GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Grand Rapids Art Museum invites art enthusiasts and the wider community to immerse themselves in the world of digital art and experience the thought-provoking and visually stunning creations of their upcoming exhibit, “Message from Our Planet: Digital Art from the Thoma Foundation.” The new GRAM exhibit will showcase a captivating collection of twenty-three software, video, and light-based artworks from June 17 to September 9, 2023. The innovative exhibition aims to explore the unique ways in which digital technology allows artists to communicate with future generations.
“Message from Our Planet celebrates digital technologies as an incredible tool for today’s artists,” GRAM Associate Curator, Jennifer Wcisel said. “The works in the exhibition encompass familiar technologies like digital video and photography to the unexpected visualization of data, assemblages of electronic components, and collages of found-video footage. We look forward to highlighting the myriad possibilities of digital art at GRAM and hope our guests leave with a new, broader understanding of the art form.”
The work ranges from the mid-1980s to the present day and offer a diverse range of vintage and cutting-edge materials, creating a polyphonic time-capsule that encapsulates the artists’ ideas, beliefs, and desires. The exhibition showcases the talent of regional, national, and international artists, including names such as Ólafur Elíasson, Jenny Holzer, LoVid, Hong Hao, Matthew Angelo Harrison, Christian Marclay, and James Nares.
The artworks in “Message from Our Planet” use digital technology as a tool to create traditional art objects such as photographs, prints, and sculptures, while others are entirely created, stored, and distributed through digital technology, employing its features as the medium.
The exhibition features a remarkable lineup of artists who have made significant contributions to the field of digital art. Among them are Brian Bress, Lia Chaia, Nicholas Galanin, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Claudia Hart, Lee Lee Nam, Paul Pfeiffer, Tabita Rezaire, Michal Rovner, Jason Salavon, Elias Sime, Skawennati, Penelope Umbrico, and Robert Wilson.
The variety of artists use nontraditional mediums, using things like video games, computer code, scanners, 3-D printers, online data, and discarded electronic parts, to produce captivating works of digital art that capture the concerns and ambitions of our current era.
Prior to the public opening, GRAM will host a Member Exhibition Opening on Friday, June 16, from 7 to 9 pm. Museum members and their guests will have the exclusive opportunity to explore the exhibition before its official debut the next day. Learn more about the upcoming exhibit, here.
