On April 14, the Walters Art Museum will open “Activating the Renaissance,” an exhibit that brings together paintings, sculptures, and photography by contemporary artists with works from the Italian Renaissance.
A majority of the six contemporary artists – Jessica Bastidas, Tawny Chatmon, Bernhard Hildebrandt, Murjoni Merriweather, Stephen Towns, and Ventiko – are from the Baltimore area.
“There are so many surprising juxtapositions in this exhibition, which I think create space to see both works differently and to really focus on the connections between them,” said one of the artists, Jessica Bastidas, in a news release.
The contemporary art will be displayed alongside works from the Walters’ collection of Italian paintings and sculptures, which includes prominent Italian artists such as Jacopo Pontormo and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
The Walters’ collection of Italian paintings is one of the “most significant holdings in the Americas,” the museum said in the news release.
“The exhibition is aimed at creating a sense of empowerment and visibility,” Bastidas said, “It is important for people to see themselves, their experiences, their observations of everyday life reflected in the subject matter.”
