Five new shows: contemporary, Asian art, photography, more. "Degenerate art" discussion on Jan. 31 + other free programs. 

Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
December 2012–January 2013
   New Exhibitions
   Continuing Exhibitions
   Programs
   Ongoing from the Collections
   Visitor Information
 
NEW EXHIBITIONS


The Jameel Prize: Art Inspired by Islamic Tradition
December 12, 2012–March 10, 2013
On view for the first time in the United States, this exhibition presents the work of 10 culturally diverse artists selected as finalists for the prestigious Jameel Prize, an international award bestowed by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The artists draw on local and regional traditions, with strong references to traditional Islamic art. Lecture by Jameel Prize winner Rachid Koraïchi, Thursday, January 24 at 5:30 pm; related Spotlight on Art discussion, Friday, January 11 at 2 pm (see details below). Press release: http://museum.stanford.edu/news_room/jameel.html


Dotty Attie: Sometimes a Traveler/There Lived in Egypt
January 23–June 16, 2013
Dotty Attie is known for her reproductions of European Old Master paintings paired with text—pieces that poetically reveal the voyeuristic narratives in Western visual and literary arts. Her portfolio Sometimes a Traveler/There Lived in Egypt calls particular attention to the exploitation of the North African female body and its place in European Orientalists' imaginations. Sixteen works on display.


North Africa and the Holy Land in 19th-Century Photographs
January 23–June 2, 2013
During the 19th century, photographs served as surrogate experiences for Americans and Europeans unable or too daunted to travel. They were also used as official records of archaeological expeditions and colonial activity. This installation presents approximately 20 vintage photographs of the kind that appealed to Western audiences. The photographs present a range of subjects including topographical images, picturesque views of holy sites and ancient architectural wonders, and studies of people and significant artifacts. All photographs in this installation are drawn from the Cantor Arts Center's collection. 


Buying and Selling: Early Modern Economies of Labor, Merchandise, Services, and Shopping
January 23–June 2, 2013
Seventeenth- and 18th-century European artists took great interest in exploring the details of modern life, which included commercial exchange and a rapidly expanding market of material goods. The prints and drawings in this exhibition showcase a range of workers at their tasks, from the idealized shepherd and elegant artist to the lowly butcher and rat catcher. Approximately 18 works on display.


Border Crossings: From Imperial to Popular Life
January 30–August 4, 2013
How are the boundaries between social classes and identities challenged and transcended? This exhibition explores that question. Eighteenth-century Chinese paintings demonstrate how artists outside palace walls reproduced the subject and styles of imperial court paintings in order to fulfill commissions by patrons of a rising social class. Japanese woodblock prints examine how cross-dressing actors in Kabuki theater became trendsetters for the world off-stage. And through his photographs, Chinese contemporary artist Cang Xin steps into different professions and identities. Forty-four works on display.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS


Guardians: Photographs by Andy Freeberg, an Exhibition in Three Parts
Through January 6, 2013
Andy Freeberg traveled to St. Petersburg in 2008 intending to document how Russia had changed since he photographed it three decades earlier. While there, something completely different caught his eye—the women who watched over the paintings and sculptures in the museums were as intriguing to observe as the artwork. Freeberg noticed that the guards, who were stationed in the same place every day, seemed to unconsciously resemble and relate to the objects they protected. Sixteen works from that series are on view plus new photographs Freeberg took of the Cantor Arts Center guards and a student-produced documentary film about the Cantor guards. Press release: http://museum.stanford.edu/news_room/freeberg.html


Divided Visions: Reportage from the Sino-Japanese Wars
Through January 13, 2013
This exhibition examines how the two Sino-Japanese wars were represented through master sensationalist Kiyochika Kobayashi's battle prints, sketches by the cartoonist Zhang Wenyuan, and photojournalism by John Gutmann. The images demonstrate how the Sino-Japanese wars were not only major conflicts between competing Asian nations, but also a critical breeding ground for new forms of public art and audiences. Fourteen works on display.


Ink Performances
Through January 13, 2013
Today's Chinese and Japanese artists are experimenting with ink to foil audience expectations, suggest randomness, and reinforce their cultural heritage. This exhibition includes video and works by Qiu Zhijie, Ushio Shinohara, Gu Wenda, and Xu Bing. Twenty works on display.


Drawings from Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s: The Marmor Collection
Through February 4, 2013
This installation includes a delightful variety of approaches, from the illusionistic drawings of Ed Ruscha and Vija Celmins to the zany musings of John Altoon. Ten works on display.


Christian Marclay's Video Quartet
Through February 10, 2013
In this four-channel video collage, internationally acclaimed artist Christian Marclay presents montages gleaned from more than 700 Hollywood films. The common theme is music: all the actors sing, play instruments, or make some other kind of sound. The screens respond to each other, too, much like players in a musical quartet. Thirteen minutes long. Press release: http://museum.stanford.edu/news_room/marclay-quartet  *Image caption below.


A War on Modern Art: The 75th Anniversary of the Degenerate Art Exhibition
Through February 24, 2013
In 1937, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime viewed modernist artists as insane and threatening to Third Reich ideals and presented the Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibition in Munich, hoping to turn public opinion against all modern art. Explore works by several of these "degenerate" artists as we mark the 75th anniversary of the exhibition's opening. Eighteen works on display. Related panel discussion, Thursday, January 31, 6:30 pm; see details below.

Wood, Metal, Paint: Sculpture from the Fisher Collection
Through end of summer 
This long-term installation includes pieces by Martin Puryear, Sol LeWitt, Claes Oldenburg, Carl Andre, and John Chamberlain. The six works on display are especially significant because they serve as examples of the innovations that established the reputations of these artists. Press release: http://museum.stanford.edu/news_room/fisher-collection.html

PROGRAMS

Spotlight on Art
Friday, January 11, 2 pm: Ahoo Najafian, graduate student in religious studies, discusses a work from The Jameel Prize: Art Inspired by Islamic Tradition in the Ruth Levison Halperin Gallery. FREE
 
Health, Hope, and Healing
Thursday, January 17, 5:30 pm, Cantor auditorium, FREE
The Stanford Med Writers Forum presents readings of original prose and poetry by the Pegasus Physicians at Stanford. Writers include Irvin D. Yalom, psychotherapist and professor emeritus of psychiatry, and psychiatrist Randall Weingarten.

Artist's Talk: Rachid Koraïchi
Thursday, January 24, 5:30 pm, Cantor auditorium, FREE
"Eternity Is the Absence of Time"
Rachid Koraïchi, the latest winner of the prestigious, international Jameel Prize, discusses The Path of Roses, a series of installations that develop over time and in different locations. 

Panel on Degenerate Art
Thursday, January 31, 6:30 pm, Cantor auditorium, FREE
"Controlling Culture"
Panelists discuss issues explored in the Cantor exhibition A War on Modern Art: the 75th Anniversary of the Degenerate Art Exhibition. Check the Cantor's Web site for time and list of panelists (www.museum.stanford.edu).

ONGOING FROM THE COLLECTIONS
The Cantor's collections span the history of art from ancient China to the 21st century. Selections from the collections and long-term loans are on view in many of the Cantor's 24 galleries, sculpture gardens, and terraces, including:
Rodin! The Complete Stanford Collection
Expanding Views of Africa
The Cantor Arts Center's Contemporary Collection
Living Traditions: Arts of the Americas 
The Robert Mondavi Family Gallery for 19th-century Art of Europe and America
The Life and Legacy of the Stanford Family
and outdoors:
Stone River by Andy Goldsworthy http://museum.stanford.edu/news_room/archived_acquisitions_goldsworthy.html
Sequence by Richard Serra http://museum.stanford.edu/news_room/serra-sequence.html
 
VISITOR INFORMATION
- FREE Admission
- OPEN: Wednesday–Sunday 11 am–5 pm and Thursday evenings until 8 pm
- CLOSED: Mondays and Tuesdays 
- LOCATED on the Stanford campus, off Palm Drive at Museum Way
- Phone 650-723-4177     Web http://museum.stanford.edu
- FREE PARKING on all weekends plus after 4 pm weekdays.  Pay parking ($1.50 per hour) at other times.
- Maps, directions: http://www.stanford.edu/home/visitors/maps.html   
 
You can contact me, or you can contact Anna Koster (Head of Communications at the Cantor Arts Center, 650-725-4657, ) if you have questions.
 
Margaret Whitehorn
PR Assistant Manager
Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
650-724-3600, mmwhite@stanford.edu

*Christian Marclay, installation view of Video Quartet, 2002. Four-channel video production with sound. Lent by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Gift of the artist and the Paula Cooper Gallery; commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg with the generous support of the James Family Foundation. © Christian Marclay. Photograph Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.