ARRIVALS

Katonah Museum of Art  

October 3, 2021, to January 23, 2022

Michele Felice Cornè, The Landing of the Pilgrims , c. 1807. Oil on canvas, 36 9 /16 x 52 1/8 inches (92.9 x 132.4 cm). Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

Titus Kaphar, Columbus Day Painting, 2014. Oil and mixed media on canvas, 67 3/4 x 90 3/4 x 4 inches (172.1 x 230.5 x 10.2 cm). The Heiskell Family Collection ©Titus Kaphar

Dorothea Lange, I Am An American, 1942. Photograph, printed 2020. 34 x 44 inches (86.4 x 111.8 cm). Central Photographic File of the War Relocation Authority, National Archives Identifier 210-G-A35. Restoration courtesy of Anchor Editions.

Norman Akers, Alien Conquest, 2014. Lithograph, 20 5/8 x 15 inches (52.4 x 38.1 cm). Courtesy of the artist ©Norman Akers

O. Louis Guglielmi, Refugees, 1939. Paint on canvas, 30 x 24 inches ( 76.2 x 61.0 cm). Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of the Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project, 43.99.

vanessa german, 2 ships passing in the night, or i take my soul with me everywhere i go, thank you, 2014. Mixed media assemblage, 47 x 27 x 12 inches (119.4 x 68.6 x 30.5 cm). Courtesy of the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art ©vanessa german

In Katonah, New York, the Katonah Museum of Art is set to present ARRIVALS, on view from October 3, 2021, to January 23, 2022. Organized around a select series of arrival moments—from Columbus in 1492 to the present day—ARRIVALS is a conversation about the stories we have told ourselves and those we have kept silent. Through five centuries of art, the exhibition explores how artists have reckoned with the myths and origin stories that have shaped American identity. In the process, the artists on view chart distinctive aesthetic paths to define ideas of heritage and belonging, navigate their own arrival stories, and hold space for a more capacious understanding for all of us of what it means to be American.

More than fifty artists are featured, including vanessa german, Titus Kaphar, Dorothea Lange, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Ben Shahn, Roger Shimomura, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Kara Walker, among others.

To accompany the exhibition, the KMA's Community Gallery will give visitors the opportunity to share their own stories related to family history, immigration, and national identity, and to read about the experiences of other community members. In addition, the Museum’s Learning Center exhibition, Picture Our Journey, will feature original children’s picture book art that shares personal yet universal stories of immigration from around the globe. This hands-on, family-friendly space is open during regular Museum hours.

ARRIVALS will be accompanied by a fully- illustrated catalogue with essays by Dr. Christina Knight, Assistant Professor of Visual Studies and Director of the Visual Studies Program at Haverford College, Dr. Erika Lee, Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies and Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, and ARRIVALS curator Heather Ewing. Ewing is Associate Dean for Administrative Affairs at New York Studio School and a research associate of the Smithsonian Institution.