The 2022 season at Storm King Art Center is here and the sprawling outdoor museum filled with large-scale sculptures is kicking it off with a new exhibit. The new special exhibition features outdoor and indoor sculptures by Wangechi Mutu and a new site-specific commission by Brandon Ndife.
If you haven’t been to Storm King, add it to your family’s must-do list, stat. The expansive museum offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to see large-scale sculptures and site-specific commissions under the open sky. An added bonus is that you’ll spend a beautiful day outdoors getting lots of steps in so make sure to wear comfy shoes. It’s also a great idea to have the kids bring their sketch pads since they may feel inspired by the massive works of art and the change of perspective depending on which angle they view them from.
As for the new exhibition, Mutu’s work engages with the natural world to address historical violence and its impact on women, mythology, and ritual, and their relationships with our ecosystems. Sited outside on Storm King’s Museum Hill are eight of Mutu’s large-scale cast bronze works, including In Two Canoe (2022), a sculptural fountain in which two figures become one with their vessel and the landscape around them.
In Storm King’s Museum Building galleries, Mutu brings the natural world inside through both raw materials and visual representations, including new earthworks and two films: My Cave Call (2021) and Eat Cake (2013). In Storm King’s outdoor Maple Rooms, an area where maple trees divide the woods into rectangular quadrants, Ndife’s Shade Tree (2022) is now on view. Ndife’s sculpture is embedded with whole cast tables, chairs, headboards, and bedposts. It’s the artist’s first outdoor project.
The new exhibits were celebrated at an opening event last weekend featuring speeches by Storm King President John P. Stern and Artistic Director & Chief Curator Nora Lawrence, along with the headlining artists. Notable attendees included Christy Turlington Burns, Courtney B. Vance, artist LaToya Ruby Frazier, Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Sarah E. Lawrence, Whitney Museum of American Art curator Jane Panetta, and artist Lee Quiñones.
“Storm King nurtures a vibrant bond between art, nature, and people—engaging new voices and perspectives in dialogue with our extraordinary site, art, and history. This could not be more evident today, with these exciting new projects by Wangechi Mutu and Brandon Ndife set within our landscape,” said President of Storm King John P. Stern.
Nora Lawrence, Storm King’s new Artistic Director and Chief Curator, added that the “new exhibitions we’re presenting this year are like nothing we’ve ever done at Storm King.”
Since 1960, Storm King has showcased works of art amid hills, meadows, and forests on its beautiful landscape. Changing exhibitions and programming make each visit feel new.
This year’s exhibitions run through November 7, and the season closes on December 11, 2022. For more information, head to stormking.org.