Van Gogh exhibits among the art highlights of 2021 in Greater Columbus
As 2021 drew to a close and art lovers got vaccinated, museum and gallery attendance perked up.
The end of the year saw the opening of two impressive but very different exhibits devoted to Vincent van Gogh: the “Immersive Van Gogh” light show of paintings in north Columbus and at the Columbus Museum of Art, “Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources,” more than 100 works by the post-Impressionist and those who inspired him.
While which van Gogh exhibit was which (and where) may have confused some viewers, Nannette V. Maciejunes, executive director and CEO of the museum, said that she believes that the museum has “benefitted by the increase level of interest in and curiosity about van Gogh. We have been thrilled to have the galleries full of visitors again.”
More:‘Immersive Van Gogh’ takes viewers on circuitous journey through the life of famed painter
The “Immersive Van Gogh” exhibit has extended its run through February and the museum’s van Gogh exhibit has been strong, drawing nearly 9,000 visitors for its first two weeks alone.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Columbus Museum of Art averaged about 250,000 visitors a year. There were fewer than 100,000 visitors in 2020. The museum is on track to hit about 135,000 visitors this year.
In 2021, the Columbus Museum of Art welcomed its first artist-in-residence, Johnathan Payne, in the restored home of the late Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson.
Missing from the year was the Columbus Arts Festival, canceled for the second year because of the pandemic. The Greater Columbus Arts Council plans to resume the festival in 2022 at a new location in the Arena District.
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Transition will be in play at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Johanna Burton, Wexner Center director for nearly three years, left in November to become director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles.
And the arts community said goodbye to a beloved patron of the arts, Loann Crane, who died in November.
Among the best visual arts exhibits of 2021:
• “Raggin’ On: The Art of Aminah Robinson’s House and Journals,” Nov. 21, 2020-Oct. 3, 2021, Columbus Museum of Art — The enormous exhibit presented multimedia works, writings and artifacts from the home of the beloved Columbus artist.
• “Distinctly Paramount: Fashion & Costume from the Paramount Pictures Archive,” June 5, 2021 to Jan. 2, 2022, Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, Lancaster — In the center’s fourth costume exhibit from the Paramount Archives, visitors are treated to the flamboyant clothes from “Rocketman,” “Zoolander,” “Dynasty,” “Indecent Proposal” and more.
• “Crossover: Trends in Paper,” Aug. 8 to Oct. 3, 2021, Ohio Craft Museum — In the remarkable exhibit, paper — in a variety of incarnations — was the art. Forty-two works by 11 artists used commercial and handmade paper in surprising, impressive ways.
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• “Nina Katchadourian: To Feel Something That Was Not of Our World,” Aug. 28, 2021 to April 24, 2022, Pizzuti Collection — Katchadourian, fascinated as a child by the 1972 story of a British family lost at sea, has recreated their adventure in a striking, multimedia art exhibit.
• “Jacqueline Humphries,” Sept. 18, 2021 to Jan. 2, 2022, Wexner Center for the Arts — Humphries’ abstract paintings employ emojis, digital text and imagery, stencils, video-game graphics, black light, white noise and much more to offer an uncommon and often surprising experiential look at art.
• “Immersive Van Gogh,” Oct. 28 to Feb. 27, 2022, Lighthouse ArtSpace — In a surround sound-and-pictures environment, the starry nights, sunflowers, irises, potato eaters and many more images from Vincent van Gogh paintings are presented in a larger-than-life light show.
More:‘Through Vincent’s Eyes’ exhibit a celebration of the Post-Impressionist painter
• “Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources,” Nov. 12 to Feb. 6, 2022 — Seventeen paintings by van Gogh are interspersed among more than 100 works by the artists of his time — Degas, Gaugin, Manet, Monet and more — in an intelligent, beautifully presented exhibit.
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