New Exhibitions On View at Framingham State’s Danforth Art Museum

FRAMINGHAM – This Fall Danforth Art Museum is hosting three exhibitions by contemporary New England-based artists exploring some of the most relevant issues of our day.

The powerful work of artists Ileana Doble Hernandez, Suzanne Révy, and DM Witman, open to the community on Saturday, Oct. 12^th. The thought-provoking installations address our nation’s epidemic of gun violence and the urgent realities of climate change—grim issues that affect our daily lives.

“These exhibitions recognize how contemporary art created in response to present-day issues becomes part of a long continuum of visual arts activism,” says Danforth Museum Director and Curator Jessica Roscio. “We are excited to share them with the community.”

The Museum has also installed new works from the permanent collection featuring three Boston artists whose work was informed by their experiences surrounding the Holocaust. Called Boston Artists and the Holocaust, it complements the Americans and the Holocaust Exhibition recently on display at Framingham State University’s Henry Whittemore Library.

All exhibitions open October 12, 2024 and run through January 26, 2025.  Opening reception Saturday, October 19, 6:00-8:00. Learn more at danforth.framingham.edu.

Programming Notes

Ruth Stark Sunday Spotlight Series Artist Talk with DM Witman: Sunday, October 20, 3:00
Artist Talk and Dia de Muertos with Ileana Doble Hernandez: Saturday, November 2, 3:00
Ruth Start Sunday Spotlight Series Artist Talk with Suzanne Revy: Sunday, January 5, 3:00

Visit danforth.framingham.edu for a full calendar of events.

About the exhibitions:

Art plays an important role in serving as a call to action. Ileana Doble Hernandez describes herself as an artivist, a title befitting both her work and our times.  My Dear Americans, It’s Not Enough confronts some of the most pressing and divisive social and political issues of our time.  For over a decade, Hernandez has been making art as a form of activism, drawing from her experience as an immigrant and a mother. Her work is multi-disciplinary, and it cultivates awareness by speaking directly to the viewer, confronting difficult issues such as gun violence and immigration through photo-based work and interactive installations.

DM Witman’s multi-disciplinary work grieves the loss of species, habitat, ecological connectivity, and personal connection to the natural world.  In recent years, we have become more cognizant of the feeling of loss that accompanies climate change, which is referred to as ecological or climate grief. Ecologies of Restoration is a personal exploration of healing and resiliency in the face of coastal erosion and the loss of protective salt marshes. Witman asks us to consider loss, resilience, and healing through the exploration of a compound ubiquitous in our everyday: salt.  Photographic prints, video, and salt itself play a role in this multimedia installation.

Suzanne Revy’s A Murmur in the Trees references both Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickinson in a poetic ode to solitude and the power of awareness and observation in nature.  Using photographs, video, and sound, Revy captures how we move through and experience the landscape.  Her work also emphasizes how we inhabit just one small chapter in the history of this land.

Permanent Collection Exhibition: Boston Artists and the Holocaust. Antisemitic persecution in Europe sent waves of Jewish refugees to Boston and other parts of the United States. The work of three artists—Karl Zerbe, Hyman Bloom, and Renee Rothbein—from the Danforth’s Permanent Collection bears witness to their desire to maintain a connection with their Jewish heritage and to never forget their experiences.