Exhibition: Saturday, May 11, through Sunday, September 1
Artist Performance: Thursday, May 9, 6:30 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
With the Los Angeles Times raving that “Strength, physical and spiritual, exudes from her work as if audibly – a proud shout,” the Pittsburgh-based artist Vanessa German finds her latest exhibition Miracles & Glory Abound showcased at the Figge Art Museum May 11 through September 1, the artist's works also housed in permanent collections in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Hartford, Connecticut.
A sculptor, painter, writer, activist, performer, and poet, German is also the founder of Love Front Porch and ARThouse, a community arts initiative for the historic African-American neighborhood of Pittsburgh. German's sculpture often includes assembled statues of female figures created with their heads and/or faces painted black, as well as a wide range of attached objects flowing outward, among them fabric, keys, found objects, and toy weapons. Her work is held in numerous permanent collections including the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and has been reviewed and discussed on NPR's All Things Considered and in publications including the New York Times, Sculpture magazine, and O The Oprah Magazine. German's art has also been featured in a wide range of galleries, museums, and traveling exhibits including the Smithsonian Institution's touring African-American Art 1950-Present of 2012, and she was a 2015 recipient of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Grant.
German is proud to use her art to address hate in the world while also expressing hope for the future, and frequently serves as an activist addressing issues such as gun violence and prostitution. Vanessa German: Miracles & Glory Abound features the artist's "power figures," which are rooted in spirituality and ritual. In creating her art, German is actively involved with her community, using found objects that are brought to her or involving youth and adults in making her sculptures. In Miracles and Glory Abound, she creates a modern version of Emanuel Leutze's iconic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware to address contemporary issues of racism, nationalism and the mythologization of history.
Preceding the opening of Vanessa German: Miracles & Glory Abound, German herself will present a 6:30 p.m. performance on May 9, with the exhibition consequently on display May 11 through September 1. Regular museum hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays) and Sundays noon to 5 p.m., admission to the exhibit is free with $4-10 museum entrance, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7804 or visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
