Install image by Lindsay Collette of Lesley Dill, Eaters and Eaten in the Radiant Garden of Sorrow and Rapture (from the installation Faith & the Devil), 2011-2012. Acrylic paint, oil pastel, silver leaf, gold leaf, mixed media on cotton panel.
July 15 - October 24, 2021
Summer of Women
GENEROUSLY FUNDED BY THE GOODE FAMILY FOUNDATION
It has been a historic year for women. Not only did the country elect the first woman Vice President, the Commonwealth of Virginia voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, becoming the 38th state to do so, thereby removing an important barrier to the inclusion of the ERA in the U.S. Constitution. On the other hand, women faced new challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virginia MOCA organized the Summer of Women suite of exhibitions in response to these advances and setbacks. Together, She Says: Women, Words and Power, Amplify, and Lauren Keim: Everyday Magic provide much needed platforms for the exploration of the rich and complex lives of women.
Check out the virtual opening tour of the exhibitions
Learn more about our current and upcoming exhibitions here.
The Summer of Women exhibitions are generously supported by PRA Group with additional support from Arleen Cohen, Susan and Andy Cohen in honor of their mothers Irene Fritsch and Lolly Cohen, Jodi and Jay Klebanoff, Southern Bank, and Kaufman & Canoles, P.C.
EXHIBITIONS AT THE MUSEUM
NOW ON VIEW¬
Main Gallery
She Says: Women, Words and Power
July 15 - October 24, 2021
She Says presents the work of eight women artists who include text as a fundamental element of their art practice. Each one engages with text directly, navigating its power and reflecting its influence back to the viewer. They all move in and out of its flow, whether the text is from a poem, a religious tome, or simply something that is shouted on the street. They start with a personal history, a narrative that has deep roots in the written word.
Main Gallery
AMPLIFY
July 15 - October 24, 2021
Amplify focuses on the experiences of woman-identifying artists in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. Virginia MOCA curators connected with curatorial colleagues and asked them to share their recommendations of woman-identifying artists who are exploring identity and the gendered roles of women.
Community Gallery
LAUREN KEIM: EVERYDAY MAGIC
July 15 - October 24, 2021
Everyday Magic features a selection of recent photographs by Lauren Keim celebrating and exploring the vitality and beauty of overlooked moments in everyday life. Like the artist, we surround ourselves with everyday spaces and objects whose small details often unveil who we truly are. The nature of noticing is intuitive to Keim. She is most comfortable when she has a camera in her hand and is fascinated with making images that reveal simple moments that cannot be repeated.
CONTEMPORARY
ARTISTS WE LOVE¬
Julia Kwon is currently on view in the exhibition Amplify. Join us virtually on October 12 to hear from her during our next Coffee + Conversation program. Sign up HERE.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Julia Kwon, whose studio is located in Northern Virginia, sews interpretative bojagi—Korean object-wrapping cloths historically created since the early Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910)—and wraps hallow human-scale figures with them to comment on the objectification of Asiatic female bodies. Further, she embeds patterns from contemporary sociopolitical events to challenge the notion of authenticity and examine the complexities of constructing identity within the context of globalism, cultural hybridity, and intersectionality. Kwon also explores community and personal relationship building through collaborative projects such as communal quilting, one-on-one portrait drawing, print fundraisers, and building a community that shares local artist talks. Kwon's interactive art projects facilitate solidarity and community in the throes of violent social and political unrest.
Through traditional and invented textiles, Kwon aims to destabilize preexisting notions of what it means to be Korean or feminine. By meticulously creating colorful Korean textiles through painting and sewing, she nods to her cultural background, however, through imposing various disruptions and overburdening the textiles with “ethnic” patterns, she conveys the experience of being objectified and judged superficially, while seeking to expose and undercut the very preconceptions others may have based on her gender and ethnicity. Kwon’s work shifts the focus from the search for authentic origins and clear categories to the uncertainties of translation and complexities of globalism, transnationalism, hybridity and intersectionality.
ARTS AND CULTURAL OFFERINGS
EXPLORE MORE¬
Join/Give
Make art your thing
Get to know our community—there’s a little something for everyone.
EVENTS
Come Join Us
From interactive talks with artists, to guided tours of the Museum, there are events for all ages, interests, and artistic experience.
LEARN
Come create with us
Check out all the ways you and your kiddos can learn through art and making.
MUSEUM
HOURS¬
EARLY CLOSING SEPTEMBER 23: We'll be open 10 AM - 4 PM on Thursday, September 23, 2021
THURSDAYS
10 AM - 8 PM
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
10 AM - 4 PM
*Last admission to the galleries is 45 minutes before close.
Tickets are free! Get them right here.
Free admission made possible by the Goode Family Foundation.
BECOME A MEMBER¬
Join today for a little as $50 to support the Museum you love and enjoy some incredible benefits including:
• Invitations to member-exclusive events & programming • Early access to new exhibitions during member-only preview days • 10% discount at Read Books, located at Virginia MOCA