Past Exhibitions
Animal Fair: Photographs from the LASM Collection
January 24–May 12, 2013
Charming images of popular zoo animals from LASM’s holdings are paired with interesting facts and commentary contributed by BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo. Included are intimate views of animals in action taken in the early 1990s by Linda Sanders, an accomplished photographer and longtime Baton Rouge Zoo veterinary technician. Also featured are enigmatic black and white images of exotic animals dating from the 1970s by noted American photographer Lynn Lennon.
The Edge of Vision: Abstraction in Contemporary Photography
January 19–April 14, 2013
Ellen Carey (American, b. 1952), PushPins, 2002, chromogenic photogram (with holes). Courtesy of the artist/Jayne H. Baum Gallery, New York.
The Edge of Vision: Abstraction in Contemporary Photography explores the use of photography by artists today to create abstract, or “undisclosed,” imagery in all its forms. Art works in a variety of photographic media, including still images, installations, and videos, by 20 international artists will be on view, introducing visitors to a range of techniques, visual effects, and critical positions in abstract photography. These aesthetic investigations of the possibilities offered by the medium free the photograph from its familiar social and temporal references, resulting in the discovery of new possibilities of metaphoric suggestiveness, psychological engagement, and optical possibility.
Abstraction has been intrinsic to photography since its inception, when many pioneers of the medium believed the camera might reveal other aspects of reality. Abstracted imagery featured in the work of the Photo Secessionists, a group of photographers, among them Alfred Stieglitz, who sought to have photography accepted as a fine art during the early days of the 20th century. These photographers emphasized process and emotional expression over observed reality, a perspective that also featured in the experiments of the Modernists and Surrealists. In the decades to follow, in particular the 1940s through the 1980s, a multitude of photographers, such as Edward Weston, Aaron Siskind, and Barbara Kasten, took up abstraction from a variety of positions.
This exhibition explores the influence that the history of abstraction exerts upon contemporary thinking about the medium as well as the role photographs play in contemporary visual culture. This exhibition was organized by Aperture Foundation, New York and was curated by Lyle Rexer.
Promotional support provided in part by Cox Communications.
Gloriously Colorful Kodaks: Vintage Cameras from the Greg Milneck Collection
January 19–April 14, 2013
Designed to appeal to the style-conscious woman, Kodak Company manufactured a unique line of colorful, Art Deco-style cameras in the1920s and 1930s. These beautiful Kodak cameras, designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, are now on display and include the glamorous Vanity Kodak Ensemble, popular Beau Brownies, and a rare Kodak Brownie Target Six-20 camera featuring Mickey Mouse.
Promotional support provided in part by Cox Communications.
Train Memoribilia from the LASM Collection
August 25, 2012–January 20, 2013
In celebration of LASM’s 50th Anniversary, the museum’s historic location is the focus of this exhibition consisting of memorabilia, including photographs, blueprints, even model trains, selected from the permanent collection. Since the 1970s, LASM has been housed inside the renovated historic Illinois Central Railroad Depot built for the Yazoo-Mississippi Valley Railroad Company.
50 Years of Collecting
October 6, 2012–January 6, 2013
Dale Chihuly, Orange Stem Form with Cobalt Blue Persians, c.1988, blown glass, 21½ x 38 x 24 in. Gift of Lance Hayes and Thad Hayes in memory of Paul D. Hayes. LASM Collection.
In celebration of LASM’s Golden Anniversary, this exhibition showcases artworks and artifacts selected from among LASM’s major holdings. Since the early 1960s when the first objects were catalogued, the collection has steadily grown. Today LASM houses more than 4,000 objects gathered through donations, bequests, and thoughtful purchases. This exhibition provides insight into LASM’s unique story, while also revealing the historic development of museum collections.
Founded in the 1960s, LASM has collected and displayed objects with the aim of educating and inspiring present and future generations. In addition to artwork by Modernist and contemporary Louisiana artists, LASM’s collection includes: American and European paintings, prints, and sculptures; art and artifacts from non-Western cultures; antiquities from Egypt, Greece and Rome; decorative arts; miniature furniture; photography; and memorabilia. As such, LASM’s holdings reflect an encyclopedic approach to collecting, not unlike one of the earliest types of collections, the wunderkammer, or wonder chamber, of the 16th century.
LASM was inspired by the concept of this museum prototype in the selection of objects and manner of display in 50 Years of Collecting. In the days before museums, treasuries of princes and churches contained all manner of things. The contents were sectioned into categories as the owner saw fit, ranging from nature, art, science, antiquity, ethnography, and even the marvelous. When displayed, the objects were arranged according to the owner's predilection, enticing the viewer to make connections between seemingly unrelated objects in an effort to understand and make sense of the world.
The objects on display from LASM’s collection encompass fine artworks representative of different countries, periods, styles and media, including work by such past and present art world luminaries as Conrad Albrizio, Elizabeth Catlett, Dale Chihuly, Asher B. Durand, Frank Hayden, Clementine Hunter, John Marin, Ivan Mestrovic, Will Henry Stevens, and Hunt Slonem; useful and decorative artifacts from cultures ancient and contemporary, including Native American baskets, Egyptian artifacts, and Tibetan statuettes; and objects from space. Chosen for the ability to amaze and charm, these objects are arranged into categories to encourage reflection, pique the imagination, and inspire a sense of wonder.
Train Memoribilia from the LASM Collection
August 25, 2012–January 20, 2013
In celebration of LASM’s 50th Anniversary, the museum’s historic location is the focus of this exhibition consisting of memorabilia, including photographs, blueprints, even model trains, selected from the permanent collection. Since the 1970s, LASM has been housed inside the renovated historic Illinois Central Railroad Depot built for the Yazoo-Mississippi Valley Railroad Company.
Past Exhibitions - 2012
Past Exhibitions - 2011
Past Exhibitions - 2010
Past Exhibitions - 2009
Past Exhibitions - 2008
