New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

Montclair Art Museum Presents Four New Exhibitions Opening this Fall

originally published: 08/16/2023


Mequitta Ahuja (b. 1976). "A Real Allegory of Her Studio", 2015. Oil on canvas, 80 x 96 in. PAFA, 2017.47. Courtesy of PAFA.

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) has announced four new, visually inspiring exhibitions opening this September and November: Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale; Siona Benjamin: Lilith in the New World; Inspired by the Weight of an Object–A Partnership with Studio Montclair; and Joel Meyerowitz: Photographs from Cape Cod (1976-1987).

Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale; Opening Friday, September 15. Inspired by a show at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in 2021, the new exhibition Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale will display ten stunning artworks from PAFA alongside foundational works from the Montclair Art Museum’s collection of American women artists.

Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota, b. 1976). "She Gives (Quiet Strength VII)", 2020. Acrylic on canvas. 84 x 120 in. PAFA 2020.17. Courtesy of PAFA.

This groundbreaking exhibition invites viewers to consider how space, size, scale, and repetition can be interpreted as political gestures in the practices of many women artists. Together, this comprehensive group of artworks reveal the varied approaches of women artists for whom space is a critical feature of their work, whether they occupy significant space on walls or engage three-dimensionally with gallery spaces through sculpture and installation. Also addressed is the visual power of seriality and repetition as spatial visual practices, as well as the diverse methods of asserting and reclaiming the spaces of women’s bodies. On view in Taking Space for the first time at MAM since 2018 is Kara Walker’s cut-paper silhouette installation Virginia’s Lynch Mob (1998).

The diverse array of artists represented in Taking Space includes: Mequitta Ahuja (b. 1976, Grand Rapids, MI), Edna Andrade (1917–2008, b. Portsmouth, VA), Jennifer Bartlett (1941–2022, b. Long Beach, CA), Nanette Carter (b. 1954, Columbus, OH), Lalla Essaydi (b. 1956, Marrakesh, Morocco), Eiko Fan (b. 1951, Tokyo, Japan), Hope Gangloff (b. 1974, Amityville, NY), Clarity Haynes (b. 1971, McAllen, TX), Barbara Kruger (b. 1945, Newark, NJ), Suzanne McClelland (b. 1959, Jacksonville, FL), Elizabeth Murray (1940–2007, b. Chicago, IL), Alice Neel (1900–1984, b. Gladwyne, PA), Betty Parsons (1900–1982, b. New York, NY), Jaune Quick-to- See Smith (Cree/Salish/Shoshone, b. 1940, Saint Ignatius, MT), Ana Vizcarra Rankin (b. 1977, Maldonado, Uruguay), Alyson Shotz (b. 1964, Glendale, AZ), Sandy Skoglund (b. 1946, Weymouth, MA), Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971, Camden, NJ), Kara Walker (b. 1969, Stockton, CA), Kay Walkingstick (Cherokee, b. 1935, Syracuse, NY), Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953, Portland, OR), Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota, b. 1976, Madison, WI), and Emmi Whitehorse (Diné [Navajo Nation], b. 1957, Crownpoint, NM).




Reach New Jersey's largest arts & entertainment audience, click here for info on how to advertise at NJ Stage



The exhibition will run through January 7, 2024.

Siona Benjamin (b. 1960). "Lilith in the New World", 2023, 13 x 30 ft. banner in progress. Image courtesy of the artist.

Siona Benjamin: Lilith in the New World; Opening Friday, September 15. New Jersey-based artist Siona Benjamin (b. 1960, Mumbai, India) will unveil the stunning, graphic-arts inspired banner Lilith in the New World (2023) this fall in the Laurie Art Stairway. This monumental piece measuring 13 feet high by 30 feet wide explores the joys, passions, and anguish of both time-honored and unfairly reviled women of the Hebrew canon. A recurring figure in the artist’s oeuvre, Lilith was the mythological first wife of Adam, who stands as an icon of independence and courage. The artist has reclaimed this iconic figure by combining styles derived from comic books, Pop art, Bollywood, street graphics, Indian folk images, Persian miniatures, and Hebrew manuscripts. Lilith’s blue skin is “a symbol of being other…a woman of color,” like the artist herself.

Since immigrating to the United States in 1986, Benjamin has been pondering the meaning of belonging in her adopted homeland from the multiple perspectives of being South Asian, an immigrant, an American, a woman, and a Jew. She received an MFA in painting and another in Theater set design while in the United States after completing undergraduate art degrees in Mumbai. In 2011, Benjamin was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to India and in 2017 was awarded a second Fulbright Fellowship to Israel.

Her work has been featured in: The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Forward, The Jewish Week, The Boston Globe, Art New England, ArtNews, The Times of India, The Jerusalem Post, and many others. 

This exhibition will run through August 4, 2024.

Pamela Moore. "Swimming Through Caves", courtesy of the artist.




Reach New Jersey's largest arts & entertainment audience, click here for info on how to advertise at NJ Stage



Inspired by the Weight of an Object–A Partnership with Studio Montclair; Opening Friday, September 15. For the third year in a row, the Montclair Art Museum is working in collaboration with Studio Montclair to present a juried show inspired by the Museum’s fall exhibition. Juried by Virginia Block and Ira Wagner, the MAM’s Executive Director, the exhibition will run concurrently at the Montclair Art Museum and Studio Montclair’s Leach Gallery at 641 Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair. Weight of an Object builds on the approaches and themes of the women artists being exhibited in Taking Space. While not limited to women artists, the works on view utilize the scale of both the works themselves as well as their subject matter, multiple media, depictions of the body, and abstraction to consider the many ways that space itself can be interpreted and incorporated in artistic expression. 

The exhibition will be on view through October 28, 2023.

Joel Meyerowitz (b. 1938). "Cape Cod, Massachusetts", 1979. Vintage RC print from negative, 8 x 10 in. Photo: Ira Wagner.

Joel Meyerowitz: Photographs from Cape Cod (1976-1987); Opening Friday, November 10. This November, the Museum will welcome the first solo exhibition in the New York City-area in six years featuring the renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz (b. 1938). Drawn from a trove of 201 Meyerowitz photographs anonymously donated to the Montclair Art Museum in 2021, this exhibition will feature 22 photographs taken by Meyerowitz of Cape Cod from 1976 to 1987.

During the summers of 1976 and 1977, Meyerowitz began to work with the light, landscape, architecture and people of the Cape, especially in the Truro-Provincetown area. These contemplative observations of space, mood, light, and color pervade the variety of subjects in the photographs on view. His beautiful, serene photographs convey the finest nuances of color and light on the Cape’s unique juncture of sky, sea, and land.

Meyerowitz is an award-winning photographer whose work has appeared in more than 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. Celebrated as a pioneer, Meyerowitz was one of the first photographers to successfully transition from black-and-white to color in fine-art photography. After studying painting and medical drawing at Ohio State University, where he received a BFA in 1959, Meyerowitz taught himself photography in 1962. By 1976, he had turned primarily to color photographs of architectural light and space made with a large-format view camera.

This exhibition will be on view through the spring of 2024.



The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is located at 3 South Mountain Avenue in Montclair, New Jersey.  It boasts a renowned collection of American and Native American art that uniquely highlights art-making in the United States over the last 300 years. Works in MAM's Native American art collection span the period of ca. 1200 C.E. to the present day. The Vance Wall Art Education Center encompasses the Museum’s educational efforts, including award-winning Yard School of Art studio classes, lectures and talks, family events, tours, and the mobile MAM Art Truck. MAM exhibitions and programs serve a wide public of all ages, from families and seniors to artists, educators, and scholars.

All MAM programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, The Vance Wall Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Museum members.




Reach New Jersey's largest arts & entertainment audience, click here for info on how to advertise at NJ Stage




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Montclair

Montclair Art Museum Celebrates 25 Years of Acquisitions with A to Sze: Collecting at MAM (2000-2025)

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is proud to announce A to Sze: Collecting at MAM (2000-2025), an exhibition showcasing some of the museum's significant acquisitions over the past quarter-century. The exhibit opened on February 8th and runs through July 6, 2025. The exhibition reflects MAM's mission to represent the rich diversity of American culture, both past and present.



Ocean

Ocean Galleries presents Exclusive Craig Alan Exhibition over July 4th Weekend

(STONE HARBOR, NJ) -- Ocean Galleries is thrilled to welcome internationally acclaimed artist Craig Alan for an exclusive exhibition over the July 4th weekend, showcasing his bold, visually arresting paintings that captivate audiences worldwide. The exhibition runs Friday, July 4 through Sunday, July 6, with art on display and available for purchase throughout the weekend. Complimentary wine receptions will be held from 6:00pm–9:00pm nightly.



Hand

Hand Paint a Shorefront Souvenir at the Ocean County Library Long Beach Island Branch

(SURF CITY, NJ) -- Express your love of shore life with a handcrafted memento to adorn your home or to give to someone special. Join a wood painting workshop, "Dreams are Made of Sand and Sun," at the Ocean County Library Long Beach Island Branch, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. The workshop begins at 7:00pm.



The

The Art House Gallery presents "Art Outside of Architecture" - a group exhibition featuring the Architects that designed The Hendrix

(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Art House Productions presents "Art Outside of Architecture," a group exhibition showcasing the work of the architects that designed The Hendrix building where Art House Productions resides. The exhibition will be on display at the Art House Gallery from July 5-27, 2025 and features twelve architects stepping out of the structural realm and into a world of personal expression in this dynamic group exhibition.



Geoffrey

Geoffrey Doig-Marx's "Portraits in Color and Light" opens at the Gallery at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey - A Fusion of Comedy and Heart

(MADISON, NJ) -- New York-based artist, educator, choreographer, and self-described "Renaissance Man" Geoffrey Doig-Marx (GDM) brings his dynamic exhibition Portraits in Color and Light to The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey as the second art installation in the Theatre's 2025 Season. This striking collection of twenty-six original paintings debuts with the Theatre's production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again], running July 9–27. It's a pairing that promises a bold celebration of irreverence, reflection, and artistic energy.



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Art

Art on Screen: The Danish Collector

Monday, July 14, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Monmouth University - Pollak Theatre
400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ 07764
category: art


 

Blues

Blues People with Special Guest: Jeff Levine

Saturday, July 05, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
217 E. Main Street, Tuckerton, NJ 08087




 

Tuesday

Tuesday Night Book Club - Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Tuesday, July 08, 2025 @ 7:30pm
VIRTUAL



Straight

Straight No Chaser - Summer: The 90’s Part 2

Tuesday, July 08, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC)
30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, NJ 07631



Vivid

Vivid Summer Solos: Where is Everybody?

Wednesday, July 09, 2025 @ 6:30pm
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
68 Elm Street, Summit, NJ 07901



Free

Free Summer Event: Country Line Dancing with Paul Stoddard

Wednesday, July 09, 2025 @ 6:00pm
Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) - Pioneer Park at Headquarter's Plaza
3 Speedwell Ave, Morristown, NJ 07960