Mandeville exhibition showcases diverse modern and contemporary acquisitions

The world has changed in the last decade, and with it, approaches toward collecting art.

The new exhibition at the Mandeville Gallery, “Recent Acquisitions,” reflects the growing emphasis on purchasing works for the Union College Permanent Collection that represent a diversity of cultures, perspectives and identities.

More than 30 works that were added to the collection in the last 10 years are on view.

They incorporate contemporary African, African American, Asian, Indigenous Alaskan and Native American artists, and include paintings, photographs, prints, digital media, mixed media and works on paper.

Sarah Mottalini, curatorial assistant of Art Collections and Exhibitions, credits former gallery directors Julie Lohnes and Marie Costello for their commitment to enlarging the Permanent Collection’s modern and contemporary holdings. This has enabled students and faculty to make connections across disciplinary boundaries while supporting efforts to create a visual presence that espouses diversity, equity and inclusion.

Faculty from numerous fields use the newest artworks in their discussions of issues relating to race, class and gender.

“It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to incorporate work from our Permanent Collection and exhibits at the Mandeville Gallery into courses that I’ve developed,” said Jennifer Mitchell, associate professor of English, and Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies.

Sheri Lullo, associate professor of art history and Asian studies, said Mandeville Gallery shows “have been intellectually stimulating across divisions and have motivated me to think about my course content in new ways.”

For William García, professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies, discussing the abstract forms in paintings by Eamon Ore-Giron, a Los Angeles-based Latino artist, is “perfect to get students thinking about transnational cultural identities.”

Other artists featured in the exhibition include the legendary colorist Josef Albers; Native American visual artist and curator Jaune Quick-to-See Smith; Alisa Sikelianos-Carter, a mixed-media painter based in upstate New York; the late Malian photographer Seydou Keïta; and Renée Stout, an American sculptor known for assemblage dealing with her African-American heritage and personal history.

The purchase of several artworks in the exhibition was made possible by the generosity of donors Alfred ’56 and Sybil Nadel, and Kelly M. Williams ’86.

The exhibition will be on view through June 12. The gallery, located on the second floor of the Nott Memorial, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.