Unexpected Materials on Exhibit

Over 40 works are being presented in the and the . From the detritus of the pineapple industry, a metallic fabric has been created called Piñatex out of which Dutch fashion designer Liselore Frowijn and Italian designer Laura Strambi made striking fashions. Waste from coconut crops finds form in a line of stylish purses designed by Malai in India. Compressed smog particles fill Dutch Daan Roosegaarde’s renowned Smog Free Ring. Simón Ballen Botero extricates pollutants from the ground water sullied by the gold mining industry in Colombia to create gleaming patinas on glass vessels. Dutch Nienke Hoogvliet harvests toilet paper from the sewage system that she reworks into furniture. Japanese Kosuke Araki couples historic methods of lacquering with new technologies to make dishes from food waste. Hair is the main material for the United Kingdom’s Oksana Bondar and Swine Studio when making furniture and accessories.

Dutch Invertuals, an innovative design studio, based in Eindhoven, Netherlands and known internationally for their creative work in the realms of architecture, design, and curatorial projects have designed the exhibition. The exhibition platforms, pedestals, and seating are being fabricated from an innovative building material sourced from textile industry waste and manufactured in Denmark by REALLY; REALLY Solid Textile Board was developed by exhibiting designer, Christien Meindertsma. That so many of the included designers are recent graduates or faculty of design academies and universities is evidence of a shift in the world of design and design education, from function at the service of aesthetic considerations to socially responsible, environmental amelioration. Designers who partner with material scientists and chemists, steered by ethical concerns, created the exciting, inventive works that comprise this groundbreaking exhibition.

Guest Curators Collaborate with Director Al Miner

The exhibition is organized by Georgetown University Art Galleries, and guest curated by Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox of c²-curatorsquared, an award-winning team known for their provocative curatorial work in contemporary art and design. According to , Founding Director/Chief Curator of Georgetown University Art Galleries, “we are incredibly proud to present this innovative exhibition that supports Georgetown University’s long-standing commitment to advancing social justice and global initiatives, and inspiring change. The surprising works on view will challenge preconceived notions of the artist/designer’s role in society and their ability to impact our world. The show will also be a springboard for interdisciplinary exchange bringing many of the University’s intellectual assets to a new audience through a related public engagement series wedding the arts with environmental studies, literature, theology and other themes.”

Design Transfigured/Waste Reimagined marks the first time a Georgetown University Art Galleries exhibition will go on tour; the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona will host the show February 1 – May 17, 2020. Funding is generously supported by organizations including the Georgetown University 2019 Laudato Si’ Fund, Creative Industries Fund NL, and the Netherland-America Foundation; additionally, this program is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.

Special Panel Discussion Moderated by Marra

Design Transfigured/Waste Reimagined will open with a on October 2 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.  A series of free, multidisciplinary programs ranging from film screenings to public dialogues will expand upon themes of the exhibition. The first program on October 3 at 6:00 PM will be a including exhibition designers, a curator, and moderated by the director of the Georgetown Environmental Initiative and Laudato Si’ Professor of Biology and the Environment, . Details on further programs are listed on the gallery’s website.

Roland spent nearly one year in a D.C. prison for a crime he did not commit before being exonerated of all charges in 2015. He returned to art school and developed The Jumpsuit Project in response to his experience. He is currently completing a Post-MFA Fellowship as part of the Documentary Diversity Project at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies.

During his performances, which will be captured by a Duke documentary filmmaking team, Roland interacts with the public in an orange jumpsuit, encouraging viewers to address their own prejudices towards those who have been incarcerated. The Jumpsuit Project and Georgetown şŁ˝ÇÂŰ̳’s de la Cruz Art Gallery aim to provide a safe space for the public to question, process, and challenge the crisis of mass incarceration.

The two-day event will begin on Wednesday, April 10 at 10:30 a.m. in the de la Cruz Art Gallery. Until 3:30 that afternoon, Roland will occupy a space the size of his D.C. prison cell inside the Gallery while wearing an orange jumpsuit. Roland invites the public to listen and converse with him as he shares personal stories to heighten awareness and challenge assumptions about incarcerated people.

The following morning, Roland will introduce a new element of the performance created for this occasion: The Jumpsuit Walk. Roland will walk six miles in his orange jumpsuit from DC’s Central Detention Facility, where he was incarcerated, to the de la Cruz Art Gallery on Georgetown University’s campus. Roland invites the public to join him for the middle leg of the walk, which will take place along the south side of the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol reflecting pool and the Lincoln Memorial, from approximately 9 to 10 a.m.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, Roland will perform The Jumpsuit Project in the de la Cruz Gallery. Immediately following his performance, Roland will have a public dialogue with Dr. Marc MorjĂ© Howard, Professor of Government and Law at Georgetown University and the founding Director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative (PJI).

“We are incredibly proud to be collaborating with Sherrill Roland — a talented young artist who possesses the ability to create much needed change — on the first DC iteration of The Jumpsuit Project,” said Al Miner, Founding Director/Chief Curator of Georgetown University Art Galleries. “Sherrill’s performance is the perfect fit for our new Galleries program, which highlights the link between contemporary art and social justice through engaging exhibitions and public programs.”

The Jumpsuit Project
First performance:  April 10, 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
National Mall walk: April 11, 9 to 10 a.m.
Second performance and dialogue: April 11, 6 to 8 p.m.

Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery
3535 Prospect St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
Contact: GUartgalleries@georgetown.edu, or visit bit.ly/delacruzartgu

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January 18, 2019 —  is pleased to present a special collaboration with one of the most prominent voices in creative discourse today: Glenn Ligon (American b. 1960; lives New York City).

Glenn Ligon: To be a Negro in this country is really never to be looked at, on view January 24 through April 7, includes selected works and accompanying labels from some of Ligon’s best-known series.

The works exemplify Ligon’s engagement with language, examination of the African American experience, and the influence of his muses, including Andy Warhol and James Baldwin. A Baldwin quote forms the exhibition’s title and speaks to the show’s central concept, described by Ligon as “the invisibility and simultaneous hypervisibility of black people in America.”

CENTERPIECE

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a group of five never-before-seen grey paintings from Ligon’s celebrated Handsseries depicting the Million Man March, a large and controversial convening of African American men on the National Mall in 1995. The works are hung on top of a facsimile of Andy Warhol’s rarely shown Washington Monument wallpaper — a privilege granted to few artists.

“Georgetown University and its de la Cruz Gallery look to the city of Washington as a cornerstone of critical conversation,”  said. “Intimately pairing these works by Ligon and Warhol will spark new conversations about how the National Mall inspires artists and citizens alike.”

Employing a technique Warhol pioneered, Ligon silkscreened press images of the protesters onto canvas and obscured the background, leaving the figures eerily silent. However, installed on the wallpaper, Ligon’s subjects are thrust back into their original and powerful setting.

Andy Warhol,ĚýWashington Monument, 1974. Screenprint on the wallpaper, 44 x 29 1/2 inches. © 2019 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

“The Million Man March has echoes in early gatherings, such as the silent march against lynching held in June of 1922, or the 1963 March on Washington,” Ligon writes. “I am interested in this recurring, continual need for African Americans to assert our visibility in a country in which we have been crucial presences from the beginning.”

ADDITIONAL WORKS

Text-based two-dimensional works form the rest of the exhibition, including a suite of Study for Negro Sunshine drawings quoting Gertrude Stein. These drawings span a decade and culminate in a recent red version, which marks a departure from Ligon’s well-known black and white monochromes.

Glenn Ligon, Study for Negro Sunshine (Red) #2, 2018, oil stick, coal dust and acrylic on paper, 12 x 9 inches (30.5 x 22.9 cm); Photographer Credit: Farzad Owrang Â© Glenn Ligon; Image courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, and Thomas Dane Gallery, London.

Large photographic prints from the 2016 Untitled series record Ligon’s enduring engagement with Baldwin’s seminal 1953 essay “Stranger in the Village.” The prints document the accumulated paint smudges and fingerprints on the artist’s studio copy of the text, which has witnessed the creation of nearly two hundred related artworks over almost twenty years. At the conclusion of that essay — which recounts Baldwin’s experience as the only black person in a remote Swiss hamlet — the author writes that he is “not, really, a stranger any longer for any American alive.”

“The optimism of this conclusion is at odds with the current state of American politics and civil discourse on the subject,” Ligon writes.

COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL JUSTICE

The exhibition and related engagement series support Georgetown şŁ˝ÇÂŰ̳’s long commitment to advancing social justice.

“Especially at this time of deep political division, colleges and art institutions alike are well poised to provide the great thinkers of our time — including artists — platforms from which they can share their unique battle cries for inclusion, and visibility,” Miner said. “We are honored to support Glenn’s vision and look forward to the dialogue he will spark among our students and community at large.”

Glenn Ligon: To be a Negro in this country is really never to be looked at. will open with a public reception on January 24, from 6-8 p.m. A series of free, multidisciplinary programs ranging from film screenings to public dialogues will expand upon themes of the exhibition. Program details are listed on the Gallery’s website.

FRIEDMAN OPENING AT SPAGNUOLO GALLERY

Like the Ligon exhibition, a new show in the University’s Lucille M. and Richard F. X. Spagnuolo Gallery also seeks to engage viewers and inspire change. Georgie Friedman: Vortex will open January 24 and remain on view through June 2.

The Boston-based Friedman’s immersive and hypnotic video installation Eye of the Storm III will transform the Gallery into a contemplative space with a disquieting undercurrent. Friedman explores humankind’s simultaneous defenselessness and culpability in relation to an array of powerful weather events.

EVENTS SCHEDULE

January 28, 2019 – Talk with Jennifer Brody: “Free Form: Art, Activism and RacialĚýJustice,” part of “Racial Justice: Arts and Activism” series; co-sponsored by the Race and Justice Institute and the Departments of African American Studies and Performing Arts (3:30 pm, Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery)

February 13, 2019 – Film Screening: Raoul Peck’sĚýI Am Not Your NegroĚý(6:00 pm, Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery)

February 19, 2019 – A Dialogue with Artist Adrienne Gaither & Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins: “ON DIGNITY: Policy & Art” (6:00 pm, Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery; followed by a reception in theĚýNoraĚýCooneyĚýMarra Memorial Atrium of the Walsh Building)

February 26, 2019 –Ěý Artist’s Talk with Georgie Friedman (5:00 pm, Walsh Building, Room 497; followed by a reception in theĚýNoraĚýCooneyĚýMarra Memorial Atrium of the Walsh BuildingĚýand the Spagnuolo Art Gallery)

Future programs will be announced on the .

The Gallery, which is housed in the Walsh Building at 3535 Prospect Street Northwest, has been under construction since February 2017. It is the product of years of careful planning by former şŁ˝ÇÂŰĚł Dean Chester Gillis and current dean Christopher Celenza, faculty, and lead donors Maria (C’87, P’17, P’22) and Alberto de la Cruz (B’89, P’17, P’22), members of the şŁ˝ÇÂŰĚł Board of Advisors, alumni, parents, and others.

NEW DIRECTOR

, who joined Georgetown in 2017 as Founding Director/Chief Curator of Georgetown University Art Galleries and Associate Professor of the Practice in the Department of Art and Art History, will provide the strategic vision and much of the curatorial content for the new gallery.

“This marks an exciting moment in the evolution of both the arts and multidisciplinary programming on Georgetown’s campus,” Miner said. “The Gallery will be a unique intellectual and creative incubator for all of Georgetown University’s diverse departments and initiatives.”

Miner, an award-winning curator of contemporary art, who previously held positions at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, sees the Gallery as an opportunity to bring visual art into meaningful dialogues happening on campus.

“Working in collaboration with key partners across the university and in our community, we will place great art and artists at the center of critical conversations,” Miner said. “We hope to create opportunities for diverse audiences to not only look at art, but also to have meaningful and memorable experiences.”

A PLATFORM FOR UNDERSTANDING

The Gallery will present one exhibition featuring the work of nationally or internationally acclaimed professional artists each semester. A diverse range of exhibits will focus on socially-engaged creative practices.

Miner said, “We’ll strive to use art and the artistic voice as a platform to continue to promote cross-cultural understanding.”

The Gallery will primarily focus on global contemporary art, but also aims to incorporate historical works in future exhibitions, sparking new dialogues across time.

FLEA MARKET

The Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery will launch its performance art and public engagement series with Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market, an event that unites the creative and the commercial in an interactive experience.

Flea Market allows a select group of vendors —Ěýincluding local artists and Georgetown University student clubs, performers, and entrepreneurs —Ěýto sell their goods in a market-like environment. Vendors set the rules of their transactions: They can sell a product or experience, choose to allow haggling or not, and set their own prices. Vendors retain 100% of the proceeds.

A D.C.-area native, Pruitt has worked extensively in New York and internationally. Flea Market, which has occurred in many different locales since its inception in 1999, is one of his more notable projects. The Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery iteration of Flea Market marks the first time it will be staged on a college campus.

Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on August 29 and 30 in both the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery and the adjoining Nora Cooney Marra Memorial Atrium of the Walsh Building.

DON’T MAKE ME OVER

Jeffrey Gibson: DON’T MAKE ME OVER will inaugurate the annual exhibitions cycle at the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery when it opens on September 27.

Gibson —Ěýan acclaimed Choctaw-Cherokee artist whose work celebrates Native culture, queer identities, and Modern aesthetics — will present new work, including paintings on rawhide, an installation, and a performance piece.

Inspired by the 1962 Dionne Warwick song, DON’T MAKE ME OVER, Gibson’s performance at 6:30pm on September 27 will provide audiences unique access to the artist.

“This is the first time an exhibition will focus so heavily on Gibson’s rawhide paintings,” Miner said. “These colorful, asymmetrical diptychs are intimate in scale and play with negative space more than Gibson’s prior paintings. They vibrantly bring together Gibson’s interest in Native American painting traditions and the language of Abstraction.”

DON’T MAKE ME OVER will be open to the public Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

FUTURE EXHIBITIONS

The Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery exhibition calendar is booked through the Spring 2020 semester. Upcoming projects include solo exhibitions featuring Glenn Ligon — one of the most celebrated African American artists working today — and San Juan-based social practice artist Chemi Rosado-Seijo, whose project for the 2017 Whitney Biennial forged a new partnership between the Museum and a nearby public school.

“We are thrilled and honored to be featuring such respected and dynamic artists at this foundational moment in the history of the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery,” Miner said. “Ligon’s exhibition will present works from his best-known series, including never-before seen paintings juxtaposed in new ways. Rosado-Seijo’s commissioned project for Georgetown will connect our campus and local communities in new and powerful ways.”

REIMAGINED SPAGNUOLO GALLERY

Concurrent to the construction of the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery, Georgetown’s Lucille M. and Richard F.X. Spagnuolo Art Gallery has received extensive renovations, improving the Gallery’s appearance and ability to host multimedia projects.

The renovations to the Spagnuolo Gallery, originally established in 2003, were made possible by generous support of the Spagnuolo family.

The Gallery will host Beth Katleman: Strange Arcadia from August 28 – December 9. The exhibition brings together the New York artist’s seminal immersive ceramic installation, Folly, and a new piece, both of which reference pop culture and art history.

The renovated Spagnuolo Gallery will be open to the public Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Gallery, which is housed in the Walsh Building at 3535 Prospect Street Northwest, has been under construction since February 2017. It is the product of years of careful planning and execution by former şŁ˝ÇÂŰĚł Dean Chester Gillis and current dean Christopher Celenza, Art & Art History Department faculty, and lead donors Maria (C’87, P’17, P’22) and Alberto de la Cruz (B’89, P’17, P’22), members of the şŁ˝ÇÂŰĚł Board of Advisors, alumni, parents, and others.

Al Miner, who joined Georgetown in 2017 as Founding Director/Chief Curator of Georgetown University Art Galleries and Associate Professor of the Practice in the Department of Art and Art History, will provide the strategic vision and much of the curatorial content for the new gallery.

The Mario & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery will launch its performance art and public engagement series with Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market, an event that unites the creative and the commercial in an interactive experience.

Flea Market allows a select group of vendors — including local artists and Georgetown University student clubs, performers, and entrepreneurs — to sell their goods in a market-like environment. Vendors set the rules of their transactions and retain 100% of the proceeds.

A D.C.-area native, Pruitt has worked extensively in New York and internationally. Flea Market, which has occurred in many different locales since its inception in 1999, is one of his more notable projects. The Mario & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery iteration of Flea Market marks the first time it will be staged on a college campus.

In partnership with the de la Cruz Collection, the University has sponsored a special installation of one of Pruitt’s most memorable painting installations, Us (2013).  The 66 panel piece is on view through September 12 and will serve as a dramatic backdrop to Flea Market.

Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on August 29 and 30 in both the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery and the adjoining Nora Cooney Marra Memorial Atrium of the Walsh Building.

May 29, 2018 â€” Georgetown University announced today that despite construction delays, a major new campus art gallery will open in the fall of 2018. Funded by gifts from 37 alumni and supporters, the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery will present world-class art exhibitions and engagement programs to members of the campus community, the Georgetown neighborhood, and the city of Washington, D.C.

“Our family has been very involved in the art world for many years, and it is important to us that other people, especially the young, are exposed to and learn about art,” said lead donors Maria (C’87, P’17, P’22) and Alberto de la Cruz (B’89, P’17, P’22) in a joint statement. “What better way to do this than by providing a space targeted for this purpose that is welcoming, enjoyable, and enhances the experience of relating to art?”

The gallery’s soaring glass vestibule entrance is located at the intersection of 36th and Prospect Streets NW in the historic Georgetown neighborhood. The nearly 4,000-square-foot gallery will primarily focus on global contemporary artists, but aims to incorporate historical works in future exhibitions.

Audiences got a sneak peek at the space when acclaimed Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu lectured at the gallery last November. The first event in an innovative performance art and public engagement series — Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market — will officially kick off gallery activities on August 29th and 30th. The gallery’s annual cycle of special exhibitions will begin when Jeffrey Gibson: DON’T MAKE ME OVER opens on September 27th, featuring new paintings and installation by the acclaimed Native American artist.

UNIVERSITY LOOKS TO GRAND OPENING

Christopher S. Celenza, Dean of Georgetown şŁ˝ÇÂŰĚł, sees the gallery as a unique opportunity to bring members of the campus community together in appreciation of the arts.

“The Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery will be transformational for the campus and greater community, and will establish new, creative connections across the many branches of this diverse, world-class university,” Celenza said.

The project was the culmination of years of work spanning multiple administrations. Professor Chester Gillis, who preceded Celenza as Dean of the şŁ˝ÇÂŰĚł, recognized the potential for a new gallery and championed the project from its earliest stages through the groundbreaking last spring.

Al Acres, chair of the Department of Art and Art History, notes that the new Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery and the newly renovated Lucille M. and Richard F.X. Spagnuolo Gallery realize long-held ambitions for an expanded presence for the visual arts on the Hilltop.

“More than ever, great research universities are recognizing that the creative arts are inseparable from academic networks of inquiry and discovery at the highest levels,” Acres said. “These will be spaces from which art looks and reaches outward — across curricula and disciplines, across our campus and city, and far beyond.”

In addition to maintaining the galleries, Georgetown University’s Department of Art and Art History offers undergraduate programs in studio art and art history, as well as a master’s degree program in art and museum studies.

NEW DIRECTOR APPOINTED

The university appointed curator of contemporary art Al Miner to be director/chief curator of galleries in 2017. Miner’s responsibilities include overseeing the completion of the new gallery, guiding the recent renovation of the Spagnuolo Gallery, directing strategy and policy for both gallery spaces, and serving as an associate professor in the Department of Art and Art History’s M.A. program in art and museum studies.

“We’re delighted to have Al Miner at the helm to usher in a new era of Georgetown University’s history,” Celenza said. “His proven track record of award-winning, timely, and immersive exhibitions at top museums — combined with a tested knowledge of best practices and a unique creative vision — make him the ideal candidate to serve as the gallery’s founding director and chief curator.”

Miner came to Georgetown after seven years as a curator of contemporary art at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, where he curated Ori Gersht: History Repeating, and the award-winning Megacities Asia, the largest contemporary exhibition mounted by the MFA to date. Prior to joining MFA, he spent five years in the curatorial division of the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. He has received fellowships and grants from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Association of Art Museum Curators and the American Alliance of Museums.

“I am honored and excited to be at Georgetown during this unprecedented moment of growth for the visual arts,” said Miner. “I look forward to establishing a program that will enhance the lives of those on campus, in the surrounding neighborhood, and within Washington, D.C.’s already vibrant arts scene. Working in collaboration with key partners across the university, we will place great art and artists at the center of critical dialogues and create opportunities for diverse audiences to not only look at art, but to have meaningful and memorable experiences.” 

ABOUT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Established in 1789, Georgetown is the nation’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. Drawing upon this legacy, we provide students with a world-class learning experience focused on educating the whole person through exposure to different faiths, cultures, and beliefs. With our Jesuit values and location in Washington, D.C., Georgetown offers students a distinct opportunity to learn, experience, and understand more about the world.

ABOUT MARIA AND ALBERTO DE LA CRUZ

Maria and Alberto E. de la Cruz are both graduates of Georgetown University. Alberto has been the president and chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Puerto Rico Bottlers (CCPRB) since 1985, president of Coca-Cola Bottling of Trinidad, and an owner of other businesses. For 24 years, Maria has owned and served as president of Jacadi, a French children’s retail chain in the South Florida area. She also owned and operated the Don Algodón and Furla franchises for Puerto Rico in the 1990s and 2000s, and in 2011 started her own jewelry collection, Mari Mari Jewelry. Together they have three children: Alberto G., Ileana (C’17), and Alvaro (C’22).