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October 31, 2024 to March 16, 2025 | Leir Gallery, Klein Kenealy Gallery, Project Space, Sculpture Garden
A Garden of Promise and Dissent
October 31, 2024 to March 16, 2025 (Galleries)
November 17, 2024 to November 2025 (Grounds)
A Garden of Promise and Dissent inaugurates The Aldrich’s newly renovated campus and Sculpture Garden. This intergenerational group exhibition of twenty-one artists explores the animation of the “garden” as a site of private expression (poetics) and public action (praxis). Gardens offer solace, community, nutrition, and well-being; they provide safe spaces for rebellion and empowerment; they alleviate climate change, revitalize, and widen access to land use–providing localized food resources and alternative medicine. Gardens symbolize growth, death, and regeneration as well as represent care, resilience, and hope. Gardens can be highly ordered and aestheticized or anarchic indicators of aspiration and failure. The artists in this exhibition radicalize the garden as a theme to tackle moral, social, economic, and ecological afflictions that trouble our planet. Spanning the galleries and grounds, works will be sited within the natural world and against the built environment, unsettling the gulf that exists between the two.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue.
Artists participating in the exhibition include Terry Adkins, Kelly Akashi, Teresa Baker, Alina Bliumis, Carolina Caycedo, Carl Cheng, Rachelle Dang, Anders Hamilton, Maren Hassinger, Hugh Hayden, Max Hooper Schneider, Athena LaTocha, Gracelee Lawrence, Cathy Lu, Jill Magid, Suchitra Mattai, Mary Mattingly, Brandon Ndife, Meg Webster, Faith Wilding, and Rachel Youn.
A Garden of Promise and Dissent is curated by Amy Smith-Stewart, Chief Curator.
Artworks
Map of Grounds
All works h x w x d in inches unless otherwise noted.
1) Moko Fukuyama, Menagerie, 2024
Fallen timber, acrylic urethane paint, epoxy resin, inkjet print on photo paper, and steel
Courtesy of the artist
2) Gracelee Lawrence, Emotional Weather Forecast, 2022
Glass beads, stainless steel beads, stainless steel cable, and aluminum
Courtesy of the artist
3) Maren Hassinger, Garden, 2020
Concrete and wire rope
Courtesy of the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
4) Anders Hamilton, Obelisk (Anew), 2024
Cremated morning glory, rare earth elements, ceramic, resin, steel, acrylic, and maple
Courtesy of the artist
5) Brandon Ndife, Shade Tree, 2022/2024
Polyurethane, resin, and metal hardware
Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York
6) Maren Hassinger, Bushes, 2021
Wire rope
Courtesy of the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
7) Gracelee Lawrence, Triecious Flowers Wilt and Bloom Just Like the Rest of Us, 2022
Glass beads, stainless steel beads, stainless steel cable, hardware
Courtesy of the artist
8) Mary Mattingly, Water Body, Water Time, 2024
Steel conduit, biochar and limestone pouring bowls, ceramic, driftwood, charred wood,
medical tubing and trays, and water from the headwaters of nine rivers in Ridgefield
Courtesy of the artist and Robert Mann Gallery
9) Rachel Youn, Parade Paradis, 2022
Artificial palm head, steel, coconuts, coconut bark, and motor
Courtesy of the artist and Sargent’s Daughters
10) Rachelle Dang, Chorus, 2023
Aluminum and Imron automotive paint
Commissioned by Lighthouse Works for Fishers Island, New York
Courtesy Someday, New York
11) Kelly Akashi, Heirloom, 2022
Lost-wax cast and wire-brushed bronze
Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery
12) Gracelee Lawrence, Perceived Happiness as the Ultimate Revenge, 2019
Fiberglass, epoxy resin, foam, 3D printed plastic, epoxy putty, auto paint, tubes, fountain pumps, steel, and concrete
Courtesy of the artist
Audio
Links
Funders
Major support for A Garden of Promise and Dissent is provided by The Aldrich Council. Generous support is provided by Diana Bowes and Jim Torrey, Michael P. and Linda M. Dugan, and the Further Forward Foundation. Significant support is provided by The Cowles Charitable Trust, Kristina and Philip Larson, and Julie Phillips. The catalogue is supported by the Eric Diefenbach and James Keith Brown Publications Fund. Preferred Art Logistics Provider: Crozier Fine Arts.
Related Events
January 15, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Group Tours
Seniors-Only Tour
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of highlighted works from our current exhibitions, guided by Education and Access Specialist Holly Lapine, reserved specifically for senior adults ages 60 and above!
January 16, 2025 at 4:30 pm |
Special Event
Educator Open House
The Aldrich’s Education Department would like to welcome you to our winter Educator Open House! Participate in a highlights tour of the galleries, make artwork inspired by the exhibitions on view, and connect with our education department. Snacks and drinks provided. Come, network with local educators, and get more information about the programs we can offer your students. Special discussion and materials about our Accessibility Programming will be featured. Entry is free for current or retired teachers but requires registration online.
January 18, 2025 at 10:30 am |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission, Children and Family Programs
Story Time for Kids
Bring your budding artists to The Aldrich for Story Time, in collaboration with the Ridgefield Library! Together, we will explore the work of artist Rachelle Dang. Dang’s artwork on view in A Garden of Promise and Dissent, deals with themes of botanical history. We will read the story Dear Little One by Nina Laden, illustrated by Melissa Castrillon. Then, we will head to the studio to sculpt our own tiny seed pods like the ones in Rachelle Dang’s artwork!
January 18, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission, Group Tours
All Ages Discovery Tour
Have you ever looked at contemporary art and wished you knew what it meant? Have you ever entered a museum without knowing where to start? If you answered yes, this free, interactive, and judgment-free tour of our current exhibitions guided by a Museum Educator is perfect for you!
January 21, 2025 at 5:30 pm |
Public Programs
"Getting” Contemporary Art: Martha Diamond and A Garden of Promise and Dissent, full series
Join us for “Getting” Contemporary Art led by Kristen Erickson, art history teacher and Director of the Luchsinger Gallery at Greenwich Academy.
January 26, 2025 at 2:00 pm |
Group Tours
Sunday Afternoon Tour
Are you curious about the world of contemporary art but unsure where to begin? When you view works of art in a gallery, do you question what you see or feel the need to go into deeper insight? If you answered yes, join Education Assistant Antonio Paone for a tour of the exhibitions designed to activate your curiosity and engage your attention. The tour is free with the cost of admission.
February 4, 2025 at 5:30 pm |
Public Programs
"Getting” Contemporary Art: A Garden of Promise and Dissent, part two
Join us for “Getting” Contemporary Art led by Kristen Erickson, art history teacher and Director of the Luchsinger Gallery at Greenwich Academy.
February 15, 2025 at 10:30 am |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission, Children and Family Programs
Story Time for Kids
Bring your budding artists to The Aldrich for Story Time, in collaboration with the Ridgefield Library! Together, we will explore the work of artist Martha Diamond. Diamond’s work on view shows themes of exploring the cityscapes and architecture. We will read the story Small in the City, written and illustrated by Sydney Smith. Then we will head to the studio to create monochromatic paintings of our favorite cities!
February 15, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission, Group Tours
All Ages Discovery Tour
Have you ever looked at contemporary art and wished you knew what it meant? Have you ever entered a museum without knowing where to start? If you answered yes, this free, interactive, and judgment-free tour of our current exhibitions guided by a Museum Educator is perfect for you!
February 19, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Group Tours
Seniors-Only Tour
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of highlighted works from our current exhibitions, guided by Education and Access Specialist Holly Lapine, reserved specifically for senior adults ages 60 and above!
February 23, 2025 at 2:00 pm |
Group Tours
Sunday Afternoon Tour
Are you curious about the world of contemporary art but unsure where to begin? When you view works of art in a gallery, do you question what you see or feel the need to go into deeper insight? If you answered yes, join Education Assistant Antonio Paone for a tour of the exhibitions designed to activate your curiosity and engage your attention. The tour is free with the cost of admission.
April 26, 2025 at 6:00 pm |
Special Event
The Aldrich Gala in the Garden
Celebrating Artist Maren Hassinger and Governor Ned Lamont and the State of Connecticut.
Join us at the Museum for cocktails, a seated dinner & live auction in our newly renovated Sculpture Garden.
Top image: A Garden of Promise and Dissent (installation view), The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, October 31, 2024 to March 16, 2025. Photo: Jeffrey Jenkins Projects