Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has announced the 2020 temporary exhibition schedule which includes surveys of popular artists such as Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal… and Ansel Adams: In Our Time, an examination of the craft movement in Craft, and two exhibitions that will be featured at the Momentary during its inaugural season. The Momentary is a satellite to Crystal Bridges and a new contemporary art space that is set to open to the public on February 22, 2020 with State of the Art II, and will be followed by Nick Cave: Until in the summer.

“We are excited to begin this new decade exploring art at Crystal Bridges and the soon-to-be opened Momentary,” said Rod Bigelow, Crystal Bridges executive director & chief diversity and inclusion officer. “Whether the artists are familiar to our visitors or completely unknown, these exhibitions look at history, our natural landscape, art movements, and current culture through a broad set of objects and perspectives. The 2020 line up highlights award-winning artists such as Hank Willis Thomas and Nick Cave, and up-and-coming artists whose work will be featured in State of the Art II, the prolific photographer, Ansel Adams and so many more.”

Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal…
February 8 – April 20, 2020 at Crystal Bridges
Who controls the frame, controls the narrative. Combining familiar images from sports and advertising with histories of art and politics, conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas examines popular culture, and how art can raise awareness in the ongoing struggle for social justice and civil rights. Featuring 70 artworks including photographs, sculptures, and mixed media, Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal… is the first comprehensive survey of this acclaimed and award-winning artist’s career.

At the same time that the Momentary, a satellite contemporary art space of Crystal Bridges, is making its grand opening, Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal… provides another opportunity to see an exhibition that underscores the importance of contemporary art in approaching complex topics and thinking critically about the world around us.

Created by the Portland Art Museum, this exhibition includes Thomas’ well known Branded series of artworks. His global public art project In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth) was featured in downtown Bentonville in 2016. Thomas’s work is in the collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, among others. He has been an instructor in the MFA program at Yale University and the Maryland Institute College of Art and is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship award winner.

This exhibition is organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon.

State of the Art II
February 22 – May 24, 2020 at Crystal Bridges and the Momentary
Crystal Bridges begins the new decade with the opening of the Momentary, a new space for contemporary visual and performing arts, and the debut of State of the Art II at both locations. This new exhibition continues the journey launched in State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now (2014), for which Crystal Bridges curators traveled across America to discover artists working around the country. The resulting exhibition featured 102 artists, debuted at Crystal Bridges, traveled to five additional museums, and became the subject of a PBS documentary.

State of the Art II features a new curatorial team, bringing fresh perspectives. Lauren Haynes, curator, contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and curator of visual arts at the Momentary, is developing the exhibition along with Alejo Benedetti, assistant curator, contemporary art, and Allison Glenn, associate curator, contemporary art, both from Crystal Bridges.

Haynes, Benedetti, and Glenn visited contemporary artists around the country, determining a brand new selection of artists and artworks to feature at the two venues. Discover a collection of talented artists working today, exploring themes of nature, globalism, technology, and more.

Ansel Adams: In Our Time
May 23 – September 7, 2020 at Crystal Bridges
This summer, take a trip across the American West through the lens of iconic American photographer Ansel Adams, together with more than 20 contemporary photographers.

For more than 50 years, Ansel Adams captured the breathtaking beauty of the country’s natural landscape in stunning black-and-white photographs. Ansel Adams: In Our Time, a new exhibition developed by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, displays Adams’s work alongside contemporary artists whose modern-day environmental concerns point directly to Adams’s legacy.

Visit national parks, the American Southwest, and desert and wilderness spaces through 180 photographs as you move back and forth in time with Ansel Adams and his contemporary successors including Mark Klett, Trevor Paglen, Catherine Opie, Abelardo Morell, Victoria Sambunaris, and Binh Danh, exploring similar themes in a changing American landscape.

This exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere
July 4 – October 11, 2020 at Crystal Bridges
Patriot, silversmith, and entrepreneur Paul Revere is often known through his legendary “midnight ride” during the American Revolution. Developed by American Antiquarian Society, Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere is a groundbreaking exhibition that illuminates Revere’s life, transforming our understanding of the innovative businessman through an in-depth exploration of his accomplishments as a silversmith and printmaker.

Opening at Crystal Bridges on the nation’s 244th birthday, journey back in time through this collection of Revere’s original engravings of famous events such as the Boston Massacre, glimmering silver tea services, commonplace objects such as thimbles and wedding rings, and important public commissions such as a bronze courthouse bell. The exhibition also includes surprising objects, such as a bottle of tea from the Boston Tea Party, all of which reveal interesting parts of the artisan’s career.

Over 80 objects highlight Revere’s life as an entrepreneur, artisan, and political figure during a time of social, economic, and political turmoil.

Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere was organized by American Antiquarian Society.

Nick Cave: Until
July 18, 2020 – January 3, 2021 at the Momentary
For Until, Nick Cave creates his largest and most ambitious project yet, taking us deep into the belly of one of his iconic Soundsuits. The exhibition, just like these previous works, question gender, race, and violence—in particular, gun violence—in America.

To do this, Cave began with the question, “Is there racism in heaven?” His response is an immersive space made up of thousands of wind spinners with images of guns, bullets, and targets along with a cloudscape encrusted in ceramic birds, beaded flowers, and cast-iron lawn jockeys. Until is an exhibition as well as a platform for engagement; during its time at the Momentary, the installation will come to life with a lineup of performances about community, identity, and more.

Above all else, Nick Cave: Until invites us to take a moment of contemplation about where we are today and what the future may look like.

Nick Cave: Until was organized by MASS MoCA and co-produced by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art of Bentonville, Arkansas, and CarriageWorks of Sydney, Australia, with support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, Jack Shainman Gallery, and the Robert Lehman Foundation.

Craft (working title)
October 10, 2020 – February 1, 2021 at Crystal Bridges
Craft, a new exhibition developed by Crystal Bridges, celebrates the skill and individuality of craft within the broad context of American art.

Featuring over 90 works in ceramics, fiber, wood, metal, glass, and more unexpected materials, Craft presents an inclusive story of American craft from the 1940s to today, featuring artists such as Ruth Asawa, Sheila Hicks, and Faith Ringgold. From the vital contributions of Indigenous artists to the new skills and points of view brought by immigrants to the United States, this exhibition highlights personal creativity, innovation, and the technical skill that animates a broad range of objects.

Developed by Crystal Bridges Assistant Curator Jen Padgett and guest curator Glenn Adamson, scholar of craft, design history, and contemporary art, Craft presents a fresh perspective on the importance of craft in American art.

For a complete list of current exhibitions at Crystal Bridges, visit here. 

About Crystal Bridges
The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Since opening in 2011, the museum has welcomed 4.3 million visitors, with no cost for admission. The collection spans five centuries of American masterworks from colonial to current day and is enhanced by temporary exhibitions. The museum is nestled on 120 acres of Ozark landscape and was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. A rare Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house was preserved and relocated to the museum grounds in 2015. Crystal Bridges offers public programs including lectures, performances, classes, and teacher development opportunities. Some 260,000 school children have participated in the Willard and Pat Walker School Visit program, which provides educational experiences for school groups at no cost to the schools. Additional museum amenities include a restaurant, gift store, library, and 5 miles of art and walking trails. For more information, visit CrystalBridges.org.  The museum is located at 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712.

About the Momentary
Opening February 22, 2020, the Momentary is a dynamic, innovative, multidisciplinary arts space, a satellite to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which champions contemporary art’s role in everyday life. Uniquely positioned in the demographic heart of the US and connected to the world, the Momentary welcomes all. The Momentary is located in downtown Bentonville, near 8th Street Market, at 507 SE E Street, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712. Learn more at themomentary.org.