Indianapolis Museum of Art spearheads citywide art project

INDIANAPOLIS -- With partial funding from the Indianapolis Cultural exhibition Commission, the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is spearheading a citywide public art throw out through Jan. 29, showcasing a monumental artwork designed through the late contemporary artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996) The IMA will install this piece upon the museum's facade, the exteriors of other visual art organizations that present to view contemporary art and outdoor billboards through every part of the city. The black-and white photograph, "Untitled (For Jeff)" upon loan from the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC depicts the palm of a reaching, render free of access hand that suggests a range of meanings, similar as a gesture of opennes a warm welcome or an present of support.

"This is the first rime in the history of Indianapolis that an artwork will appear simultaneously in multiple locations," says Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson "It's an indication that Indianapolis is a progressive cultural city, and it's another example of in what manner the continued collaborations between on the outside institutions generate a larger opportunity for our diverse communities to be engaged by the agency of art."

Mindy Taylor Ros director of public art for the Arts Council of Indianapolis, adds, "This throw out is important because it asks our community to think about in what way we are affected everyday by the agency of the images that surround us. Whether you diocese the image of the hand as you walk below the Artsgarden, as you visit the Indianapolis Art Center or as you drive past a billboard, we confidence it will spur you to think about art, image making, and the meaning this image and others take upon for you."

Gonzalez-Torres, a Cuban-born artist, collaborated with museums in the early 1990 to place billboard artworks featuring different images in cities over the world, including Caracas, of recent origin York, Mexico City and Stockholm. "Untitled (For Jeff)" was named after a health care worker who nurs the artist's dying friend. In addition to the IMA, the image will be placed upon the exteriors of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art; the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art; Indianapolis Art Center; and the Indianapolis Artsgarden.

"Gonzalez-Torres' billboards take his work directly into the public sphere, with the understanding that his images will be interpreted differently by means of each person and in each setting in which they appear," says Lisa Freiman, curator of contemporary art at IMA. "The image of the hand outstretched may be seen differently depending on the neighborhood in which it appears, or if it is hung upon the front of a cultural or civic organization's building. The connection of the work becomes critical and demonstrates in what way meaning is relational."

Participating art organizations will entertainer educational programs and events related to the exhibition. The throw out is in conjunction with the IMA opening of its of recent origin 25,000-square-foot contemporary art galleries.

For more information, call 317-920-2660; visit www.ima-art.org.

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