New Symphony of Time

The Mississippi Museum of Art (the Museum) will present New Symphony of Time, an ongoing exhibition of approximately 170 works drawn primarily from the Museum’s permanent collection that illuminates and expands the boundaries of Mississippi’s identity. The exhibition opens September 7, 2019, and will remain on view with select artworks and wall text changing over time, enabling visitors to make new connections from different perspectives. The initial installation explores themes related to ancestry and memory; migration, movement, and home; shared humanity; the natural environment; and liberty for all. 

The Museum’s collection of more than 6,000 objects is particularly strong in American art from circa 1865 to the present day and comprises paintings, prints and drawings, textiles, photographs, sculpture, and multi-media works. Prominent artists featured in New Symphony of Time include Benny Andrews, Radcliffe Bailey, Romare Bearden, Albert Bierstadt, Elizabeth Catlett, Jeffrey Gibson, Titus Kaphar, Glenn Ligon, Deborah Luster, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Hank Willis Thomas. Mississippi artists include the state’s first native-born professional artist, James Tooley, Jr., and Richmond Barthé, McArthur Binion, Dusti Bongé, Marie Hull, Sam Gilliam, Gwendolyn A. Magee, George Ohr, and Eudora Welty. 

To imagine a new way of engaging with art about Mississippi, Museum curators borrowed phrases from Margaret Walker Alexander’s epic poem “This Is My Century: Black Synthesis of Time” to organize the exhibition. Thematic areas evoke ancestral wisdom, the strength of sheer survival, and the power of imagination to create a more just, empathetic world. While each section follows a particular narrative thread, certain ideas resonate throughout, such as personal and collective memory, history and the connection to place, and the roles artists play in pursuit of civil rights and racial equity. 

The exhibition opens with a full day of activities on September 7. Visit msmuseumart.org for details.