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Upcoming Exhibition

Image of artwork made of gun metal, wood, glass, and light bulbs
An abstract black and white image by Richard Hunt.
Figures seated in a dark theater with a projected black and white film.

Broken Spectre

November 15, 2024 - February 16, 2025

Two blue birds on a snowy bough picking at red berries.

Bird and Blossom

January 24, 2025 - April 6, 2025

Young at Art 2025

February 13, 2025 - April 6, 2025

Past Exhibition

Entering the Unconscious

March 21, 2024 - July 21, 2024

Fashion Focus | imaginary i

December 16, 2023 - February 18, 2024

installation view of thread artwork in the Main Galleries

imaginary i

November 11, 2023 - April 7, 2024

Sheep sculpture made out of scissors.

RECOLLECT: Sam Gilliam

August 10, 2023 - March 3, 2024

Gouache on paper painting with various shapes, lines, and abstract forms
Glitchy still from Ava Wanbli's video game Setraline Dolls featuring a 3D rendering of a person floating over an ocean with a large hole in the middle. A pair of wings can be seen in the corner of the still. The main figure appears to be looking at another figure, but that figure appears to be fading away.

Ava Wanbli: Sertraline Dolls

April 1, 2023 - October 8, 2023

Young at Art 2023

March 18, 2023 - August 6, 2023

Collage featuring cut out images of television screens, a camera, various images of eyes, and more.

MISE-EN-SCÈNE

March 18, 2023 - August 6, 2023

Acrylic painting resembling the torso of possibly a woman, rendered in geometric or abstract fashion. Her forearms are cut off and she has a single thigh. Vertical and horizontal strokes are visible. The figure has a broad chest and shoulder.
collage of inspiration images, fashion sketches, a color palette, and textile samples

Fashion Focus | Home

December 17, 2022 - January 29, 2023

Wearing traditional Native clothing, artist Wendy Red Star is seated on a set modeled after a forest, with a body of water, fall trees, and a mountain landscape in the background. She is surrounded by fake flowers and card board cut outs of a reindeer and a rabbit.
screenshot from a unity game showing a glowing rose surrounded by fences, fog, and rose petals
triptych of jacquard tapestries, each showing a person standing

Faisal Abdu’Allah: DARK MATTER

September 17, 2022 - April 2, 2023

older person wearing a floral print button-up shirt, resting their arm against a surface, in a leafy, vegetal, floral setting

Home

July 30, 2022 - February 19, 2023

illustration of two people's silhouettes facing each other in a field of flowers
oil painting of house with the silhouettes of two people's heads on the inside

Boxed In

March 26, 2022 - July 17, 2022

man holding a pipe
Artist Faisal Abdu'Allah standing in front of his counter-monument modeled after him

Faisal Abdu’Allah: Blu³eprint

February 23, 2022 - April 2, 2023

Fundreds on view at the Fundred Reserve
Watercolor and acrylic on canvas word illustration that says "dèyè mòn, gen mòn"
2 channel installation of Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes with a tunnel on one screen and seated cowboys on the other

Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes

November 6, 2021 - February 27, 2022

Screenprint titled Vigilantes by J. Leigh Garcia, showing a truck dragging tires
photograph showing an interior kitchen or dining space covered in printed photographs

Between

July 10, 2021 - February 13, 2022

the windows with writing on the front of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, showing part of the AMENDs exhibition inside the building

AMENDS: Nick Cave and Bob Faust

June 19, 2021 - October 24, 2021

Gouache and chalk pastel illustration featuring a girl blended with a wolf

Natalie Frank: Unbound

June 5, 2021 - October 24, 2021

Patricia Kirby, Mindfulness, 2021. Multimedia work on paper, 11 x 13 1/4 inches. Courtesy of the Artist.
Amy Cutler, Viragos, 2003. Gouache on paper, 19 ½ x 30 inches. Private Collection, New York. Image © Amy Cutler, courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York.
Terrence Adeyanju, Running in the Dark, 2021. Giclée print on paper. Courtesy of the artist
Patrick Martinez, Hold the Ice, 2020. Neon, 36 x 22 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Charlie James Gallery.
Jacob Lawrence, Dining Out, 1937. Gouache, 11 1/2 x 9 in. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Gift of the Estate of Janet Ela.
Jojin van Winkle, The Destruction Project – Derby Dashes 1 – Summer/ Lodi WI, 2017. Digital print, 18 x 24 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Jenny Holzer: YOUVOTE 2020

October 2, 2020 - November 4, 2020

illustration of a woman surrounded by smaller scenes and people against a backdrop of shapes and trees
Santiago Cucullu's digital inkjet print with stoneware vessels called "The Wandering Rocks"
Sebura&Gartelmann, Finger Sew (video still), 2019. Single-channel video with sound, 2:09 minutes. Courtesy of the Artists.

Sebura&Gartelmann: Bonded

June 6, 2020 - September 27, 2020

Roger Brown, Forest Fire, 1976. Oil on canvas, 52 x 72 in. Promised gift of Mark and Judy Bednar.
James Cagle, Aurora, 2019. Archival pigment print, 6 x 5 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

James Cagle: A Final Meditation on Art

February 29, 2020 - January 31, 2021

James Cagle, Excavation, 1974. 16mm color film (digitized), with sound, 5:00 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and the New York Filmmakers' Cooperative.

James Cagle: Excavation

February 9, 2020 - May 24, 2020

Wisconsin Triennial: 2019

October 19, 2019 - February 16, 2020

Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Band Choctaw/Cherokee), Like A Hammer, 2014. Elk hide, glass beads, artificial sinew, wool blanket, metal studs, steel, found pinewood block, and fur; 56 × 24 × 11 in. Collection of Tracy Richelle High and Roman Johnson, courtesy of Marc Straus Gallery, New York. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson Studio and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California. Photograph by Peter Mauney.

Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer

June 8, 2019 - September 15, 2019

Tyanna Buie, The Front Porch, 2017. Screenprint, hand-applied ink, and Caran d'Ache monotype on paper, 96 x 84 inches. Image courtesy the Artist and The Alice Wilds Gallery, Milwaukee.

Tyanna Buie: After Image

May 4, 2019 - September 22, 2019

Shimon Attie, The Crossing, 2017. Single-channel video with 4.1 audio, 7:59 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Shimon Attie: The Crossing

April 20, 2019 - September 29, 2019

Tova K., Sea Creature, watercolor. Grade 11, James Madison Memorial High School, 2018. Art teacher Josh Newland.

Young at Art 2019

March 16, 2019 - April 21, 2019

Fred Stonehouse, Untitled, 1987. Mixed media on paper, 10 7/8 x 8 1/2 inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Purchase, through Arts Midwest with matching funds from the Rudolph and Louise Langer Fund.

Mirror Image

February 23, 2019 - May 19, 2019

Nathaniel Mary Quinn: This is Life

December 1, 2018 - March 3, 2019

Frida Kahlo, Pitahayas, 1938. Oil on aluminum, 10 x 14 inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Bequest of Rudolph and Louise Langer. © 2013 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Frida Kahlo: Pitahayas

October 13, 2018 - February 3, 2019

Joel Shapiro, Untitled, 1990-91. Bronze, 35 x 71 x 37 inches. ©2018 Joel Shapiro / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy of the artist.

Joel Shapiro: The Bronzes

September 23, 2018 - January 13, 2019

William J. O'Brien, Reliquary, 2017. Installation view, Shane Campbell Gallery (Dec. 17, 2017 - Feb. 4, 2018). Courtesy of the Artist, Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York. Photo: Evan Jenkins.

William J. O’Brien: Reliquary

August 18, 2018 - November 11, 2018

Gladys Nilsson, Beautify, 1994. Watercolor, gouache, and collage on two sheets of paper, 8 x 5 1/2 inches (each). Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. The Bill McClain Collection of Chicago Imagism.
Marko Spalatin, Marko to Kim, 1968. Color screenprint, 23 x 28 inches. Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Birkhauser.

Far Out: Art from the 1960s

July 14, 2018 - September 2, 2018

Irene Grau: construction season, 2018. Image courtesy of the artist.
close up of a hop garden installation

Civic Exchange Society

May 4, 2018 - December 31, 2018

José Carlos Teixeira. ON EXILE, elsewhere within here (video still), 2017. Single-channel video with sound, 70 minutes. Courtesy of the artist.

José Carlos Teixeira: On Exile

January 13, 2018 - May 20, 2018

Jane Hammond, Irregular Plural II, 1995. Oil and paper collage on shaped canvas, 73 x 87 1/2 inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Gift of Lillian Heidenberg. © Jane Hammond, New York.

Art/Word/Image

December 2, 2017 - July 29, 2018

Jaume Plensa, Talking Continents, 2013. Stainless steel, 19 components, dimensions variable. © Jaume Plensa. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co.

Talking Continents

December 2, 2017 - April 15, 2018

oil on linen painting of an abstracted close-up of someone's face, their eyes partially covered with horizontal stripes

Big

November 4, 2017 - May 6, 2018

Chele Isaac, the understory (video still), 2017. Seven-channel video with sound. Courtesy the artist.

Chele Isaac: the understory

September 2, 2017 - November 12, 2017

Rashaad Newsome, Stop Playing in My Face! (video still), 2016. Single-channel video with sound, 04:02 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and De Buck Gallery, NY.

Rashaad Newsome: ICON

August 11, 2017 - December 3, 2017

Sonja Thomsen, in the space of elsewhere (installation detail), 2017. Mixed-media, site-specific installation. Courtesy the artist.
Ed Paschke, Kontato, 1984. Color lithograph on paper, 34 1/4 x 24 1/8 inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Anonymous gift.

Taking Sides

June 10, 2017 - October 15, 2017

Cassils: Inextinguishable Fire (video still), 2007–2015. Single-channel video, 28:00 minutes. Courtesy of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York.

Digital Aura

May 20, 2017 - August 6, 2017

Courtesy the artist.

Kambui Olujimi: Zulu Time

May 6, 2017 - August 13, 2017

Installation view, Do Ho Suh, MOCA Cleveland, 2015. ©Do Ho Suh, Courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong. Photo: Jerry Birchfield. © MOCA Cleveland.

Do Ho Suh

February 11, 2017 - May 14, 2017

Pamodou Juldeh Barry, Ancha Gaye Barry, and Ramatoulie Kujabi Barry, grade 5, Shorewood Hills Elementary

Young at Art 2017

February 11, 2017 - April 23, 2017

Kenneth Josephson, New York State, 1970, 1970. Gelatin silver print, 10 7/8” x 13 7/8” inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Purchase, through National Endowment for the Arts grant with matching funds from Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Renfert. © Kenneth Josephson, Courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago.
Lois Bielefeld, Wednesday: Willie Mae. 2013, from the series Weeknight Dinners, 2013–present. Color photograph, 25 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Wisconsin Triennial 2016

September 24, 2016 - January 8, 2017

Charles Munch, Fire Signs, 1989. Oil on canvas, 41 x 53 inches. Museum Purchase Fund.

Our Good Earth

June 4, 2016 - August 21, 2016

Claire Stigliani, Drawing, 2015. Acrylic, colored pencil, gold leaf, 18 ⅞ x 24 ⅞ inches. Courtesy the artist.
Frances Myers, Borzoi Watching, 1971. Aquatint and stencil, 20 x 11 ¾ inches. Gift of Impressions, Inc.
Allison Schulnik, Eager, 2014. Traditional clay-mation and stop-motion animated film, 8 minutes 30 seconds. Courtesy of the artist and Mark Moore Gallery.
Frank Stella, Extracts, from Moby Dick Deckle Edges, 1993. Lithograph, etching, aquatint, relief, and screenprint on white TGL, handmade paper, 34 ½ x 42 ¾ inches. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Purchased with the assistance of the Orde Poynton Fund 2002. © 2016 Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
William Kentridge, Felix in Exile, 1994. Still from 35mm film transferred to video, 8 min, 43 sec loop. Collection of Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Gift of Susan and Lewis Manilow, 2001.23. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery.
Ellen Lanyon, Arabian Nights, 1998. Acrylic on canvas, 44 x 52 inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Gift from the Estate of Ellen Lanyon.
Kim Schoen, The Second Oldest Amusement, 2011. Still from single-channel video, 2 min, 35 sec loop. Courtesy of the artist.
Robert von Sternberg, Arlanda Airport, Stockholm, 2012. Archival inkjet print, 13 x 19 inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Gift of the artist.
Natasha Nicholson, Strata view. Photography © Eric Ferguson
Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Untitled, from the Corner Series, 1974. Watercolor, 15 x 14⅞ inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Purchase, through funds from Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Renfert.

Coordinates

June 6, 2015 - August 23, 2015

Warrington Colescott, Death in Venice: Aschenbach Aboard, from the portfolio Death in Venice, 1971. Etching, 15¹¹⁄₁₆ x 11¹⁵⁄₁₆ inches (image size). Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Museum Purchase, in memory of Lois Hartshorne.
Lois Ireland, The Homestead, c. 1944. Oil on canvas, 34¾ x 28½ inches. Collection of the Wisconsin Regional Art Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Tadaria Ross

Young at Art 2015

March 28, 2015 - May 10, 2015

Eric and Heather ChanSchatz, PTG.0222 Slavery (Human Trafficking) / Stateless children in Chiang Mai, Thailand (detail), 2012–2015. Screenprint on silk and polished stainless steel, 80½ x 134½ inches. Courtesy of the artists.
Narayan Mahon, Store, Stepanakert, Nagorno Karabakh, 2006. Archival pigment print, 24 x 30 inches. © Narayan Mahon Photography.

Narayan Mahon: Lands in Limbo

December 6, 2014 - March 15, 2015

Alec Soth, Charles, Vasa, Minnesota, 2002. Chromogenic print, 50 x 40 inches. Courtesy the artist.
Jason S. Yi, installation detail images from A Fragile Permanence. Photos © Claire Larkins.

Jason S. Yi: A Fragile Permanence

August 23, 2014 - November 9, 2014

Terry Husebye, Stella Jones, Harrisburg Flood Victim, 1973. Gelatin silver print, 11⅜ x 7⅝ inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Museum Purchase Fund. © Terry Husebye, 1973.

Turn Turn Turn

May 24, 2014 - August 24, 2014

installation view of an exhibition with a wall with title text
installation view of an exhibition with an arrangement of walls

Real/Surreal

January 25, 2014 - April 27, 2014

The Mystery Beneath

January 25, 2014 - April 13, 2014

Fred Stonehouse, Trying To Be A Problem, 2012. Acrylic on canvas banner, 55 x 67 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Triennial 2013

September 21, 2013 - January 5, 2014

I Dream Too Much: Leslie Smith III

June 8, 2013 - September 1, 2013

installation view of the 2013 Young at Art exhibition featuring rows of artworks by children on display across a wall and a vitrine display case featuring smaller sculptures or ceramics

Young at Art 2013

April 12, 2013 - May 19, 2013

installation view of an exhibition with a wall with title text that reads "Ellsworth Kelly Prints"

Ellsworth Kelly Prints

January 19, 2013 - April 28, 2013

installation view of an exhibition with framed artworks hung in a row and artworks on a wall

The Force of Color

January 19, 2013 - March 30, 2013

Simon Payne: Color Field Videos

January 19, 2013 - April 28, 2013

installation view of "The Singing Bird Rooms of Robert Lostutter" with framed artworks hanging across and on various walls
installation view of "Leo Villareal" showing a seated visitor in a darkly lit room with light artwork on the wall

Leo Villareal

September 9, 2012 - December 30, 2012

Structural Films

September 9, 2012 - December 30, 2012

one must know the animals

June 2, 2012 - August 19, 2012

installation view of Cecelia Condit: Within a Stone's Throw showing a dark room playing a video on three screens and a lit gallery with framed photographs on three walls

Seen/Unseen

May 11, 2012 - May 26, 2013

installation view of Houdini: Art and Magic featuring framed artworks hanging on walls and title wall text

Houdini: Art and Magic

February 11, 2012 - May 13, 2012

gallery installation view of the exhibition Chicago Imagists. two vitrine display cases contain various artworks or objects. artworks hang on several different walls. a tall painted sculpture resembling a building stands on a platform towards the back center of the room.
installation view of the exhibition Chicago School featuring a horse sculpture surrounded by artwork hanging on walls and two people looking at artworks

Chicago School: Imagists in Context

September 11, 2011 - January 9, 2012

installation view of "The Industrial Modern" showing framed artworks on the wall and the title wall text

The Industrial Modern

May 28, 2011 - September 4, 2011

installation view of Young at Art featuring title wall text, art on display on walls, and small sculptures or artworks in vitrine display cases

Young at Art 2011

March 20, 2011 - May 15, 2011

installation view of Shinique Smith: Menagerie featuring a variety of abstract sculptures and paintings

Shinique Smith: Menagerie

January 22, 2011 - May 28, 2011

installation view of Shirin Neshat's video titled Rapture, featuring long block benches in front of a black cloth where the video is being projected

Shirin Neshat: Rapture

December 11, 2010 - March 6, 2011

gallery installation view of the exhibition Clayton Brothers: Inside Out featuring sculptures of houses and buildings and canvases hanging on walls

Clayton Brothers: Inside Out

September 12, 2010 - January 2, 2011

installation view of the 2010 Wisconsin Triennial featuring a large sculpture and framed artworks

2010 Wisconsin Triennial

May 22, 2010 - August 15, 2010

installation view of the exhibition titled Apple Pie featuring a person looking at a painting hanging on a wall, in a room with other paintings on the wall and a vintrine display case
gallery installation view of Cage and Cunningham featuring title wall text, framed artworks displayed on walls, and two people walking through the gallery
installation view of "Signs of the Times: Robert Rauschenberg's America" featuring artworks hanging on the wall

Return to Function

May 2, 2009 - August 23, 2009

gallery installation view of Young at Art 2009, featuring sculptures on low platforms and inside glass vitrines and artworks displayed on the walls

Young at Art 2009

March 15, 2009 - May 17, 2009

installation view of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" showing framed artworks hanging on the wall

Something Wicked This Way Comes

January 24, 2009 - April 11, 2009

Barbara Probst: Exposures

December 6, 2008 - March 8, 2009

gallery installation view of George Segal: Street Scenes, featuring a variety of sculptures, including a sculpture of a person seated at a bar

George Segal: Street Scenes

September 13, 2008 - December 28, 2008

installation view of The Absent City, meant to be an interactive installation modeled as a public living room, with large checkerboard cushions, a floating credenza with various objects, and a poster of a world map
gallery installation view of TL Solien: Myths & Monsters, featuring large oil paintings hung vertically across a wall

TL Solien: Myths & Monsters

May 17, 2008 - August 17, 2008

installation view of the exhibition Altered Geometry, featuring a stand alone wall with title wall text, surrounded by a wooden box sculpture, a tall abstract sculpture, a round sculpture with a plastic exterior

Jasper Johns: The Prints

February 2, 2008 - April 13, 2008

Stephen Hilyard: The Beautiful Lie

December 1, 2007 - February 17, 2008

child with curlers in her hair and her fists on her hips, wearing a button-up shirt and pants with suspenders
installation view of "Karl Wirsum: Winsome Works(some)"

Karl Wirsum: Winsome Works(some)

October 14, 2007 - January 6, 2008

installation view of "Hairy Who" featuring various canvas artworks hanging on the wall, surrounding the room

Hairy Who (and some others)

October 14, 2007 - January 6, 2008

gallery installation view of Tim Laun: Sunday, September 20th, 1992, featuring a large plaster model on the ground and a laminated panel depicting a football or baseball player on the ground

Tim Laun: Sunday, September 20th, 1992

August 11, 2007 - November 11, 2007

Jess: To and From the Printed Page

August 4, 2007 - September 23, 2007

California Context

August 4, 2007 - September 23, 2007

installation view of the 2007 Wisconsin Triennial, featuring three reindeer sculptures with extremely tall antlers

2007 Wisconsin Triennial

May 5, 2007 - July 15, 2007

a child and an adult looking closely at artworks made by children on walls

Young at Art 2007

March 3, 2007 - April 15, 2007

installation view of "In Depth," featuring artworks or photographs hanging on the wall or on a display block
abstract print

Alyson Shotz: Topologies

December 9, 2006 - February 11, 2007

installation view of the Sol LeWitt exhibition showing an abstract sculpture similar to a mountain or melting glacier and framed artworks hung on walls

LeWitt x 2

November 5, 2006 - January 14, 2007

installation view of the Chuck Close Prints exhibition, showing rows of framed artworks displayed on walls and a large artwork in a thick platform or frame on the round

At Home: Recent Acquisitions

April 23, 2006 - November 5, 2006

Macropolis

September 8, 2004 - July 20, 2008

Rodney Graham

March 9, 2003 - May 25, 2003

New York: Capital of Photography

December 8, 2002 - February 16, 2003

Young at Art 2002

December 8, 2002 - February 16, 2003

Young at Art 2000

December 3, 2000 - February 11, 2001