FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Announces Fall Exhibition In the Company of Artists: 25 Years of ​ Artists-in-Residence On View: October 17, 2019 – January 20, 2020

Bharti Kher, Six Women, 2013-2015. Plaster of Paris, wood, metal, in 6 parts approx. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & ​ ​ Worth. Photo: Maegan Hill-Carroll, Vancouver Art Gallery.

BOSTON, MA (August 2019) – This October, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will open In the ​ ​ Company of Artists: 25 Years of Artists-in-Residence, an exhibition celebrating the Museum’s ​ legacy of inviting artists to live at the Museum, explore the collection, and create new works inspired by their experience. The exhibition will feature work from dynamic Artists-in-Residence including Sophie Calle, Bharti Kher, Luisa Lambri, Laura Owens, Rachel Perry, Dayanita Singh, and Su-Mei Tse. In selecting the seven women artists for the exhibition, the Museum recognizes ​ ​ and furthers the legacy of its founder—a woman with a bold creative spirit, who championed the artists of her own time. In the Company of Artists will be on view in the Museum’s Hostetter ​ ​ Gallery from Oct. 17, 2019 to Jan. 20, 2020.

“In the Company of Artists reminds us that Isabella’s tradition of inviting artists to experience the ​ ​ collection and beauty of the Museum lives on here every day,” said Pieranna Cavalchini, the Tom and Lisa Blumenthal Curator of Contemporary Art. “We call it the gift of time: time to draw, ​ write, and imagine new work. Artists who live on the property have a unique perspective on the Museum and are given special access to the collection and inner workings of the institution. Bringing different minds from many cultures, and using the Museum—what many have called Isabella’s total work of art—as a building block for new thinking and creative engagement is a unique part of the Gardner Legacy.“

In the Company of Artists’s works on view will include: ​ ● Sophie Calle, What Do You See? (Rembrandt, A Lady and Gentleman in Black), 2013, ​ ​ ​ ​ What Do You See? (Vermeer, The Concert), 2013, Two lambda prints, two lithographs on ​ Rives BFK paper. ● Bharti Kher, 6 Women, 2013-2015, Plaster of Paris, wood, metal. ​ ​ ● Luisa Lambri, four untitled works, 2008-2012, Laserchrome print. ● Laura Owens, one untitled work, 2001, Watercolor and pencil on paper. ● Rachel Perry, Halos, 2014-ongoing, Braille punch, graphite, and gold leaf on paper. ​ ​ ● Dayanita Singh, Museum of Shedding, 2013, Wood furniture and photographs. ​ ​ ● Su-Mei Tse, Bleeding Tools, 2009, Steel, wood, paper, brushes. ​ ​

Many of the artists in the exhibition drew inspiration from the Gardner itself—its collections, environment and history. Laura Owens’s watercolor and pencil work reinterprets a 17th-century Spanish embroidery from the Raphael Room; Sophie Calle’s What Do You See? are two works ​ ​ from a series responding to the infamous 1990 Gardner Museum theft; and Rachel Perry’s Halos is ​ ​ ​ ​ inspired by the Museum’s abundance of religious paintings and sculptures. Other artists have been re-energized by their time at the Museum. Their residencies and the immersive environment of the Museum led to creative renewal for Bharti Kher, Luisa Lambri, Dayanita Singh, and Su-Mei Tse.

The Gardner is one of the only museums in the world to welcome artists to live and work on site—usually for about a month in a specially designed apartment in the Museum—to experience the collection in personal, intimate ways. Since its inception, the Gardner Museum has been a haven for artists of all disciplines. In her time, Isabella Stewart Gardner nurtured and supported many creative minds—inviting them to activate the galleries through their work, ranging from painting to performances of music and dance, to literary readings. John Singer Sargent is considered the Museum’s first Artist-in-Residence, since Isabella Stewart Gardner invited him to live at the Museum and use the Gothic Room as his studio in 1903. In 1992, the Museum’s then-Director, Anne Hawley, started the Artist-in-Residence program as a way to ​ ​ connect more directly with artists and re-energize the Museum with the founder’s creative spirit.

“During Isabella’s lifetime, she surrounded herself with artists of every discipline and saw her Museum as a vibrant space for concerts, performances, salons, and creativity in many forms,” said Peggy Fogelman, the Museum’s Norma Jean Calderwood Director. “This exhibition ​ ​ celebrates her legacy and 25 years of our Artist-in-Residence program, which has become an incredibly rewarding partnership between the Museum and artists from around the world. We look forward to them bringing the Museum to life through their works and sharing their stories and experiences with our visitors.”

In addition to the exhibition on display in Hostetter Gallery, other Artists-in-Residence will activate spaces throughout the Museum and the historic palace, with participatory artworks and performances including Sonic Blossom (2013-present) by Lee Mingwei, live portrait drawing with ​ ​ ​ ​ Charmaine Wheatley, and storytelling with Gcina Mhlophe.

Supporting fall programming includes a three day film festival in November featuring works by Artists-in-Residence, Museum Salon Luminaries and local filmmakers. ​ ​

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum will launch its first artist-guided audio tours recorded by Steve Locke, Elisa Hamilton, and Gregory Maguire—giving visitors the experience of seeing the Museum’s galleries and Courtyard from their perspectives and personal experiences.

In its entirety, In the Company of Artists and its supporting elements and programming will ​ ​ reintroduce to visitors all the ways the Museum works with the creative community—both local and international—across all stages of their careers.

DROPBOX OF HIGH RES IMAGES.

In the Company of Artists: 25 Years of Artists-in-Residence has been generously supported by Tom and Lisa ​ Blumenthal and William C. and Joyce K. Fletcher. The Artist-in-Residence program is directed by Pieranna Cavalchini, Tom and Lisa Blumenthal Curator of Contemporary Art, and is supported in part by the National ​ ​ Endowment for the Arts and the Barbara Lee Program Fund. The museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which receives support from the State of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - a magical creation of one woman's daring vision - invites you to awaken your senses and be transported. Modeled after a Venetian palazzo, unforgettable galleries surround a luminous courtyard and are home to masters such as Rembrandt, Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Whistler, and Sargent. The Renzo Piano wing provides a platform for contemporary artists, musicians, and scholars, and serves as an innovative venue where creativity is celebrated in all of its forms.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum • 25 Evans Way Boston MA 02215 • Hours: Open Daily from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays until 9 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. • Admission: Adults $15; Seniors $12; Students $10; Free for members, children under 18, and all named “Isabella” • $2 off admission with a same-day Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ticket • For information 617 566 1401 • Box Office 617 278 5156 • www.gardnermuseum.org ​

MEDIA CONTACTS DIANA BROWN MCCLOY TEAK MEDIA 978.697.9414 [email protected]

GRIFF MCNERNEY COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM 617.264.6061 [email protected]