Chapter 01 – Birmingham Museum of Art’s Third Space, April 18th

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Looking for a cool activity that’s educational, full of culture and fun for the whole family?  Check your calendar for Tuesday, April 18th for Chapter 01 at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Here’s everything you need to know about Chapters, programs that will feature artists and curators from across the country that will give you insight into the super cool Third Space exhibit.  By the way – it’s all free!

Third Space Exhibit

You won’t want to miss the Birmingham Museum of Art’s latest contemporary exhibition and the series of talks that go along with it. The mix of iconic contemporary art plus a chance to meet the artists behind them makes this duo a show stopper.

Yes, it’s all free, but the best part is the chance to see never-before-seen gems from the museum’s own collection and hear from some of the nation’s most groundbreaking contemporary artists and curators.

Curated by Wassan Al-Khudhairi, the idea for “Third Space” came out of this desire to showcase work that’s in BMA’s permanent collection.

“I wanted to use the existing collection to create an exhibition,” said Al-Khudhairi.  “… Mostly because many of the works have never been seen, or it’s been a very long time since they’ve last been seen.”

Chapters

Third Space and its accompanying talks called Chapters mixes conversation and performances with the ongoing exhibition.

“The idea of ‘Chapters’ is to use the exhibition as an opportunity to make the process of art more transparent,” Al-Khudhairi said. “I wanted the public to have direct access to the artists and their ideas and processes.”

The six-part series at the Birmingham Museum of Art will engage the audience through up-close exchanges, while the Third Space exhibit creates connections between the American South and other parts of the world using contemporary art.

You’ll have the chance to experience over 100 works of art in a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, drawing, photography and video.  The works by artists like Glenn Kaino, a nationally-acclaimed conceptual artist who has been featured at institutions like the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art and the Andy Warhol Museum.

Chapter 01

Kaino will be hosting the first “Chapters” series on April 18, from 6 to 7 pm to talk about his work Bridge (Section 1 of 6).  Bridge is a sculpture that commemorates one of the most visually iconic moments of the Civil Rights’ movement: the silent gesture of Olympian Tommie Smith infamously raising his fist at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

With his silent gesture of civil and human rights solidarity, Smith’s moment has since become a part of a visual language associated with the pursuit of justice, equality and advancement of a social cause.

During this artist talk, Kaino and athlete Tommie Smith will discuss their collaboration, along with the social transformation brought on by the Civil Rights’ movement. You’ll also get a chance to hear Kaino share how he made the piece.

Six Chapters programs will take place over the course of the two-year exhibition. The exhibits will include artists working in a range of disciplines with varying backgrounds, from those academically trained to those self-taught.

The exhibition will also be outfitted with various interpretation tools to assist visitors in navigating the gallery. Using their mobile devices, visitors can learn more about works in the exhibition through the Birmingham Museum of Art’s smartguide.  The smartguide app captures different perspectives on selected works of art from voices of the Birmingham community.

To hear more about Third Space and Chapters, check out this video featuring Al-Khudhairi:

See you on Tuesday, April 18th for the first of the Chapters series.

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