Warhol Grant Helps Fund Emerson Contemporary’s Newest Exhibition

Emerson Contemporary recently received an $80,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, part of which has been quickly deployed, to help fund the gallery’s latest multimedia exhibition, off the pedestal.

“Emerson Contemporary is excited to have received a generous $80,000 grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in support of our exhibitions and programming over the next two years,” said Leonie Bradbury, Distinguished Curator-in-Residence, Emerson Contemporary. “This contribution will have a profound impact on the gallery’s ability to present innovative and engaging visual art experiences to our community and more fully support the artists we are exhibiting and inviting to our campus.”

The gallery’s newest exhibit, off the pedestal, is a multimedia group exhibition featuring visual artists Laura Anderson Barbata, New Red Order, and Paula J. Wilson, running from August 1 to October 5.

The exhibition is part of Emerson Contemporary’s Regarding Monuments: Visualizing Hidden Histories, a multi-year initiative that includes exhibitions centered on monuments, several public art installations, and a technology incubator. The project was created with the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture support as a part of their Un-monument initiative, and funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

Curated by Bradbury and Curator of Special Projects Shana Dumont Garr, off the pedestal speaks directly to the national phenomenon of the removal of Confederate and other racist monuments in the wake of the “Unite the Right” Rally in Charlottesville in 2017, and the police murder of George Floyd in 2020.

During the past five years, Bradbury has led Emerson Contemporary to develop a “teaching gallery,” with an emphasis on presenting mid-career artists with time-based media practices, including video and performance, and those that explore emerging technologies such as augmented, virtual, and extended reality. The gallery is the only of its kind in New England.  

Bradbury said the Warhol Foundation “believes in the intrinsic value of experimental artistic practice and promotes artistic participation in cultural conversations at the highest level,” which are values that are closely aligned with Emerson Contemporary’s mission. 

“Emerson Contemporary amplifies the voices of living artists who broaden how we understand our present moment and help us reimagine what is possible,” said Bradbury. “We encourage experimentation, commission new works, and support artistic research through technological support and mentorship. In support of this mission, they actively seek to create opportunities for working artists to engage with new technologies, software tools, creative technologists, and the faculty expertise on our campus that are otherwise not accessible.”

The off the pedestal exhibition is on view in the Media Art Gallery at 25 Avery Street from August 1 – October 5, 2024, which is free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 6 pm.