Miami Art Museum Presents First Ten‐Year Survey of Paintings and Drawings by Dana Schutz

Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels January 15 – February 26, 2012 Opening reception and artist talk: January 14, 2012, 6-9pm

Miami – December 16, 2011 – Even before she reached the age of 30, Dana Schutz was considered one of the leading artists of her generation. Now 35, Schutz’s first ten-year (2001-2011) survey, opening at Miami Art Museum January 15, 2012, was heralded by art critics nationwide when it opened at the Neuberger Museum of Art earlier this year, even landing on the cover of November’s Art in America. The acclaimed exhibition, Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels, will open with an exhibition preview and artist talk on Saturday, January 14, 2012, from 6-9pm, and will remain on view until February 26, 2012.

Combining fantasy and reality, humor and horror, Schutz’s dynamic paintings abound with expressionist energy, combining an absurdist sensibility with vibrant color and tactile brushwork. Her imaginative work, filled with inventive stories and hypothetical situations, is strange, humorous, whimsical, disturbing and oddly compelling, all at the same time. Featured are 30 paintings and 12 drawings, including work from each of her fascinating and innovative series, from Frank from Observation (2002), portraying the fictional life of “Frank, the last man on Earth,” as portrayed by Schutz, the world’s last painter, to recent works from the Tourettes and Verbs series including Swimming, Smoking, Crying, and Shaking, Cooking, Peeing (2009).

Among her many imaginative scenarios, she has used music-related subjects to springboard into ideas about monumentality, angst and the construction of pop icons including: The Breeders (2002), an image of indie rock duo Kim and Kelly Deal; Her Arms (2003), a massive painting of Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth; and Autopsy of Michael Jackson (2005).

Dana Schutz was born in Livonia, Michigan in 1976. She received a BFA from the Institute of Art in 2000 and an MFA from in 2002. She has had solo exhibitions at the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland; and Site Santa Fe; and has been included in group exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and The , London; and international events such as the Venice and Prague Biennales. Her paintings are in the collections of the , New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among others.

Exhibition Organization and Support

Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels is organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York and curated by Helaine Posner, Chief Curator. Schutz is the 2011 recipient of the Roy R. Neuberger Exhibition Prize, awarded every two years to an artist for an early career survey and monographic catalogue. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, Carlo Bronzini Vender and Tanya Traykovski, Helen Stambler Neuberger and Jim Neuberger, and Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell.

The Miami presentation is supported by Joan Reynolds Linclau.

Miami Art Museum

Miami Art Museum, a modern and contemporary art museum located in downtown Miami, FL, is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting international art of the 20th and 21st centuries with an emphasis on the cultures of the Atlantic Rim—the Americas, Europe and Africa—from which the vast majority of Miami residents hail. Miami Art Museum’s educational programming currently reaches more than 30,000 children and adults every year, with the largest art education program outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The new Miami Art Museum in Museum Park, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to open to the public in 2013. The new facility will provide room to showcase growing collections, expanded exhibition space to bring more world-class exhibitions to Miami-Dade County, and an educational complex. For more information about Miami Art Museum, visit miamiartmuseum.org or call 305.375.3000.

Accredited by the American Association of Museums, Miami Art Museum is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts; with the support of Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners. Miami Art Museum is an accessible facility. For sign language interpretation or assistive listening devices please call Miami Art Museum’s education department 305.375.4073 at least two weeks in advance. Materials in accessible format may be requested.

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Media Contact: Tracy Belcher / 305.375.1705 / [email protected]

RELATED PROGRAMS

Opening reception and artist talk - Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels Saturday, January 14, 2012, 6-9pm Artist talk begins 6:30pm (Space is limited. First come, first seated.) DJ Ess & Emm, Donation bar MAM members free, non-members $10 Parking free at 50 NW 2nd Ave. [email protected]

Dana Schutz combines fantasy and reality, humor and horror, to create figurative paintings that abound with expressionist energy. The subjects of Schutz's paintings spring from an absurdist sensibility as she invents imaginary stories or hypothetical situations that are bizarre and impossible, yet oddly compelling. As the artist states, "I embrace the area between which the subject is composed and decomposing, formed and formless, inanimate and alive." Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels is organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College State University of New York, Purchase.

Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels is organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York. Schutz is the 2011 recipient of the Roy R. Neuberger Exhibition Prize, awarded every two years to an artist for an early career survey and monographic catalogue. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, Carlo Bronzini Vender and Tanya Traykovski, Helen Stambler Neuberger and Jim Neuberger, and Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell.

The Miami presentation is supported by Joan Reynolds Linclau.

Playlist Party at The Standard Spa with Dana Schutz Sunday, January 15, 8pm Free to the public [email protected] Guest Selectors: Artist Dana Schutz, Tobias Ostrander, Deputy Director/Chief Curator, Emily Mello, Director of Education and Public Programs

Dana Schutz, one of the most important young painters to emerge in the past ten years, combines an absurdist sensibility with vibrant color and tactile brushwork. Among her many imaginative scenarios, she has used music-related subjects to springboard into ideas about monumentality, angst, and the construction of pop icons including, The Breeders (2002), an image of indie rock duo Kim and Kelly Deal; Her Arms (2003), a massive painting of Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth; and The Autopsy of Michael Jackson (2005). Multiple references to music in her interviews, prompt us to want to hear what Schutz is really into listening to in the studio these days.

The Playlist Party is hosted by Esther Park and takes place monthly at The Standard Spa, Miami Beach.

Second Saturdays are Free for Families: "Figures and Fables" Saturday, February 11, 2012, 1-4pm / tours at 2pm Free to the public Explore the art of Dana Schutz in the plaza-level galleries. Think of a friend or family member whose figure could be exaggerated or distorted and pictured in a fanciful situation. Express your imagination in the auditorium painting workshop. (Exhibition: Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels)

Every second Saturday of the month, drop in to enjoy fun, interactive programs. Families of all ages explore Miami Art Museum together, find inspiration to create works of art, and participate in hands-on activities led by education staff.

Presented by MetLife Foundation. Additional support provided by Miami Salon Group, Inc.

Public Tours Sundays / 2pm Museum tours, free with museum admission, are offered Sundays at 2pm. Museum visitors meet in the lobby. Thematic tours are offered periodically to correspond with current exhibitions.

Group Tours Docent-led tours in English or Spanish can be scheduled upon request. Docent-led tours are free to student groups. Contact Miami Art Museum’s education department at 305.375.4073 for additional information.

Museum Hours Admission Parking Tuesday – Friday,10am - 5pm Free for MAM members, children $5 (with museum validation) at Saturday & Sunday, 12pm - 5pm under 12 & students with ID 50 NW 2nd Ave. Closed Mondays and some Free admission every second holidays Saturday Metro: Government Center Adults $8 Station. Seniors $4

Miami Art Museum  101 W Flagler St., Miami, FL 33130  305.375.3000  miamiartmuseum.org