Aftermath: Witnessing War, Countenancing Compassion

Jun 2013

As the ‘war on terror’ enters a second decade, the global pervasiveness of violence has engendered the normalization of shock and numb: we are horrified by tragic incidents, yet accustomed to their regularity, and often, blind to their causes and…

Lost Suppers

May 2013

Meals, in preparation, consumption, and destruction, are the subject-lens through which these works address issues ranging from identity and domesticity to science and politics. Leonardo Da Vinci’s iconic 15th-century mural depicting Jesus’s last meal inspires Vivek Vilasini’s Last Supper—Gaza, in…

Asleep in the Cyclone

May 2013

New York-based artists Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe have created a site-specific sculptural installation that is also a functional hotel room, offering 21c guests a completely immersive art experience. The work, called Asleep in the Cyclone, is an evolution of the artists’…

What the Flock?!

Apr 2012

Dozens of near-life-size seagulls are flying or falling throughout the dining areas, the bar, and toward the front door windows, as if attempting escape. What cataclysm is occurring here? The artist says the piece is inspired by the urban myth…

Still, Life

May 2013

Dating back to 17th-century European painting, the vanitas tradition is a reminder of mortality and an admonition to reject the vanity of the material world in favor of spiritual values. Still life paintings of food, flowers, and animals in various states of…

Bill Luster: A Retrospective

May 2013

“Photography,” says Luster, “is the greatest time machine invented. It shows us context, space, and those that love us and have loved us.” In this retrospective exhibition, rhythmic patterns of form and color, disembodied shadows shifting across space and time,…

Wild Card: The Art of Michael Combs, A Fifteen-Year Survey

Apr 2013

Growing up on Long Island’s East End, Michael Combs was raised by generations of hunters, fishermen, boat builders, and decoy makers. Instead of becoming an avid hunter himself, however, the artist responded to this upbringing by developing a passion for…

YOLO

Apr 2013

Family and friends, colleagues, artists and performers from all over the world joined Steve to celebrate in style. Louisville-based photographer Ross Gordon was on hand to capture the excitement, energy, and entertainment of the evening. My Predicted Lifetime, an electronic ticker-tape artwork…

Christyl Boger Sculptures

Oct 2012

As a social animal, humans continuously shift between seemingly contradictory states – impulse and control, individual versus group, suppression and openness, transition versus boundary. Christyl Boger is interested in the intersections between these states, and how their limits are defined…

LOVE

Oct 2012

A true icon of American Pop Art, LOVE was originally commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art for a Christmas card design in 1964. The artist then transformed his signature stacked text into a series of sculptures, which have since…

David (inspired by Michelangelo)

Conceptual artist Serkan Özkaya made David (inspired by Michelangelo), a double-size, golden replica of Michelangelo’s David, for the 9th International Istanbul Biennial in 2005. Days prior to the opening of the Biennial, the sculpture collapsed shortly after installation. After the collapse, the artist restored the damaged replica and cast two additional copies, one of which was acquired by 21c Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.

Wheel of Fortune

Jun 2010

A site-specific installation by Anne Peabody commissioned for 21c Museum, Wheel of Fortune is a physical record inspired from the artist’s memory of the tornado that leveled much of Louisville on April 3rd, 1974.

Channel Two

Sep 2006

A video artwork channel available in both the guest rooms and Proof on Main bar, continually showcases a rotating selection from 21c Museum’s library of original video works.