Thursday, August 1, 2019 — MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), Boston’s newest free contemporary art museum, announces the exhibition schedule for its grand opening in February 2020: Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos’s first U.S. solo exhibition; a site-specific installation by artist duo Ghost of a Dream; and a group exhibition titled Game Changers: Video Games & Contemporary Art. Thursday, August 1, 2019 — MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), Boston’s newest free contemporary art museum, announces the exhibition schedule for its grand opening in February 2020: Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos’s first U.S. solo exhibition; a site-specific installation by artist duo Ghost of a Dream; and a group exhibition titled Game Changers: Video Games & Contemporary Art.

Joana Vasconcelos: Valkyrie Mumbet
On View: February – August 2020

To inaugurate the new MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), renowned Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos will premiere a new monumental site-specific installation. Known for her feminist multimedia works, Vasconcelos, in her first U.S. solo show, will honor Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman, an enslaved woman whose legal battle for her freedom in 1781 helped make slavery illegal in Massachusetts. The large-scale installation, titled Valkyrie Mumbet, is the newest in her Valkyrie series, named after Norse female war goddesses, that pay homage to inspiring women.

Ghost of a Dream: Yesterday is Here
On View: February 2020 through 2021

For the grand opening of MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), artist collective Ghost of a Dream will transform the new lobby with a site-specific installation titled Yesterday is Here. Ghost of a Dream’s artwork centers on people’s hopes and dreams and is made from the ephemera they create in pursuit of those aspirations. In Yesterday is Here, the collective uses the past to create a new future for the Museum; the duo has cut up, combined, and spliced together images from over 30 years of exhibition catalogs and announcements from the MassArt Bakalar & Paine Galleries to create a kaleidoscopic look through the history of the Galleries and create an experience that speaks to MAAM’s future.

Game Changers: Video Games & Contemporary Art
On View: February – April 2020

This group exhibition explores artists working at the confluence of contemporary art and video games. Whether highlighting under-explored narratives, pushing technological boundaries, or imagining alternative worlds through game aesthetics, the artists featured in Game Changers are discovering new possibilities for what game-related art can be and do.

Information about winter 2020 events, educational programming, and museum hours to follow.

Renovations for MassArt Art Museum were made possible by the successful $12.6 UNBOUND fundraising campaign. To learn more about the UNBOUND fundraising campaign and renovations, visit massart.edu/unbound.

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About MassArt Art Museum

Opening February 2020, MassArt Art Museum (MAAM) is Boston’s newest free contemporary art museum. After extensive renovations, MAAM will open in the space formerly known as the Bakalar & Paine Galleries at the heart of MassArt’s campus on the Avenue of the Arts. MAAM will be a kunsthalle, or non-collecting museum, showing temporary exhibitions that feature the work of emerging and established artists to bring fresh, diverse perspectives to Boston. As MassArt’s teaching museum, MAAM will be a resource for MassArt students and faculty, educating students about contemporary art, partnering with faculty to support the curriculum, and preparing students for careers in the museum field. As an extension of the College’s public mission, the Museum will also be a vital resource to the community, offering a pathway to education in the arts and free, unique educational programming to Boston-area public schools and community groups. Always free, MAAM will be open year-round to the public. Follow MAAM at @maamboston on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. To learn more visit maam.massart.edu.

About MassArt

Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) is a public, independent institution that prepares artists, designers, and educators from diverse backgrounds to shape communities, economies, and cultures for the common good. One of the top colleges of its kind in the United States since its founding in 1873, MassArt has built a legacy of leadership as the first freestanding public college of art and design in the country, and the nation’s first art school to grant a degree. The College offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, design, and art education, all taught by world-class faculty. MassArt is also home to MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), opening February 2020. Formerly the Bakalar & Paine Galleries, MAAM is MassArt’s free contemporary art museum, professionally curated to enrich the academic curriculum and make contemporary art an accessible experience for all. Among MassArt’s most accomplished alumni are designer Brian Collins, multimedia artist Sam Durant, art dealer Arne Glimcher, Oscar-winning set designer Nancy Haigh, visual artist and composer Christian Marclay, 2016 Project Runway winner Erin Robertson, interior and lifestyle designer Kelly Wearstler, and conceptual artist William Wegman. To learn more, please visit massart.edu.

Media Contact

Ellen Carr, Executive Director, Marketing and Communications
ecarr@massart.edu • 617.879.7067