Collections are the backbone of a museum. Objects of both inquiry and enjoyment, they measure our ongoing search for new ways to understand ourselves and our world. Opening Aug. 17, "Excerpts" brings together artworks from all the different collections held at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, including the internationally renowned Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and works originally collected by the Las Vegas Art Museum. This is the first time a single major exhibition will feature works from every area of the Barrick in dialogue with one another.
Visitors to "Excerpts" will see more than 35 works by artists who have mapped out new insights around an extraordinary range of ideas. Some of them are thinking regionally as they look for fresh ways to envision the city of Las Vegas or the crisis of our local water supply. Others are considering personal and social questions of memory, identity, American patriotism, and self-awareness. The process of art itself becomes a focus of examination, with different artists probing the limits of minimalist mark-making, the uncanny possibilities of edges and corners, and the strange task of depicting ephemeral phenomena with the textured physicality of paint.
"Excerpts" is a glimpse into the profound potential of public art collections, a curation that aims to provide the city with a context for the art we are making today and the art we will make in the future.
The exhibition will feature paintings, drawings, photography, prints, artists’ books, and sculpture in a variety of media created by artists from Nevada and elsewhere, including: China Adams, Deborah Aschheim, Robert Beckmann, Diane Bush & Steve Baskin, Eugenia Butler, Matthew Couper, Claudia DeMonte, Andreana Donahue, Marisol Escobar, Peter Fend, Llyn Foulkes, Julieta Gil, Ramiro Gomez, Daniel Habegger, Kyla Hansen, Brent Holmes, James Hough, Neil Jenney, Katarina Jerinic, Branden Koch, Wendy Kveck, Candice Lin, Kathleen Nathan, Krystal Ramirez, Victoria Reynolds, Harry Roseman, Daniel Samaniego, Javier Sanchez, Fritz Scholder, Andrew Schoultz, Lance L. Smith, Gary Stephan, Lew Thomas, John Torreano, Richard Tuttle, and William Wareham.
About the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art believes everyone deserves access to art that challenges our understanding of the present and inspires us to create a future that holds space for us all. Located on the campus of the most racially diverse university in the United States, we strive to create a nourishing environment for those who continue to be neglected by contemporary art museums, including BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) and LGBTQIA+ groups. As the only art museum in the city of Las Vegas, we commit ourselves to leveling barriers that limit access to the arts, especially for first-time visitors. To facilitate access for low-income guests we provide free entry to all our exhibitions, workshops, lectures, and community activities. Our collection of artworks offers an opportunity for researchers and scholars to develop a more extensive knowledge of contemporary art in Southern Nevada. The Barrick Museum is part of the College of Fine Arts at UNLV. On Instagram at @unlvmuseum and Twitter at @unlvmuseum. On Facebook at facebook.com/ unlvmuseum
About the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection
Dorothy and Herbert Vogel began collecting art in the 1960s on a modest budget. Rigorous and discerning, they admired artists who were working in then-unfamiliar disciplines such as minimalism and conceptualism. Their collection eventually encompassed works by more than 170 artists, including luminaries such as Sol LeWitt, Lynda Benglis, and Richard Tuttle. When their small New York apartment was finally overwhelmed, they donated the collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and created Fifty Works for Fifty States, a project that bestowed a selection of the works on every state in the country. The pieces at the Barrick constitute Nevada’s portion of their bequest.
About the Las Vegas Art Museum Collection
Originally founded in 1950 as the Las Vegas Art League, the Las Vegas Art Museum (LVAM) presented exhibitions of American and international artists until recession-led budget cuts led to its closure in 2009. The exhibitions included an important survey of Southern California minimalists as well as a groundbreaking curation of local artists, Las Vegas Diaspora: The Emergence of Contemporary Art from the Neon Homeland. The LVAM collection is currently in the Barrick Museum’s care. Containing paintings, sculptures, prints, and photographs from the 1930s through the 2000s, it features a significant representation of artists from Nevada and California, with smaller numbers of artists from Europe, New Mexico, and other parts of the United States.
About the UNLV College of Fine Arts
Located on the main campus of UNLV, the College of Fine Arts offers graduate degrees in art, architecture, film, music, dance, theatre, and entertainment engineering and design, a unique discipline that combines engineering with technical theatre training. The college’s facilities include theaters and contemporary art galleries as well as the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art.
Make a reservation
Free Admission. The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art believes everyone deserves access to the arts. The Barrick Museum of Art is open to the public Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., by appointment. Please reserve your spot to see one of our current exhibitions. Make an appointment online. Please note that for the safety of our community, all visitors are required to wear a face-covering and maintain social distance from others.
Find Us
The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is located in the heart of the UNLV campus. The museum is easily accessed from the west side of campus at the intersection of Harmon Avenue and University Center Drive. Drive east on East Harmon until the road enters the campus and terminates in a parking lot. The museum will be on your right, next to a desert landscape garden.
Parking
Visitors may park in metered, staff, and student spots free of charge after 7 p.m. on weekdays, 1 p.m. on Fridays, and all day Saturday. Daily, weekly, or monthly permits can be purchased from parking and transportation services. Metered parking spaces for visitors can be found in the parking lot outside the Barrick’s entrance, along East Harmon Avenue, and in the lot behind the Lied Library. Other metered green zones are available in the Cottage Grove Avenue Parking Garage and parking areas throughout campus.
Museum Hours
Monday, Wednesday, & Friday: 10 a.m. –4 p.m. By appointment.
