Expressions Unbound: American Outsider Art from the Andrew and Linda Safran Collection
and States of Freedom: The Figure in Flux
August 29–December 16, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 6, 5:30–7:30pm
Aidekman Arts Center
40 Talbot Avenue
Medford, MA
Museum of Capitalism
August 29–October 25, 2018
Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 12, 6–8pm
SMFA at Tufts
230 Fenway
Boston, MA
The Tufts University Art Galleries are pleased to present our 2018 fall season of exhibitions and public programs.
On view at the Aidekman Arts Center in Medford, Expressions Unbound: American Outsider Art from the Andrew and Linda Safran Collection celebrates the recent gift of 38 artworks by American self-taught artists. The Safran Collection marks the first major contribution of outsider art to the school and is the largest single-collection gift of works by African American artists received to date. States of Freedom: The Figure in Flux is a broad group exhibition that traces the fragmented figure across time and media, offering a transhistorical glimpse into select practices, from the past to the present, in which the body appears fragmented, flattened, or collaged. Both exhibitions will be accompanied by a slate of public programming including a panel discussion examining art education from the 15th century to today, an all-day reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, interactive workshops, and community programs.
At the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA at Tufts) the Art Galleries are pleased to present Museum of Capitalism, a collective reimagining of the world after capitalism. Museum of Capitalism is an institution dedicated to educating the present and future generations about the history, philosophy, and legacy of capitalism through exhibitions, research, and publications, as well as through collecting and preserving material evidence, art, and artifacts of capitalism. First presented in Oakland, this iteration of the Museum features the work of 20 artists and is accompanied by a roundtable discussion on teaching capitalism and a community conversation about housing in Boston.
Also on view:
Artist Response: ELECTION addresses electoral politics with an installation that includes gerrymandered district maps from across the United States produced by Moon Duchin, associate professor of Mathematics at Tufts University (2018); Zoe Leonard’s prose poem “I want a president” (1992), and TVTV’s documentary Four More Years (1972).
TuftsPUBLIC for the 2018–19 academic year features the transmission arts organization Wave Farm in residence through installations by Heidi Neilson and Jeff Thompson in public spaces throughout the Boston and Medford campuses. Presented in conjunction with the SMFA at Tufts library, Wave Farm and the Art Galleries will also launch a short-wave experimental AM radio station for the 230 Fenway building.
Visiting Artists & Public Programs
A variety of public programs will accompany and enrich the exhibitions program, including artist talks and workshops. At SMFA at Tufts, the Visiting Artist Program lecture series will feature the founding directors of Museum of Capitalism, Carmen Winant, Cecilia Vincuña, and Fred Moten. Moten will deliver the annual Deborah and Martin Hale Lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. For more information about the Art Galleries’ programs, please visit our webpages at SMFA at Tufts, Boston and Aidekman Arts Center, Medford.
About Tufts University Art Galleries
Tufts University Art Galleries are pedagogical spaces where exhibitions, lectures, performances, and artist residencies converge to animate the intellectual life of the greater university community. The Art Galleries are located in the Aidekman Arts Center in Medford and at the SMFA at Tufts, Boston and oversee public programs, exhibitions, short-term residencies, and the permanent art collection across Tufts University’s campuses.
Press contact
Kaelynn Maloney, kaelynn.maloney [at] tufts.edu
