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20 Going On 21: Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present, Looking
to the Future--An Exhibition of Hawaii Artists
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu
On view beginning March 21, 2009
As The Contemporary Museum moves from its 20th anniversary towards its 21st, TCM will mark
the occasion by returning to its beginnings with an exhibition of works by contemporary
artists of Hawaii. 20 Going On 21: Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present, Looking
to the Future--An Exhibition of Hawaii Artists will open at The Contemporary Museum's Makiki Heights galleries March 19 and remain on view through June 21, 2009.
TCM had its origins in The Honolulu Advertiser Gallery (later Contemporary Arts Center of
Hawaii), which opened in October 1961 in the News Building. The gallery was the idea of
Thurston Twigg-Smith, then general manager of The Honolulu Advertiser who recognized the need
for a space dedicated to exhibitions of works by Hawaii's contemporary artists. As the
institution formalized, developed and expanded over the years, The Honolulu Advertiser
Gallery/Contemporary Arts Center became The Contemporary Museum, opening in a new home in the
Cooke-Spalding estate in Makiki Heights in October 1988.
Curated by TCM Curator Jay Jensen and Inger Tully, the exhibition is one of a number of
special programs in 2009 celebrating TCM’s 20th anniversary. For 20 Going on 21,
TCM invited the past TCM Biennial Exhibition invited artists (52 from eight Biennials) to each
nominate up to five contemporary Hawaii artists who they feel are accomplished or emerging to
be considered for the exhibition (fellow Biennial artists were not eligible to be nominated).
The nominees were then invited to submit examples of their work to be juried by a panel of
three individuals, Melissa Chiu, Gallery Director and Vice-President for Global Art Programs
at the Asia Society in New York; Lawrence Rinder, Director of the University Art Museum,
Berkeley, California; and Joseph Havel, artist and Director of the Glassell School of Art at
the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.
The jurors met and selected 20 artists to be included in the exhibition. Following the
selection of the artists by the jury, TCM Deputy Director of Exhibitions and Collections James
Jensen and Exhibitions Curator Inger Tully visited the artists to select the works to be
presented in the exhibition. In addition, they selected one additional or 21st artist to be
included in 20 Going on 21.
The artists selected include: Derek Bencomo, Andrew Binkley, Dana Forsberg, Karen Gally,
Jaisy Hanlon, Keiko Hatano, Vince Hazen, Lynda Hess, Ryan Higa, Corinne Kamiya, Sanit Khewhok,
Jeeun Kim, Mat Kubo, Stephen Lang, Hal Lum, Mark Maresca, Tom Sewell, Bruna Stude, Lynne
Yamamoto, Charles Yuen, and Wayne Miyamoto.
The exhibition will also mark the first presentation of the Ellen Choy Craig Award to
a Hawaii regional artist. The endowment for this award was recently established by Dr. Timothy
Y.C. Choy in memory of his late mother.
"The
Contemporary Museum has always played an
important roll in supporting and cultivating
regional artists of our time. This award shows
my appreciation and acknowledgement of the
artistic talent, quality and excellence right
here in our own community," says Dr. Choy.
This exhibition is being sponsored by a special group of supporters including LeBurta Atherton, Duke and Jennifer Bainum, Diane Chen KW and Jan Koch-Weser, Timothy Y.C. Choy, Kay and Tom Dunton, Elizabeth and Richard Grossman, Randolph G. Moore and Lynne Johnson, Carol and Malcom Koga, Jim and Lynn Lally, Violet Loo, Maria O?Reilly, Michael and Trish O'Neill, Judy Pyle and Wayne Pitluck, Joanna Sullivan, and Betty and Robert Ching Wo. The exhibition has also been supported in part by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Other contributors include the Mayor's Office on Culture and the Arts. In-kind support has been provided by Sony Hawaii and the Wakiki Parc Hotel.
A catalogue will be published by TCM in conjunction with the exhibition and will be
available for purchase in the TCM Museum Shop.
Click HERE for Artists Brief Bios and sample works
For more information about The Contemporary Museum, visit our website at www.tcmhi.org; Exhibition Info: (808) 526-0232. Third Thursdays are free entry
days!
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