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Andrew's Dream Realized
Creating a museum of Modern Art, that was Andrew Carnegie's dream when he founded the Carnegie Institute in 1895. Over one hundred years later and the Museum bearing his name, provides a much needed home for the 'Old Masters of Tomorrow'
Carnegie established a series of art exhibitions, beginning in 1896, to build a collection for the Carnegie Institute. His vision continues to this day with the world-famous Carnegie International. Artists that have participated include Louise Bourgeois, Mary Cassatt, Eduardo Chillida, Willem de Kooning, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Ellsworth Kelley, Mike Kelly, Anselm Kiefer, Sol LeWitt, Camille Pissarro, Sigmar Polke, John Singer Sargent, Richard Serra, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, and James A. McNeill Whistler. It's time for the latest version of this exhibition curated by Douglas Fogle. Life on Mars
It's prestigious and always impressive. “Carnegie Museum of Art has long played an important role among American museums with its presentation of the International,” said Richard Armstrong, the Henry J. Heinz II director of the museum. “With Douglas Fogle’s intelligent and focused direction, we can be assured that the 2008 Carnegie International will extend this exhibition’s distinguished history.” Adds William E. Hunt, chairman of the Board of Carnegie Museum of Art, “For more than a century, the Carnegie International has brought the world to Pittsburgh; introducing the challenging works of global artists, attracting visitors from outside the region, and contributing significant acquisitions to the museum’s collection for the enjoyment of all. It is a tremendous asset that reflects the spirit of our past, present, and future.” Douglas Fogle: The Curator
The art world's eyes on you, over 100 years of history, one of the most famous recurring exhibitions in the contemporary art world and you're new to the job. That's the task Douglas Fogle undertook. He has been the curator of Contemporary Art for the CMOA since 2005. One of the first changes he made was to the name. The exhibit has a title of it's own, rather than simply being called the Carnegie International 2008. Douglas Fogle explained his vision, “For the first time in 112 years the exhibition has a title other than Carnegie International,” said the curator, “Life on Mars is very much a poetic gesture in terms of thinking about our place in the universe as humans. Are we alone in the universe? Do aliens exist? Or are we, ourselves, the strangers in our own worlds? To me contemporary art is as much about coming to terms with our own world as it is about creating a set of worlds parallel to those that we walk in everyday. The thematic premise behind the show has to do with the idea of the intimate moments in our daily life that we miss by walking through our worlds and not seeing what is right in front of us. It also has to do with the more infinite sense of being part of the larger universe and finding ourselves on the inside and looking out. All of the artists participating in the 2008 Carnegie International have been chosen because their work conveys this sensibility.”
Andrew's dream has and continues to be realized at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art.
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