Water Stories: New Work by Anne Labovitz at MMAM
September 30 through January 22
Minnesota Marine Art Museum | 800 Riverview Dr.
mmam.org
Water Stories: New Work by Anne Labovitz, opens at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM) in Winona, Minn., on Sept. 30, 2022. This two-gallery exhibition will feature large scale works by the Minnesota artist.
The exhibition includes paintings, an immersive room installation with audio, and a public participatory section. “Water Stories reflects ideas of the regenerative qualities of water expressed visually through painting, installation, and sound,” says Labovitz of her upcoming exhibition.
Water Stories will feature six 12-foot scrolls reflecting the local foliage of Minnesota. These scrolls were created specifically for the museum and will be hung in the museum’s atrium, welcoming visitors into the exhibition. In the gallery, a 12-foot by 24-foot Tyvek® room, titled Meditation on Blue, is intended for the public to enter. “Meditation on Blue, is an invitation for viewers to become immersed in a tranquil color field of blue while experiencing spatial water sounds,” explains Labovitz.
The second gallery has seven large-scale square acrylic paintings. Through tonality, the paintings embody the physicality of reflection, focusing on the water’s surface quality and luminosity. Of her exhibitions, Labovitz says, “Water has the essential, restorative qualities that provide respite, refuge, and regeneration. It is my hope that Water Stories will provide a place for discovery, delight, contemplation, and meditation on and about water.”
Labovitz is known for creating work that transforms and converts controversial social, political and cultural issues into experiences that inspire contemplation and connection. She is the founder of the I Love You Institute, an artist-led site-specific project working with communities to creatively address today’s world, using art making, social justice, radical kindness, and relational listening to normalize saying “I Love You” as an alternative to division and conflict.
Labovitz has exhibited her artwork internationally and nationally. Her work is included in the collections of institutions all over the world, including in the Weisman Art Museum (Minneapolis, MN), the International Gallery of Portrait (Bosnia-Herzegovina), and Växjö Kommun (Vaxjo, Sweden). Recent projects include two large-scale permanent public mosaic artworks at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. Labovitz’s first exhibition at MMAM, Water Stories: New Work by Anne Labovitz, will be on view from Sept. 30, 2022 through Jan. 22, 2023.
Image Credits: Top – Anne Labovitz, Courtesy of the artist. Bottom – Anne Labovitz, Lake Stories I, 2021. Acrylic on canvas.
ABOUT
The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is a nonprofit art museum that engages visitors in meaningful visual art experiences through education and exhibitions that explore the ongoing and historic human relationship with water. Located in Winona, Minnesota, a short distance from Minneapolis and Chicago, the purpose-built museum is located on the banks of the Mississippi River and boasts six galleries, an educational and events space, and a destination retail shop on its seven acre riverside campus. It is through this surprising diversity that MMAM is not only describing what marine art is, but pushing the boundaries of what marine art can be.
The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is a member of the River Arts Alliance. To learn more about the benefits of membership, please visit: riverartsalliance.org/membership/.