Objects and Voices: A Collection of Stories
February 12–June 21, 2015
Installation views of Objects and Voices micro-exhibitions The Naked and the Dead (above) and Signed and Sealed (top).
Why do objects matter? What kind of stories do they help tell? Through a series of micro-exhibitions curated by a diverse roster of collaborators, Objects and Voices reveals the multiple ways we work with, learn from, and enjoy objects of art.
This collection-based exhibition is divided into a series of small thematic presentations organized by distinguished professors, artists, museum professionals, UChicago students, and notable Smart alumni. These vignettes reveal the diverse perspectives, passions, and expertise of their curators while raising bigger questions about the interpretation of creative and cultural objects, the role of audiences, and the transmission of knowledge through art.
As with Carved, Cast, Crumpled before it, this special 40th anniversary exhibition takes over the entirety of the Smart Museum—permanent collection and special exhibition galleries alike—and mixes traditional and non-traditional presentations of the Smart’s collection of Modern, Asian, European, and Contemporary art.
Together with GalleryX, these projects illustrate how objects and stories are intertwined, preserved, re-interpreted, discovered, and re-invented at a university art museum like the Smart—indeed, how we all can connect with and be inspired by our experiences with art.
