2020–21 Annual Report: Exhibitions

This year, we were happy to present an exciting slate of shows that had been deferred by the onset of the pandemic. The exhibitions team had just finished installing Form & Relation the day before the March 2020 closure, and it has been a joy to see visitors finally in galleries installed with loans and permanent collection objects from six contemporary Indigenous artists known for their innovations within the ceramics medium. We are incredibly grateful to have been able to extend the run of this show in order to make these interactions possible. Shannon Te Ao: my life as a tunnel explores loss and time, while Drawing Lines challenges the viewer to consider each artists' conception of space; both are drawn from the Hood Museum of Art's collection. A Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein Collection celebrates four decades of gifts to the museum across a wide range of media, eras, and geographies; it felt especially poignant to be able to display Toko Shinoda's work so soon after her death in 2021. We are also honoring our commitment to our 2019/2020 interns by displaying their A Space for Dialogue installations throughout calendar year 2021, while our 2020/2021 interns developed individual virtual exhibitions as part of their work at the museum (for more, see the section titled "Intern Engagement" in chapter 2).

Exhibitions on View 2020–21

Form & Relation: Contemporary Native Ceramics
January 5, 2021, to January 2, 2022 (opened late and extended due to pandemic; originally scheduled to open March 14 and close August 16, 2020)

Citrin Family Gallery, Engles Family Gallery, Harteveldt Family Gallry, and Kaish stair

Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art, and Morgan E. Freeman, Native American Art Fellow

This exhibition showcases the versatility of ceramics and the many forms it takes through the hands of six Indigenous artists from various regions within what is now the United States. Through their innovative and critical work, Anita Fields, Courtney M. Leonard, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Ruben Olguin, Rose B. Simpson, and Roxanne Swentzell wrestle with concepts such as community, identity, gender, land, extraction, language, and responsibility.

This project is made possible, in part, through the Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative, funded by the Walton Family Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Shannon Te Ao: my life as a tunnel
May 9, 2021, to April 17, 2022

Ivan Albright Gallery 

Jessica Hong, former Associate Curator of Global Contemporary Art

Shannon Te Ao (Ngāti Tūwharetoa / New Zealander, born Australia, 1978) implements Māori traditions to explore the ambiguities and tensions within interpersonal relationships as well as the complex dynamics between indigeneity, language, and loss. The starting point for my life as a tunnel (2018) is a scene from Charles Burnett's iconic film Killer of Sheep (1978) in which the protagonist, Stan, and his wife—whose marriage has experienced much strain—slowly dance to the haunting Clyde Otis song "This Bitter Earth," originally recorded by Dinah Washington in 1959. The scene captures a pivotal moment of physical and psychological exchange between two individuals. This two-channel video is installed on two separate, back-to-back screens. Two male figures move intimately together to an a cappella version of "This Bitter Earth," translated into te reo Māori (Māori language). Their engagements seem affectionate, but there are subtle, yet palpable, moments of disquiet. This layered and poignant work weaves together past and present and asks: What can be found once something is lost?

This exhibition is organized by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, and was generously supported by William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Hall Fund. 

A Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein Collection
April 3, 2021, to February 6, 2022

Class of 1967 Gallery, William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Jaffe Hall Galleries

Katherine W. Hart, former Senior Curator of Collections and Barbara C. & Harvey O. Hood 1918 Curator of Academic Programming; Jessica Hong, former Associate Curator of Global Contemporary Art; Melissa McCormick; Professor of Japanese Art and Culture, Harvard University; Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; and John R. Stomberg, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director

A Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein Collection comprises a series of exhibitions that individually and collectively celebrate the Bernstein family's gifts to the collection of the Hood Museum of Art over four decades. These shows present photography, paintings, prints, drawings, and sculpture by European, Japanese, and North American artists. 

In spring and summer 2021, the museum features the Bernstein Collection installations Pinpricks and Pomposity: The Inventiveness of English Visual Satire, Landscape(d): Modern Photography and the Environment, and Lyrical Journey: Toko Shinoda.

In August 2021, the installations change over to Inuit Art | Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Both Sides of the Lens: Portrait Photography, and Mystic Peak: Selections from the Bernstein Collection of Japanese Art, through January 2022.

This exhibition is organized by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, and was generously supported by the Evelyn A. J. Hall Fund, the Marie-Louise and Samuel R. Rosenthal Fund, and the Ray Winfield 1918 Memorial Fund. 

Drawing Lines
July 17, 2021, to September 4, 2022

Dorothy and Churchill Lathrop Gallery

Jessica Hong, former Associate Curator of Global Contemporary Art

What do you think about when you hear the phrase draw lines? A line can separate but also connect; it can create divisions and boundaries but also generate space. For artists, the line has been a critical apparatus for exploration. Through weaving, painting, sketching, cutting, collaging, or layering—whether their lines stretch in two dimensions or extend into our space—the artists in Drawing Lines activate the line as a generative form with expansive potential.

This exhibition is organized by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, and was generously supported by the Philip Fowler 1927 Memorial Fund.

A Space for Dialogue

Highlighting student curatorial and educational work is a key part of the Hood Museum's mission, and nowhere is this more apparent than in A Space for Dialogue. This series of single-gallery exhibitions curated by Dartmouth students from the museum collection has been ongoing since 2002. The project forms a crucial aspect of the Hood Museum internship as students gain valuable, hands-on curatorial experience and work closely with staff across departments. The students choose a wide range of themes, subjects, time periods, and materials for their exhibitions, showcasing the breadth and depth of both the museum's collections and Dartmouth student scholarship. Interns identify and research a topic, select objects, lay out an exhibition, write label text and a brochure, and oversee the installation. The project culminates in a public talk. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2019/2020 student-curated shows are being installed in the calendar year 2021, while 2020/2021 interns worked with their supervisors on virtual exhibitions.

A Space for Dialogue was founded with support from the Class of 1948 and made possible with generous endowments from the Class of 1967, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Jr. '66, and Pamela J. Joyner '70. 

When Art Intersects History, A Space for Dialogue 99
March 7, 2020, to February 28, 2021 (extended due to pandemic, originally scheduled to close April 26, 2020; light-sensitive works covered from March 2020 to January 2021)

Alvin P. Gutman Gallery

Allison Carey '20, Class of 1954 Intern

What happens when we assess a work of art as a historical document? When Art Intersects History examines works of American modern art that document the history of equality during the second half of the twentieth century. This politically charged era reached a climax in the 1960s and 1970s with the confluence of the civil rights movement, women's rights campaigns, the gay rights movement, and Vietnam War protests. All of this resistance was propelled by a mounting countercultural cry for equality and social justice. This exhibition considers how American artists have shared their perspectives on these galvanizing historic moments, and how their work still impacts us today.

The Soul Has Bandaged Moments, A Space for Dialogue 100
March 6 to May 16, 2021

Alvin P. Gutman Gallery

Kensington Cochran '20, Conroy Intern

Experiencing trauma can change our biochemistry and behavior, producing a disease called PTSD. Contemporary neuroscience research suggests that through the making of art, individuals can recalibrate their biochemistry and cure their symptoms. The Soul Has Bandaged Moments encourages three conversations: challenging the definition of trauma, exploring trauma as a physiological disease, and proposing different mechanisms of healing. 

The Butt of the Joke: Humor and the Human Body, A Space for Dialogue 101
May 22 to July 25, 2021

Alvin P. Gutman Gallery

Grace Hanselman '20, Mellon Special Projects Intern

The Butt of the Joke: Humor and the Human Body aims to explore the reasons why we find certain depictions of the human body funny. Lighthearted and fun, it seeks to prompt both laughter and thoughtful contemplation regarding the ways in which we think about our bodies.