Traditionally, Japanese ceramics emphasize the beauty of nature. Ceramic forms are often unadorned to highlight each vessel’s imperfections, simple elegance, and quiet balance. The clay, artist, and firing process all spontaneously influence the aesthetic of each ceramic created. Today, modern ceramic artists maintain many of these traditional elements while also incorporating modern innovations. Technological improvements to glazes, kilns, and clay refinement allow for a fresh new interpretation of the aesthetics of Japanese ceramics.

Sikhism and military history are closely intertwined. Beginning with the Sixth Guru Hargobind (1606-1644), the concept of temporal power combined with spiritual guidance took root as this faith sought freedom of worship against discriminatory policies in India at that time. The Tenth Guru Gobind Singh (1675-1708) stated, “When all efforts to restore peace prove useless and no words avail, lawful is the flash of steel, it is right to draw the sword.” The order of the Khalsa, once formalized, has prevailed to the present time as a political and a religious institution.

Dive into the always inventive, often surprising Catholic imagery of the Virgin Mary and the archangels from 17th- and 18th-century colonial Latin America.

In 2012, photographer Betsy Schneider embarked on a project to explore the experience of being thirteen. Traveling around the United States, the Guggenheim grant recipient chronicled the lives of 250 13-year-olds, creating still portraits and video documentation of each. “I began with my daughter, her friends and other children I already knew. From there I reached out through my own social networks, schools, clubs and other organizations,” says Schneider.  The resulting body of work creates a rich portrait of a group of Americans whose lives began at the turn of the millennium and who are coming of age now.

The resulting exhibition includes approximately 20 large photographic prints, a 60-minute film running continuously, and an archive where visitors can view pictures of each of the 13-year-olds, along with some of their statements. The portraits illustrate how differently the age of 13 can appear. Some subjects exude confidence while others practically shrink from the camera.  Some 13-year-olds look mature enough to be mistaken for young college students, while others dwell in childlike bodies.  Some of the 13-year-olds convey a self-possessed clarity and appear motivated about the future while others appear comfortably ensconced in the current moment.  The subjects’ words heighten these disparities, and further suggest that the 250 portraits represent 250 distinctly unique people, a group about whom it would be hard to generalize or make assumptions.

Since the Renaissance, the human figure has been fundamental to traditional art training.  This installation presents a group of works from the collection from the 19th and 20th centuries representing these well-established conventions. Figure painting remains strong today, and contemporary artists continue to explore a subject with deep historical roots (Kehinde Wiley’s portraits are notable examples). Figure painting and drawing remains an important part of the curriculum in contemporary art schools. The American artists on view all studied in American or European art academies.