The Smithsonian Museum of American Art Shows New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image

Written by Randy Meerschaum Friday, 27 January 2012 20:41

Washington, D.C.- The Smithsonian American Art Museum opened a new gallery dedicated to examining the history and the latest developments in the art of the moving image. This permanent-collection gallery, located on the museum’s third floor, allows for the presentation of the full range of media art practices. “Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image”, the current exhibition in the gallery features key artworks from the history of video art and a new generation of artists on the cutting edge of media arts.

The nine artworks on display are: Cory Arcangel, "Video Painting" (2008); Jim Campbell, "Grand Central Station #2" (2009) and "Reconstruction #7" (2006); Peter Campus, "Three Transitions" (1973); Kota Ezawa, "LYAM 3D" (2008); Svetlana and Igor Kopystiansky, "Yellow Sound" (2005); Nam June Paik, "9/23/69: Experiments with David Atwood" (1969); Bill Viola, "Surrender" (2001); and Marina Zurkow, "Elixir II" (2009). The majority of the featured artworks are recent acquisitions, with five entering the museum’s collection in 2010. The works by Viola and Campbell’s Reconstruction #7 are on loan.

Dedicating a permanent-collection gallery to time-based art is an important new aspect of the media arts initiative at the museum, which includes acquisitions, exhibitions, educational programs and archival research resources related to film, video and the media arts. In 2009, the museum acquired the complete estate archive of visionary artist Paik. Hanhardt, the leading expert on Paik and his global influence, is organizing the archive and the museum’s Nam June Paik Media Arts Center. Research into the archive will be the basis for a series of publications of Paik’s writings, exhibitions, and a catalogue raisonné. “Nam June Paik: Art and Process,” the first in a series of exhibitions, is scheduled to open December 2012.


The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the nation's first collection of American art, is an unparalleled record of the American experience. The collection captures the aspirations, character and imagination of the American people throughout three centuries. The American Art Museum is the home to one of the largest and most inclusive collections of American art in the world. Its artworks reveal key aspects of America's rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. More than 7,000 artists are represented in the collection, including major masters, such as John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Helen Frankenthaler, Christo, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Lee Friedlander, Nam June Paik, Martin Puryear, and Robert Rauschenberg. The Museum has been a leader in identifying significant aspects of American visual culture and actively collecting and exhibiting works of art before many other major public collections. American Art has the largest collection of New Deal art and the finest collections of contemporary craft, American impressionist paintings, and masterpieces from the Gilded Age. Other pioneering collections include historic and contemporary folk art, work by African American and Latino artists, photography from its origins in the nineteenth century to contemporary works, images of western expansion, and realist art from the first half of the twentieth century. In recent years, the Museum has focused on strengthening its contemporary art collection through acquisitions and by commissioning new artworks. Visit the museum's website at ... http://americanart.si.edu/

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