and two beautifully landscaped gardens featuring an array of modern and contemporary sculpture. The BMA is located three miles north of the Inner Harbor, adjacent to the main campus of Johns Hopkins University, and has a community branch at Lexington Market. General admission is free so that everyone can enjoy the power of art.