Gas station. Kern County, California by Dorothea Lange, included in MoMA's online retrospective
Over the last couple months, we’ve been building out our guide to Armchair Art Appreciation—an ongoing series rounding up ways to enjoy, explore, and support the arts from home. While we’re not convinced it’s possible to “look on the bright side” of a global pandemic, there’s certainly something to be said for how this moment is helping to democratize access to the art world. Tons of galleries and museums have stepped up to provide new ways to connect with art—we touched on a handful of them in an earlier installment, and there’s been much more since. Anyone with internet can check out a whole host of new exhibitions available online, newly digitized catalogues, video of talks and presentations, and digitally-native projects prompted by sudden social distancing. There’s nothing quite like seeing art IRL, but we’re definitely grateful for the virtual initiatives approximating the experience. Here’s just a few of our faves:
+ The MoMA’s Dorothea Lange retrospective went online following COVID-19 closures, and it’s so good we almost forgot how much we miss museums. Their new, curator-commentated exhibition on home movies is also a must-see.
+ Keep your eye out for a wealth of excellent online exhibitions from contemporary artists, like Christopher Shaw’s Algorithm: Archetype at NAAM, and Salman Toor’s The Self as Cipher at the Whitney.
Bar Boy by Salmon Toor, online at the Whitney
+ Pre-pandemic, SF’s Asian Art Museum was on the cusp of unveiling a renovation that was years in the making. That may be on hold for the moment, but their #MuseumFromHome initiative is an excellent stand-in.
+ We’d gladly get lost in the virtual galleries presented by the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts.
Adama Delphine Fawundo's Black like Blue in Argentina, featured in MoCADA's digital galleries
+ There are so many awesome virtual viewing rooms out there now. Billie Zangewa’s Soldier of Love via Paris’s Galerie Templon is a team 20x200 fave.
+ Artland’s 3D gallery tours are the ideal way to waste an afternoon. Start with Sydney Vernon’s When We See Us.
Sydney Vernon's 3D gallery on Artland
+ We’re living vicariously through virtual video tours, like this look at Khalil Robert Irving’s Mixed Messages at Jenkins Johnson Gallery, and BAMPFA’s tour of their Rosie Lee Tompkins retrospective.
+ Heads up Animal Crossing addicts: the Getty’s Art Generator allows you to import any artwork from their open-access library into the game and curate your own world-class art collection for your island.
The Getty's Animal Crossing Art Generator
+ Net artworks are the focus of the New Museum + Chronus Art Center’s digitally native collaboration, We=Link.
+ Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art has a cool, so-called “self-isolation platform” that rounds up all their digital projects in one space.
A playlist for a long lie-in, featured on the Garage Museum's self-isolation platform
+ If you’re missing more than just the experience of an exhibition, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s The Commons Online is a multi-faceted digital gathering place for an interactive art community.
+ Collective Constellation features contemporary artworks by women of color selected from the personal collection of philanthropist, art collector and Art + Practice co-founder, Eileen Harris Norton. Show yourself around the exhibition here!
+ Get thee to the GLBT Historical Society’s online exhibition of the art of Gilbert Baker: the guy conceived of the iconic rainbow flag.
+ Looking for more? Google Arts & Cultures has a solid assortment of online exhibitions to ogle.
