“The Annual 2015: The Depth of the Surface” Exhibition
National Academy
This event has ended.
Comprised of nearly 70 esteemed artists and architects, The Annual 2015: The Depth of the Surface is a celebration of the Academy’s members and, as in years past, features a broad range of styles employed by several generations of National Academicians. Now in its 189th year, this storied exhibition will be on view from June 4 - August 23, 2015. A paradox, The Depth of the Surface seeks to delve beneath the surface of the work included to reveal its true meaning and message, the story behind it and how it resonates with the viewer.
The first Annual exhibition of the National Academy, in 1826, was organized by the small group of artists and architects who founded the Academy - considered renegades in their day - who were guided by the then-novel concept that a fledgling nation needed an institution to “promote American art and architecture through education and exhibition.” The Annual at the National Academy - New York’s oldest museum - was among the first exhibitions to do so, and the tradition continues in 2015.
Under the Annual’s current format, National Academicians are eligible to show once every three years. Among this year’s highlights are sculptural works by Lynda Benglis, Joel Shapiro and Ursula von Rydingsvard. Other artists in the show include Alice Aycock, Dorothea Rockburne, William Tucker and Fred Wilson. The architects exhibitingare among the most renowned in their field, and include Wendy Evans Joseph, Cesar Pelli, Moshe Safdie, Robert A. M. Stern, and landscape architect Kate Orff.
“The Annual exhibition lies at the core of the National Academy’s reason for being,” said Director Carmine Branagan. “It is the yearly opportunity for this institution to assess the range of directions Academicians are pursuing in their work and the influences that are impacting their creative process.”
For nearly two centuries, The Annual has served as the fulcrum of the National Academy’s exhibitions. Among the artists and architects who have exhibited their work throughout the institution’s history are Cecelia Beaux, Thomas Eakins, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Gehry, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Rauschenberg, John Singer Sargent, Andrew Wyeth and Frank Lloyd Wright. The artists and architects exhibiting in the 2015 Annual add their names to the legacy of this exhibition.
Media
Schedule
from June 04, 2015 to August 23, 2015
Opening Reception on 2015-06-03 from 18:00 to 20:00
RSVP required